[MassHistPres] 1857 House in Historic District Slated for Demolition

[Mark Voigt]

Sounds like the typical shenanigans that occur when those in the "decider" role don't get what they want so they do nefarious things like this.  It seems clear there is an open meeting law breach, at the very least, and maybe ethics as well.  As for substance, lets assume the owner of the house wanted to fix it up.  Now the Town is saying no?  The building inspector should provide the basis (reasons) for his decision and appropriate remedies of the same.  To have one - the condemnation - without any knowledge of what can be done to rectify is patently illegal.  By identifying the problems, then fixing them - a re-inspection could be done and move this toward a renovation.  Clearly by not giving the proper reasons for why and how it is unsafe they are trying to use a veil which masks their bad behavior.

More questions for the whole process need to be posed and you need advocates to help.  Have you tried PreservatiON MASS?  Their circuit riders might be able to assist and maybe some legal counsel as well.  MHC, National Trust office in Boston are a few other places to look for help.

Good Luck


Mark W. Voigt, AICP, Administrator
Nantucket Historic District Commission
Town Annex Building
37 Washington Street
Nantucket, MA 02554
(508) 228-7231           Fax(508) 325-7572
Celebrating 50 years of Preserving History


-----Original Message-----
From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Suzanne W Pelton
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 10:43 AM
To: MassHistPres MA
Cc: LHC at cs.umb.edu
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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