[MassHistPres] Demo delay and hoarder houses

[Roughan, Michael]

Karen,

I agree with Steve. If your Demo delay bylaw is written similar to Hopkinton’s, the responsibility to determine that the property is structurally unsound is the applicant’s and not the Commission’s. Unless the Building Inspector has condemned the property, the onus should be on the applicant.

….Mike

Michael Roughan, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP
Chairman - Hopkinton Historic Commission

D 617.357.7725 M 617.784.6463


From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Historical commission
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2015 8:58 AM
To: Leo Greene
Cc: Karen VanWelden-Herman; masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Demo delay and hoarder houses

Karen,
As I understand the Commission has no authority to demand access to a structure for inspection.
The property owner is responsible to provide a structural report to the Commission upon requesting a demo permit sighting structural deficiencies of said structure.
At that point the Commission should have sufficient information to vote according to the DDB rules.
Regards,


Steve Todisco
Lynnfield Historical Commission


On Sep 10, 2015, at 5:10 PM, Leo Greene <lgreene868 at gmail.com<mailto:lgreene868 at gmail.com>> wrote:

Do any of you have  experience with demolition delay in relation to historically significant houses that are also hoarder houses making them inaccessible or potentially unsafe to enter)?  The Andover Preservation Commission is in a demolition delay process with a house and barn that are both filled with debris.  We are wondering if there is any precedent for requesting the developer as the new owner of the property clear the buildings of debris so that an assessment of the structural integrity of the structures can be done by the Commission.  He has thus far refused siting liability and expense.

Any help would be appreciated.  This is a new experience for us.

Thank you.

Karen Herman, Chair

Andover Preservation Commission
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