[MassHistPres] 1857 House in Historic District Slated for Demolition

Suzanne W Pelton sw.pelton at verizon.net
Thu Dec 3 11:19:54 EST 2009


Selects agenda says 6 pm Workshop -no description
7 pm all the subjects to be discussed including "Dilapidated Building  
Status, Church Street"
During the 7 pm portion the announcement was made that the house  
would be demolished, no comments from the floor were sought.

Suzanne
Lenox

On Dec 3, 2009, at 11:12 AM, Kathryn M. Greenfield wrote:

> It sounds like the Selectmen's meeting was not duly posted (if it  
> began before their posted time), and therefore any decision that  
> came out of it is not valid.  They have to have a public  
> discussion.  They can't meet, unposted, then advise you the next  
> day of what happened.  That is ludicrous.
>
> K. Greenfield
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Suzanne W Pelton"  
> <sw.pelton at verizon.net>
> To: "MassHistPres MA" <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
> Cc: <LHC at cs.umb.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 10:43 AM
> Subject: [MassHistPres] 1857 House in Historic District Slated for  
> Demolition
>
>
>> I hope someone has a last minute effort to suggest for this   
>> unexpected development:
>>
>> A month ago the Lenox HDC denied a permit for demolition for an  
>> 1857 house in the Historic District and we breathed a sign of  
>> relief. Now,  all of a sudden today, chairs of the HDC and HC were  
>> advised of a  "workshop" (off-camera, no minutes) the Select Board  
>> held last night  before their regularly scheduled meeting, to  
>> "discuss" the house. The  owner refuses to make repairs. An  
>> independent engineer reported the  house was unsafe and it has  
>> been boarded up. Now the building  inspector says the house must  
>> be demolished--probably within 24  hours. I've been given til a  
>> brief respite to see if there is  anything we are missing to  
>> prevent its demolition. Lenox does not  have a Minimum Maintenance  
>> Ordinance or a Demolition Delay Bylaw but  it seems we're also not  
>> to be given any time to see if anyone would  like to dismantle or  
>> move the house.
>>
>> When I asked how it was unsafe, I was told no one could live in  
>> it. Agreed but that's not the issue, I said. When I asked if it  
>> was in  danger of falling on anyone, all I got was "it's unsafe."
>>
>> Any ideas you can give us will be most welcome.
>>
>> Suzanne Pelton
>> Lenox Historical Commission
>>
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