[MassHistPres] owner request to demolish property based on condition

[slater at alum.rpi.edu]

I treat hardship as a two-part test. It sounds like the first part of
the test may have been met -- the structure has problems specific to it,
and not other properties (repairs need to be made). 

The second part is weighing the cost of appropriate repairs to the
detriment of the district if the appropriate action is not taken. If the
property is very significant to the town and district, then that is a
higher burden to meet someone rehabbing a garage at the rear of a
parcel. Higher costs may be inconvenient, but they must be a hardship to
qualify for the certificate, and if the homeowner is indicating that
they have funds to build a new house on the same lot, then they must
have some funds to rehabilitate the property.

What I would do is to try and find out how much they have budgeted for
the new structure, and use that as a basis for rehab. Let's say they
want to build a house costing $300,000 on the lot, then they have
$300,000 to bring the property up to code. The fact that some of that
$300,000 would have gone into granite countertops is not relevant, it is
money that is potentially available. 

I would ask for multiple detailed quotes for rehab -- again, try and
weed out the "nice to have" improvements like the granite countertops
and go with "must have" costs. 

Now if you get multiple credible estimates that rehab is going to cost
$1 million, and the value of the property afterward would only be
$500,000, then that is a genuine hardship, in my opinion. But if the
value of the rehab is close to the value of the property, even if it is
a little bit over, then it is not a hardship to rehab. 

Remember, the ability to not maximize profit is not a hardship. The fact
that their small old house is not worth as much as a larger new house is
not a hardship, even if repairs are needed. I would also use $0 as the
cost basis for their property if they inherited it, meaning that they
should be able to expend as much as the house is worth when finished. 

Ralph Slate
Springfield, MA


<-----Original Message----->Hi everyone.
>
>We have had an owner application for a certificate of hardship to allow
>them t o demolish a house they own in the district. I will just copy 
>here the minutes from the meeting this evening, and ask for comments.
>
>
>Applicant came to discuss the situation with the family homestead, she 
>and her brother are the current owners, as of 1998. They want to 
>demolish the house and build a new house in the same location, and
would 
>begin that process by requesting a certificate of hardship, based on
the 
>age and condition of the existing structure. The original house is a 
>cape circa 1630, built by Josiah Standish, one of the original settlers
>of West Tisbury, and the son of Miles Standish, a well known figure in 
>American history. The additions to the original structure were built in
>1865 by applicant's great great grandfather. The house has great 
>significance in the town's history, and is a town and island landmark. 
>But it is in severe disrepair, and the current owners are not able to
do 
>the work needed to preserve it. Demolishing it and building a new home 
>would be their preferred solution.
>
>It is not clear if a hardship that is unique to the property and is not
>applicable to the rest of the district, which is required by our bylaw,
>could be that it is older than any other structure in the district and 
>is in such disrepair that it is not worth fixing.
>
>One of our members suggested we do some research to see how other 
>districts have handled the issue of a house that is of great historic 
>value to a district, but is beyond repair and/or too costly for the 
>owners to repair. We decided to contact the Mass Historic Commission 
>Mail Server List, and raise the issue.
>
>There was discussion by the members as to whether the original 1630
cape 
>was more historic than the 1875 additions, which were add-ons, and if 
>those add-ons could be demolished and not replaced, while the original 
>cape could also be demolished, but be replaced by a replica.
>
>The decision was made to schedule a site visit for Saturday the 29th at
>10:30 am. The members of the Historic Commission as well as any other 
>interested parties are welcome to attend.
>
>Another meeting will be scheduled for February 7th.
>
>So I am doing as requested, and writing to ask if any of the other 
>districts have had applications like this, and how they were resolved.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Nancy Dole
>West Tisbury Historic District Commission
>
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