[MassHistPres] Harvard Historical Commission Question regarding Demolition Delay Bylaw

[Roughan, Michael]

George,

Hopkinton encourages open dialogue regarding old properties. We have frequently ruled on request whether a structure is 'historically significant' weighing both the structure itself as well as the context (i.e. urban vs remote). If the determination of the commission is that it is clear whether a structure has 'historical significance' we will notify the property owner in writing of such, irrespective of whether they has filed out a demolition application or not.

The only issue we have is how this vote is recorded over time as we don't maintain a registry of all properties even though we have a 1980 era historical survey of the town and recently a 2019 update of the downtown historic properties.

....Mike

Michael Roughan, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP, ACHA

D +1.617.357.7725 M +1.617.784.6463


From: MassHistPres [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of George Triantaris
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2019 4:25 AM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] Harvard Historical Commission Question regarding Demolition Delay Bylaw


The town of Harvard is exploring adopting a demolition delay bylaw similar to the one suggested by the Mass. Historical Commission (with a few additions from examples we reviewed from surrounding towns).  One question that has come up is whether any towns have adopted a provision whereby a property owner could request that the commission rule on whether a property is significant outside of the demolition process.  We know that some towns have proactively determined all properties that are significant but we are not prepared to do that at this point.  The thinking is that a seller might want to do this in a case where it is likely that the existing structure would be torn down in advance of a sale.  In a case where the structure is not significant it might help with the sale to know that in advance (and would suggest that determination would only be binding for a year or two so that the property would not be bound by that for all time).  If the structure were determined to be significant the owner would have to then wait for a demolition permit to learn if it is preferably preserved.



We are wondering if this has come up in other towns.  If so we would appreciate further information.

Many thanks,

George Triantaris, Secretary HCC

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