[MassHistPres] Demolition of a Newton Local Landmark

[Gretchen Schuler]

Check the Local Landmarks Ordinance to see what the recourse is - I cannot
remember but I do recall that we had discussed no building permit for two
years - also how did developer get a demolition/building permit to demolish
- If the Building Commissioner does not have a list of all the landmarks as
well as properties in local historic districts.that could be rectified
immediately to be sure that it does not happen again.  If it was done
without a permit then I believe there are other penalties that the
Building Commissioner can impose.....Really bad situation.  Very sorry for
the neighborhood and the city.
Gretchen Schuler
Wayland Historic District Commission

On Sun, May 2, 2021 at 7:36 PM WN Hill Preservation <
wnhpreservation at gmail.com> wrote:

> We discovered last week that a builder has demolished an 18th
> century farmhouse, one of Newton's 24 Local Landmarks
> <https://www.newtonma.gov/government/planning/historic-preservation/newton-city-landmarks>.
> This took place 3 months after the sale to a developer, despite very
> specific preservation measures discussed at length and agreed with the
> Historical Commission, and a stop work order from the inspectional
> department.
>
> The farmhouse in our Oak Hill neighborhood originally belonged to the Hyde
> family, ancestors of the first mayor when the city was incorporated,James
> F. C. Hyde <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_F._C._Hyde>.
>
> We are interested to learn from others if you have had something like this
> occur and how it was handled, including penalties. There is a strong
> concern that if this builder gets away with a light penalty that gives a
> green light to others.
>
> Another note is that the property was listed by the realtor
> <https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/29-Greenwood-St_Newton_MA_02459_M36199-25165>
> as "shovel ready" ... "get to work with your backhoe on day one."
>
> Laura Foote
> West Newton Hill Preservation Initiative
>
>
>
> wnhpreservation at gmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> https://mailman.cs.umb.edu/listinfo/masshistpres
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/pipermail/masshistpres/attachments/20210503/2e4b4229/attachment.html>