Kensington Council Discusses Town, HPC Permitting Regulations

At Monday night’s regularly scheduled Kensington council meeting, council members unanimously approved a request to support a county board of appeals case. 

According to Mayor Peter Fosselman, Mark and Patience Ball, of Kensington, applied to the town to make a small change regarding fencing to a previously approved permit for construction on their property.

The town approved this change, but Fosselman says the Balls neglected to bring the change to the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) because they weren’t aware they needed to.  

The HPC did not approve the project, for which the town wrote a memo of support a few months ago, Fosselman said, so the Balls are appealing the decision.

They requested that the town support them in their Montgomery County board of appeals case, and after what Fosselman called an “extensive discussion,” the council voted unanimously to approve the request.

The board of appeals case is scheduled for Sept. 12 at 10:30 a.m. 

During the discussion, Fosselman says he clarified that the town of Kensington has a separate set of rules and regulations than the HPC and is not responsible for following up with the HPC’s guidelines.

However, he added that the council is considering adding a note to the town’s permit application informing residents that if they live or work in historic districts they must also contact the HPC for approval, in order to avoid future such incidents.