[MassHistPres] Another collapse in the historic district

[Dcolebslade at aol.com]

Several months ago I noted that the roof of a historic building  collapsed in 
the historic district.  Work was done without a permit,  including gutting 
the house and weakening the support structure. The town took  the applicant to 
court asking for protection of the building from the elements  and for the 
applicant to submit proper documentation to the historic district  commission for 
approval of rebuilding.  Finally these two requests were met  and the town 
lawyers closed the case.  No fines were assessed.  The  case was recently closed.
 
The applicant got a certificate of appropriateness to restore  three 
buildings on his property, two of which are residences.  
 
The property configuration is "grandfathered" because it had these  buildings 
before zoning.  
  
This week the chimney collapsed on one of the other buildings and  took an 
ell with it.  The building is right on the boundary line so  the rubble fell 
onto the neighbor's yard.  That building also had been  gutted and left in the 
open for more than a year which led to the  collapse.  The building inspector 
has ordered a demolition of the ell for  safety reasons.
 
My questions are:
 
(1)  Does the applicant have to return to the WHC now  that the circumstances 
have changed?  Note he already has a certificate of  appropriateness.
There is a concern by the neighbor about the proximity of the ell  to his 
boundary.  This is the third time that the boundary has been  breeched.  The 
neighbor has stated he will not allow his property to be a  "staging ground" for 
any work on the building, a threat which if carried  through, means that it 
would be extremely difficult to do anything on that  side of the building.
 
(2)  Can the building inspector require a setback now that the  ell is gone?  
(I know that is a building inspector question, but some of  you may have 
experience in such a case.)
 
Thank you.
 
Betty Slade
Westport
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