[MassHistPres] success rate of demo delay?

[Dennis De Witt]

The demo delay experience in Brookline has been that partial demolition cases are almost always resolved through mitigation design negotiations.  

However full demolition delays of principal buildings (i.e. not garages etc.) and especially by developers, often result in the developer simply waiting out the delay. (It is 12 months for non-NR / 18 months for NR).  

It would be interesting to hear from others who feel they have had a better than average success rate in saving buildings when a delay has been imposed — and what they attribute that to.  It’s my impression (perhaps wrong?) that most delays of an intended full demolition do not eventually prevent that demolition.

(That said our demo delay law has directly lead to the creation of 5 of our 8 LHDs and saved the Coolidge Corner Theater.)

Dennis De Witt
Brookline