To the editor:

As chair of the city’s Historic Resources Commission, I would like to clarify the commission’s concerns regarding downtown sidewalk dining areas. The HRC must review all proposals for sidewalk dining in the historic downtown area. The primary concern is the current lack of official written guidelines for such projects. Sidewalk dining guidelines were proposed by the HRC and considered in 1995-96, but at that time, the City Commission felt that the need was not sufficient to warrant their official adoption. The HRC feels that the issue has become a pressing one and that written guidelines are now necessary in order to deal with sidewalk dining matters in a fair and equitable manner.

The HRC proposes to discuss, draft and approve guidelines at its next meeting on April 21, and then to forward them to the City Commission for review and official approval. The HRC has requested a moratorium on new sidewalk dining applications only until such written guidelines are in place. The HRC’s March 23 letter to the City Commission regarding these issues may be viewed on the city Web site; see item 6 of the March 29 online agenda at www.lawrenceks.org.

Anne Marvin,

Lawrence