No subject


Tue Oct 27 07:32:57 EDT 2009


s or her heels?  The historical commission has voted for a year-long de=
mo delay and the only solution offered to the owner is that the owner take o=
n the work [and it’s work] to obtain CPA funding to save the house. &n=
bsp;Is anyone offering to help with this in an effort to show some good fait=
h by the town? <BR>
<BR>
Perhaps this owner doesn&#8217;t even live in Easton and is therefore far r=
emoved from local history. &nbsp;You have to take that into consideration as=
 you ask someone to wait a year before taking any action. &nbsp;There are bi=
lls to pay and if this house is vacant, there are additional costs not to me=
ntion ongoing deterioration. &nbsp;&nbsp;Unless you really have an entity wh=
o 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&#8217;t have a =
willing partner. &nbsp;&nbsp;<BR>
<BR>
If this house is so significant, it seems to me it needs a champion who wou=
ld 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. &nbsp;Also to propose a combination of historic preservation and housin=
g funds through CPA is a good approach. &nbsp;Yet, it gets complicated. &nbs=
p;&nbsp;&nbsp;There&#8217;s ideal preservation and then there&#8217;s pragma=
tic preservation. &nbsp;Adaptive reuse of a historic house which comes with =
protections is the best of all possible worlds. No one [at least on this for=
um wants to see a rare and historic building demolished. &nbsp;You don&#8217=
;t appear to be optimistic. &nbsp;You need a reality check on this one. &nbs=
p;&nbsp;<BR>
<BR>
ASAP, I would urge the historical commission to obtain an architect to do m=
easured drawings and a conditions reports. &nbsp;If this house is truly uber=
-significant, the measured drawings, photographs, and documentation would ha=
ve to be done sooner than later and before you release the owner from this d=
elay. Better to have recorded history than nothing. An archaeological assess=
ment of the property might be worthwhile as well.<BR>
<BR>
I am eager to hear from others.<BR>
<BR>
Good luck!<BR>
<BR>
Diane Gilbert<BR>
Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust, Inc.<BR>
Dartmouth, MA &nbsp;02748<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
On 9/4/12 2:47 PM, &quot;Harrigan, Timothy&quot; &lt;<a href=3D"THarrigan at eas=
ton.ma.us">THarrigan at easton.ma.us</a>&gt; wrote:<BR>
<BR>
</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><=
SPAN STYLE=3D'font-size:11pt'>Hello,<BR>
&nbsp;<BR>
The Easton Historical Commission recently imposed a demolition delay on a s=
ingle-family home in need of fairly substantial restoration. The owner inher=
ited the home and is looking to divest, claiming that the carrying costs are=
 too high, and that potential buyers have come in either with reasonable off=
ers conditional on his obtaining a demo. permit, or with offers to purchase =
and restore that are too low to accept. The Commission suggested he approach=
 the Town&#8217;s CPA committee for funding to purchase, restore and sell th=
e home, 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, whethe=
r they ended well or otherwise? <BR>
&nbsp;<BR>
Many thanks,<BR>
&nbsp;<BR>
<I>Tim Harrigan<BR>
</I>Community Planner<BR>
Town of Easton<BR>
136 Elm Street<BR>
Easton, MA 02356<BR>
508.230.0645<BR>
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