No subject

Tue Oct 27 07:32:57 EDT 2009

her heels?  The historical commission has voted for a year-long demo delay
and the only solution offered to the owner is that the owner take on the
work [and it=B9s work] to obtain CPA funding to save the house.  Is anyone
offering to help with this in an effort to show some good faith by the town=
?

Perhaps this owner doesn=B9t even live in Easton and is therefore far removed
from local history.  You have to take that into consideration as you ask
someone to wait a year before taking any action.  There are bills to pay an=
d
if this house is vacant, there are additional costs not to mention ongoing
deterioration.   Unless you really have an entity who wants to step in to
save this house and people need some time to figure it out, I would try to
avoid a year-long impasse since you don=B9t have a willing partner.

If this house is so significant, it seems to me it needs a champion who
would buy the property outright from this owner and that person or entity
could then submit a proposal to CPC to restore, preserve or sell the home
with a HPR.  Also to propose a combination of historic preservation and
housing funds through CPA is a good approach.  Yet, it gets complicated.
There=B9s ideal preservation and then there=B9s pragmatic preservation.
Adaptive reuse of a historic house which comes with protections is the best
of all possible worlds. No one [at least on this forum wants to see a rare
and historic building demolished.  You don=B9t appear to be optimistic.  You
need a reality check on this one.

ASAP, I would urge the historical commission to obtain an architect to do
measured drawings and a conditions reports.  If this house is truly
uber-significant, the measured drawings, photographs, and documentation
would have to be done sooner than later and before you release the owner
from this delay. Better to have recorded history than nothing. An
archaeological assessment of the property might be worthwhile as well.

I am eager to hear from others.

Good luck!

Diane Gilbert
Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust, Inc.
Dartmouth, MA  02748

On 9/4/12 2:47 PM, "Harrigan, Timothy" <THarrigan at easton.ma.us> wrote:

> Hello,
> =20
> The Easton Historical Commission recently imposed a demolition delay on a
> single-family home in need of fairly substantial restoration. The owner
> inherited the home and is looking to divest, claiming that the carrying c=
osts
> are too high, and that potential buyers have come in either with reasonab=
le
> offers conditional on his obtaining a demo. permit, or with offers to pur=
chase
> and restore that are too low to accept. The Commission suggested he appro=
ach
> the Town=B9s CPA committee for funding to purchase, restore and sell the ho=
me,
> ideally with historic and housing funds, but he refused. In hearing this
> story, are there any ideas that come to mind that might help us avoid a
> year-long impasse, or any similar situations that we can learn from, whet=
her
> they ended well or otherwise?
> =20
> Many thanks,
> =20
> Tim Harrigan
> Community Planner
> Town of Easton
> 136 Elm Street
> Easton, MA 02356
> 508.230.0645
> tharrigan at easton.ma.us <mailto:tharrigan at easton.ma.us>
> =20
>=20
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>
> Follow us on Facebook
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>=20
> Help make the earth a greener place.  If at all possible resist printing =
this
> e-mail and join us in saving paper.
>=20
>=20
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--=20

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<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Re: [MassHistPres] Demolition Alternatives</TITLE>
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Dear Tim, 
 
I infer from your email that the Historical Commission conferred on this si=
ngle-family home the &#8220;preferably preserved&#8221; status. &nbsp;Your d=
elay calls for a year during which to resolve the fate of this property with=
 the owner. &nbsp;That&#8217;s a long time considering you haven&#8217;t mad=
e any progress with the owner so far. &nbsp;Collaboration is key especially =
when there&#8217;s the burden of money involved for one of the parties. 
 
My questions are: &nbsp;What&#8217;s the historical significance of this ho=
use and could you share a bit of its history and importance to Easton. &nbsp=
;What&#8217;s the selling price? How much is it worth to the Town? &nbsp;Is =
it rare? &nbsp;One of the few examples left of a certain building style? &nb=
sp;The year built?