[MassHistPres] hardship demolition application

[wwheelwright at juno.com]

Good suggestion. Thanks.
 
On Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:05:28 -0500 "Tucker, Jonathan"
<TuckerJ at amherstma.gov> writes:
> 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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