[MassHistPres] hardship demolition application

Fri Dec 11 11:03:44 EST 2009

May I ask, where did the money come from to purchase the property?

If a town meeting vote authorized the purchase of the parcel but that 
purchase has not yet been finalized and recorded then you need to 
examine the language of that Town Meeting warrant article.

If, at the time of the closing, the town will be in the position of 
purchasing a parcel with a lesser value (because the value of the 
demolished building is no longer part of the overall sale) than the 
value of the parcel that was voted on at town meeting, then ten 
taxpayers should be able to halt the sale itself.

The question needs to be asked, if the Town meeting voters appropriated 
the money with the understanding that the property would be sans 
existing building and if so, what the appraised value of the purchase 
would be without that building. My understanding is that municipalities 
cannot purchase parcels for greater than their appraised value.

H. LaCortiglia

Chris Skelly wrote:
> Of course, they can't vote to continue if they don't have a quorum.  
>
> Also, MGL Chapter 40C requires a decision within 60 days.  It isn't possible
> to just continue indefinitely.  If the applicant has not agreed to the
> further time in writing, the commission has to make a determination within
> 60 days of the filing of the application.  If the commission shall fail to
> make a determination within such period of time the commission shall
> thereupon issue a certificate of hardship.
>
> Interestingly, they can't issue any certificate (including a certificate of
> hardship) if they don't have a satisfactory number of appointed members on
> the commission to take a vote.  If the commission can't issue a certificate
> and MGL Chapter 40C requires a certificate before receiving a building
> (demolition) permit, the question really is - how does the applicant obtain
> a building (demolition) permit after all this.  Chris.
>
> Christopher C. Skelly
> Director of Local Government Programs
> Massachusetts Historical Commission
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
> [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of D. Mauch
> Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 12:17 PM
> To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
> Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] MassHistPres Digest, Vol 46, Issue 16
>
> I would post a meeting to be held by December 15th and then vote to  
> "continue it," indefinitely citing the need for further information  
> regarding the particular agenda item.  That way you've complied with  
> the clock, but reset the thresholds.  Contact the Ethics Commission  
> and let them know of the matter immediately and request their  
> intervention.
>
>
>
>
> On Dec 10, 2009, at 12:00 PM, masshistpres-request at cs.umb.edu wrote:
>
>   
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>> Today's Topics:
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>>   1. hardship demolition application (wwheelwright at juno.com)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:13:29 -0500
>> From: wwheelwright at juno.com
>> Subject: [MassHistPres] hardship demolition application
>> To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
>> Message-ID: <20091210.001329.1028.11.wwheelwright at juno.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>>
>>
>> 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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>>     
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