Do I need approval?
Which of the City’s historic reviews a project may need depends on two things: where the building is, and what you want to do to it. Check your building, then pick your project.
Last reviewed against the ordinances September 30, 2026
1
Where is the building?
Fruit Street Local Historic District
Fruit Street and a few neighboring lots on High and Prospect Streets, sixteen buildings in all. Its own commission reviews any exterior change seen from the street.
Downtown Overlay District (DOD)
The downtown part of the Newburyport Historic District. The Planning Board reviews work on historic buildings and all new construction.
Demolition Control Overlay District (DCOD)
The rest of the Newburyport Historic District, outside downtown and Fruit Street. The Zoning Board reviews major demolition of contributing buildings; the Historical Commission keeps roof changes.
Everywhere else
Outside Fruit Street and the two overlays: most of the city, and a few lots at the edges of the historic district. Only the citywide demolition delay ordinance, for buildings 75 or more years old.
2
What do you want to do?
- Windows and doorsCan I replace my windows or doors?
- Siding and trimCan I replace my clapboards, shingles or trim?
- Paint and masonryDo I need approval to paint my house?
- Roofs, dormers and chimneysCan I re-roof, add a dormer or take down a chimney?
- Fences and wallsCan I put up a fence?
- Solar panels and rooftop equipmentCan I put solar panels on my roof?
- Additions and porchesCan I build an addition?
- New constructionCan I build a new house or outbuilding?
- Demolition and moving a buildingCan I tear down or move a building?
3
Start with the Zoning Administrator
Every project begins with a zoning determination, and only that determination tells you which reviews apply. The Zoning Administrator then directs you to the right board; Historical Commission applications are filed online through the Office of Planning and Development. The Commission meets twice a month and posts its filing deadlines for the year; demolition applications are due earlier than other business.
Application forms ↗2026 filing deadlines ↗Demolition delay ordinance and flowchart ↗Quick guide to the DCOD and demolition delay ↗Fruit Street Historic District Commission ↗
Two words that mean more than they seem
- “Demolition”
- Under the citywide ordinance, removing or altering more than a quarter of a building’s exterior walls is demolition, and so is any change to its roofline: a new pitch, a tower, a dormer that misses the setback rules, a deck that rises above the roof. In the DCOD, the quarter is counted together across every project since April 2014.
- “Historic”
- Citywide, the demolition delay reaches any building 75 or more years old, in whole or in part. Downtown and in the DCOD, “historic” means something narrower: individually listed on the National Register, or counted as contributing to the Newburyport Historic District when it was listed in 1984. An old house the 1984 survey called an intrusion is not historic there, though it is still old enough for the demolition delay.