Karl Winkler
Alternate Member, Bedford Historic District Commission
Every building within the HDC has significance – they are a record of our town and its ongoing evolution.
It is important to take into account EVERY building within the Historic District, and not just focus on a handful. The question is, what do the townspeople of Bedford believe is important to them?
The proposed By-law would allow solar panels within the HDC as a landowner’s choice to reduce energy, carbon footprint and offset the cost of maintaining these wonderful architectural snapshots of the past. The roof these solar panels would be covering is not historic. Today’s roofs are asphalt shingles, a 20th-century technology that replaced earlier cedar pitch or cedar shingle roofing systems.
The buildings that choose to have solar panels would remain intact and would not be allowed to be altered by solar panel installation. Lastly, like the cedar shingles that were later replaced by asphalt shingles, these panels too will be replaced in the future as other technologies are developed.
The proposed By-law is an opportunity for the townspeople to vote on how important solar power is to them, even in the Historic District.
Thank you
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