[MassHistPres] Demolition Request

[Tucker, Jonathan]

All:

If the building was indeed deemed by the building commissioner to be "structurally unsafe" under the building code and therefore a public safety liability, then there's nothing to be done.  Public health and safety is the foundation of law and trumps everything else.  Check out MGL Ch. 143, Sections 6-10.

There may be a question as to whether the building official involved made a decision based solely on the facts of the structure or their own personal ideology about development, but changing that in the future either means educating the building official or getting a new official.  I'm not aware of any regulation that can overcome such a determination.

Jonathan Tucker
Planning Director
Amherst Planning Department
4 Boltwood Avenue, Town Hall
Amherst, MA  01002
(413) 259-3040
tuckerj at amherstma.gov<mailto:tuckerj at amherstma.gov>



From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Marcia Starkey
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 11:03 AM
To: 'Paul Bourdon'; cvwtc at aol.com; masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Demolition Request

Under a demolition delay bylaw should this building demolition had review? Marcia Starkey, Greenfield HC

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Paul Bourdon
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 3:12 PM
To: cvwtc at aol.com; masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Demolition Request

A good point may be to make sure the building inspector understands the significance of the building and efforts being made to secure it.


On 1/26/11 3:00 PM, "cvwtc at aol.com<mailto:cvwtc at aol.com>" <cvwtc at aol.com<mailto:cvwtc at aol.com>> wrote:
Approving of their hardship would also teach others looking to rid themselves of historic properties to defer on maintenance until a structure becomes unsafe and needs to be torn down.

We've had a couple of examples of that happening in Beverly, most notably the Washington-Beedle School.  Before preservationists even had a chance to advocate for this city-owned property, it was suddenly determined to be "structurally unsafe" so it was torn down almost overnight to make room for a Walgreens.  Laws governing historic preservation can always be bypassed if a structure is deemed unsafe and once a structure is gone, there's no way to obtain a second opinion.  Your group needs to strongly oppose a demolition hardship if the integrity of your district is to be maintained.  It would also set the proper tone.

Has a community ever given the owners of an historic property a tax-break to stimulate renovation?  It seems like many city councils have no problem giving sustained and significant property tax reductions to wealthy developers when they come before City Hall to pitch a project.

Matt Pujo
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