Wiscasset’s new Historic Preservation Commission will learn more this week about how property owners could claim hardships, and whether the commission can review all projects in the historic district, or just ones on properties with historic value.

Town Planner Jamel Torres plans to address those issues with the commission Dec. 3. Panel members raised them when they met in November for the first time. Voters created the commission last spring.

In a Nov. 24 memo to members, Torres writes that he has contacted Maine Municipal Association’s legal department about hardship exemptions. Commission member Susan Blagden asked him Nov. 5 to research how other towns handle hardship claims about meeting the standards in their historic preservation ordinances.

Topsham’s historic preservation ordinance does not have a section for hardship exemptions, Torres states in the memo.

He also wants to talk more with the panel about his plan to pinpoint properties that don’t contribute to the district’s historic value; they could be declared “non-contributing,” and projects on those properties would not have to go before the commission, Torres has said.

But some commission members voiced concern that foregoing the reviews could result in projects that detract from the district.

In the memo for Thursday’s meeting, Torres cites the standards for two village districts and the waterfront district that make up the historic district. A project on a “non-contributing” property, exempt from the commission’s review, would still face a planning board review, according to the memo.

In addition to the questions raised in November, Torres has asked members to review Wiscasset’s new ordinance that will direct their work.

“This ordinance outlines the responsibility of the Historic Preservation Commission so it is really important that you all understand it. I look forward to this discussion,” Torres writes to the members.

Torres has contacted several municipal planners who have worked with historic preservation commissions. He hopes some of those planners will meet with the Wiscasset panel over the winter, to offer advice, the memo states.

Thursday’s meeting is set for 5 p.m. at the town office.