[MassHistPres] preemptive DD applications

[Dennis De Witt]

Brookline periodically gets "clusters" of applications for "prophylactic" demo applications for houses being put on the market where there is no specific plan to demolish and rebuild but the broker or owner has decided that the house would be more salable with the equivalent of "planning permission" for demo in hand.  Does anyone have a bylaw or regulation more restrictive than the attached with respect to time length or transferability?  When it was drafted town counsel opined that the de facto permission to demolish could not end with transfer of ownership but had to run for some set period.

Section 7.  Required reapplication

If no Demolition Permit is issued within three years of the Commission’s determination of Significance and of the termination of any court action preventing the issuance of said permit, whichever period shall be longer, or if a Demolition Permit is issued but the building is not demolished before the expiration of said permit, including any extensions allowed by the Building Commissioner, then any subsequent Application for the demolition of the building shall be processed in accordance with sections 5.3.3. through 5.3.12 inclusive, without reference to any prior determination with respect to Significance.  Upon a showing by the applicant that due to the complex nature of the development project and despite the applicant’s significant efforts he or she has been unable to permit, design and/or finance a project within three years, the Preservation Commission may extend the time for a Demolition Permit for a reasonable time to accommodate such a project.

 

Dennis De Witt
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