[MassHistPres] What are the responsibilities of being a PRA holder?

[Dylan Peacock]

Hi Will,

It’s great that you are considering these questions. The holder of the PRA is responsible for enforcing the terms of the agreement for however long that agreement is in place (typically in MA these agreements are perpetual, which means you would be enforcing them forever).

Enforcement includes things like monitoring the property regularly and working with the owner to ensure that any maintenance issues are addressed in a timely way, reviewing and responding to requests to make changes to the property, documenting your management of the PRA over time to create a record of the property and a record of your active involvement, and bringing the owner into compliance if they take action that doesn't conform to the terms of the PRA (this can include anything from a conversation to litigation, depending on what has occurred). It's important to have sufficient capacity for all of this, in terms of time, expertise, and financial resources. Operationally, I suspect you would find many similarities to management of a local historic district.

It's also important for the holder - both HC and legal counsel -  to be actively involved in developing the terms of the PRA, to ensure you fully understand and accept the terms and are prepared to enforce them. While each PRA is tailored to the specific preservation goals of the grantor and grantee, there are standard requirements to ensure the agreement meets basic best practices for preservation and legal enforcement - MHC looks for these and can advise on anything that might be missing as part of their pre-signature review of the document.

At Historic New England, we're also happy to talk with any organization or commission considering holding a PRA about our experience and recommendations - HNE holds 128 preservation restrictions across New England and we continue to grow.

I hope that helps - and best of luck! It sounds like a great building!

Please feel free to reach out if further discussion would be beneficial.
Regards,

Dylan Peacock
Director of Preservation Services
Historic New England
1424 Canton Avenue
Milton, MA  02186
617-994-6643
Become a member<https://www.historicnewengland.org/get-involved/memberships/> | Support our work<https://www.historicnewengland.org/get-involved/donate/> | Learn more<https://www.historicnewengland.org/>
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From: MassHistPres <masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu> On Behalf Of Cecio, William via MassHistPres
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2025 2:54 PM
To: MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] What are the responsibilities of being a PRA holder?

Hey everyone,

I'm hoping some of you might be able to shed some light on what the responsibilities are for being a holder of a Preservation Restriction Agreement (PRA). Are the responsibilities dependent on what gets written into the PRA? Are there standard responsibilities and if so, how much work does that entail?

Some context: A historic temple in the City of Chelsea came before the Historical Commission a while back to see if we would be willing to become the holder of a PRA as they were applying for CPA funds to draft it. It seems this might open up more funding opportunities for them. We supported the idea but declined to become the holder as we were hesitant about our capacity to effectively carry out the monitoring and enforcement of the PRA. The property owners ultimately received CPA funding and are in the process of finishing up the PRA. They have reached back out to the Commission with the same question. It seems they view the Historical Commission as the only entity that could be the holder of the PRA and haven't had any luck with other organizations. While we support the temple and the idea of creating a PRA, we are very hesitant about taking something on that we just won't be able to effectively carry out.

Appreciate any insight or help folks can provide. Thank you!!

Best,
Will Cecio
City of Chelsea

--
William Cecio | Planner and Land Use Administrator | he/him
Department of Permitting and Land Use Planning
Chelsea City Hall
500 Broadway, Room 106 | Chelsea, MA 02150
Phone: 617-466-4186
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