[MassHistPres] hardship demolition application

[Tucker, Jonathan]

At a certain point, political caution has to be set aside, and the
swords come out.  Who's your favorite local reporter?  The Select
Board's shenanigans should be splashed across the pages of the local
daily or weekly newspaper, and its/their website.  Make them defend
themselves.

Jonathan Tucker
Planning Director
Amherst Planning Department
4 Boltwood Avenue, Town Hall
Amherst, MA  01002
(413) 259-3040
tuckerj at amherstma.gov    


   

-----Original Message-----
From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of
wwheelwright at juno.com
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 12:13 AM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] hardship demolition application


To Chris Skelly and members of the listserve,

The Board of Selectmen and the present owner of the property jointly
filed a hardship application with the Sherborn Historic District
Commission on December 1 to demolish the Richard Smart House and Barn,
which abut the Town Offices in the Local Historic District, and which
will be purchased by the Town on or before Feb 1, 2010. The Dec 1 filing
starts the clock ticking for the HDC, requiring a meeting which must be
held by Dec 15 to decide if the application requires review, a public
hearing by Dec 29, and a determination by the HDC by Feb 27. If the
choice of this very difficult time of year to require meetings and
encourage public participation seems intentional on the part of the
Selectmen, keep reading.  There is more to this story. 
 
The Selectmen have tried every way they could to ensure that the HDC
will
allow the buildings to be demolished. Following an unsuccessful attempt
at Town Meeting last Spring to have the property removed from the
district, the Selectmen failed to re-appoint members, one of them the
chairman, after the Commission indicated that it would be unlikely to
permit demolition. Since June 15 all appointments to the Commission have
been held up, except for one new member handpicked by Selectmen to
represent them as abuttors-to-be, a move ruled to be legal by Town
Counsel. Strangely another abuttor, who is on the HDC but was not up for
reappointment,  has been told he cannot participate or vote. Yet another
member resigned citing the pressure from the Selectmen and has not been
replaced. So, having gutted and demoralized the HDC and then filed the
application to coincide with the holidays, no quorum will be the outcome
for the review by Dec 15, the first deadline. Do any of you know if that
means a default for the HDC on Dec. 15 and an automatic hardship
certificate? 

In the event of a Dec 15 default , does anyone know of  possible pro
bono
legal assistance for the HDC to help with immediate further steps such
as
an injunction to prevent immediate tear down? The Selectmen control
access to Town Counsel. 

The Sherborn Historical Commission thanks you in advance for your good
information and suggestions. 

Susie Wheelwright
Sherborn Historical Commission
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