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's 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't 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 and
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't 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's ideal preservation and then there's 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't 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,
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
costs are too high, and that potential buyers have come in either with
reasonable offers 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's CPA committee for funding to purchase,
restore and sell the 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, whether they ended well or otherwise?
Many thanks,
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>
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Town-of-Easton-MA/109553865754359?sk=wall>
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</style><![endif]--><title>Re: [MassHistPres] Demolition =
Alternatives</title><style><!--
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=3DEN-US link=3Dblue =
vlink=3Dpurple><div class=3DWordSection1><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>I wonder if the Commission has researched values of similar with =
respect to condition, size and location or has otherwise tried to =
present a case for the reality of his situation. It appears that =
he thinks he can realize a substantial profit in a replacement building. =
Can this be confirmed? Is there a neighborhood and if so, has the =
Commission tried to find out what it would like to see. Has the =
Commission a track record with Delays ? and could this reflect =
positively or negatively on future cases: might be considered. =
On the other hand, it sounds as though he may reconsider as =
time goes by and are there details in your suggestion that should be =
persuasive? If so, can you request an additional delay if the =
conversation improves and the building is worth the Commission’s =
“cost”. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>Marcia Starkey<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>Greenfield HC =
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div =
style=3D'border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in =
0in 0in'><p class=3DMsoNormal><b><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span>=
</b><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> =
masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] =
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Diane Gilbert<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, September 07, =
2012 3:42 PM<br><b>To:</b> Harrigan, Timothy; =
Untitled<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [MassHistPres] Demolition =
Alternatives<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Dear =
Tim,<br><br>I infer from your email that the Historical Commission =
conferred on this single-family home the “preferably =
preserved” status. Your delay calls for a year during which =
to resolve the fate of this property with the owner. That’s =
a long time considering you haven’t made any progress with the =
owner so far. Collaboration is key especially when there’s =
the burden of money involved for one of the parties.<br><br>My questions =
are: What’s the historical significance of this house and =
could you share a bit of its history and importance to Easton. =
What’s the selling price? How much is it worth to the Town? =
Is it rare? One of the few examples left of a certain =
building style? The year built? <br><br>From what you’ve =
indicated, who can fault the owner for digging in his or 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’s 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? <br><br>Perhaps this owner doesn’t 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 and =
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’t =
have a willing partner. <br><br>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’s ideal preservation and then =
there’s 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’t appear to be optimistic. You =
need a reality check on this one. <br><br>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.<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 =
02748<br><br><br>On 9/4/12 2:47 PM, "Harrigan, Timothy" =
<<a href=3D"THarrigan at easton.ma.us">THarrigan at easton.ma.us</a>> =
wrote:</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Hello,<br>&=
nbsp;<br>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 costs are too high, and that potential buyers have come in =
either with reasonable offers 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’s CPA =
committee for funding to purchase, restore and sell the 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, =
whether they ended well or otherwise? <br> <br>Many =
thanks,<br> <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><span =
style=3D'color:blue'><a =
href=3D"tharrigan at easton.ma.us">tharrigan at easton.ma.us</a></span><span =
style=3D'color:#1F497D'> <<a =
href=3D"mailto:tharrigan at easton.ma.us">mailto:tharrigan at easton.ma.us</a>&=
gt; <br></span><br><br> <<a =
href=3D"http://www.facebook.com/pages/Town-of-Easton-MA/109553865754359?s=
k=3Dwall">http://www.facebook.com/pages/Town-of-Easton-MA/109553865754359=
?sk=3Dwall</a>> Follow us on Facebook<br> <<a =
href=3D"https://twitter.com/#!/townofeaston">https://twitter.com/#!/towno=
feaston</a>> Follow us on Twitter<br><br></span><b><span =
style=3D'font-size:8.0pt;color:#339900'>Help make the earth a greener =
place. If at all possible resist printing this e-mail and join us =
in saving paper. </span></b><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p>=
</span></p><div class=3DMsoNormal align=3Dcenter =
style=3D'text-align:center'><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><hr =
size=3D3 width=3D"95%" align=3Dcenter></span></div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas'>*************************=
*****<br>For administrative questions regarding this list, please =
contact <a =
href=3D"Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us">Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us</a=
> directly. PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE WHOLE =
LIST.<br>MassHistPres mailing list<br><a =
href=3D"MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu">MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu</a><br><a =
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