[MassHistPres] Stockbridge has a demolition delay law that really works

[Edward Andrews]

While the conventional demolition delay law is better than no law at all,
the type of demolition delay law that Stockbridge enacted in 2011 is a law
that really works.  The element that distinguishes this law from other
demolition delay laws is its requirement that a building can only be
demolished if a buyer first cannot be found for the historic building at its
fair market price.   This demolition delay law has real teeth and has
preserved eleven historic Stockbridge buildings since 2011 that otherwise
would have been demolished. 

 

The heart of this bylaw is as follows,  

 

Before demolition may be considered, the building owner must carry out ".for
at least twelve (12) months bona fide and reasonable efforts to locate a
purchaser willing and reasonably able to preserve, rehabilitate or restore
the subject Building and that such efforts have been unsuccessful. The term
"Continuing, bona fide and reasonable efforts to locate a purchaser "shall
mean retaining a licensed broker to market the property in the usual manner
over substantially all of the 12-month period, obtaining an appraisal from a
reputable appraiser and providing evidence of good faith negotiations with
potential buyers of the property. These efforts to sell the property shall
be deemed unsuccessful only upon a finding that either there were no offers
to purchase the property, that no offer from a willing and reasonably able
buyer was for at least the reasonable appraised value of the property, or
that no agreement to sell the property pursuant to an offer of at least the
reasonable appraised value of the property could be reached despite good
faith efforts to do so.

 

The entire bylaw may be viewed in Article XXII in the Stockbridge Town
By-laws at  <https://townofstockbridge.com/by-laws/>
https://townofstockbridge.com/by-laws/   The law was approved by the
Attorney General of Massachusetts.

 

Eleven historic houses in Stockbridge have been saved as a direct result of
this community's singular demolition delay law.  This is about one house per
year in this relatively small town of 1,947 residents.  In Spring, 2020,
Weybourne Hill, an important 1906 Arts and Crafts residence, was saved from
demolition as a result of the Stockbridge Historic Preservation Commission's
leveraging the town's special demolition delay law.  The new owners of
Weybourne Hill had applied for a permit to demolish the historic residence,
but backed off when the town made known the hurdles the law placed in their
path.  

 

Edward Andrews

Shaker Farm

Richmond, Mass.  

 

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