[MassHistPres] Sustainability vs. Demolitions

[Sarah White]

Somerville has an 18-month demolition delay. During that time, Staff actively engages with the applicant to try to figure out ways to preserve the building in part or in whole  or find alternative means of preservation - this includes re-use of building materials (and providing proof thereof) or delivering them to salvage (not dump) and providing proof thereof.

Somerville is also pursuing regulations relative to demolition/historic preservation/sustainability. However, we are in the nascent data gather stages. We are a data-driven department but short on staff to focus on this and all other important projects that are focused on the wider community and longer-range planning/preservation. This will also include working closely with our Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE) and, frankly, educating them.

Take a look at San Antonio, Tx - they have a robust program and a great website.

The State has been holding deconstruction workshops every quarter for the last few, focusing on data supporting deconstruction over demolition, identifying and hearing from businesses in the secondary markets, metrics, presentations by representatives from different communities around the country about their regulations, policies and how they got them off the ground, etc. The next workshop is June 7 (virtual).  You can watch recordings of past presentations.  Kathi Mirza appears to be the State contact for these sessions kathi.mirza at state.ma.us

Here is the info on the next workshop:



Posting on behalf of MassDEP



Save the date! The next virtual meeting of the MA Deconstruction Workgroup is scheduled for June 7, 2023, from 1:30-3:30 EST.



TOPIC: Climate, Culture & Community: How Deconstruction and Building Materials Reuse Preserve Historic Spaces and Lower Our Carbon Footprint



Speakers and more information to follow in the coming weeks.



Click here to register for this meeting.<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sde-trjwuE9JtdrsYwbO917XKTQ90EXpd*/registration__;Iw!!O9h35Ks8fCsF!GW-ib4XV_4AC2g_ZN2PXh6kX2RtQDDK43PLT4eoKliTU3AKl2mSOCXztZfZC4y8_O0cryQTbNukmUxS4oFzLncQ1KoXLWefXYT21$> After signing up, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the call. And please share with all who may be interested. We hope you can join us!



Want to catch up on past meetings? The meeting recording and presentations have been posted to MassDEP’s Reduce & Reuse Working Group website and may be found at this link<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.mass.gov/lists/reduce-reuse-rr-working-group-deconstruction-workgroup-archive__;!!O9h35Ks8fCsF!GW-ib4XV_4AC2g_ZN2PXh6kX2RtQDDK43PLT4eoKliTU3AKl2mSOCXztZfZC4y8_O0cryQTbNukmUxS4oFzLncQ1KoXLWX-NxXXe$>.





Sarah White, MDS-HP
Senior Planner
Planning, Preservation, & Zoning Division (PPZ)
Somerville City Hall
93 HIghland Ave., Somerville, MA 02143

Se habla español





________________________________
From: MassHistPres <masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu> on behalf of Jack LeMenager via MassHistPres <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2023 11:52 AM
To: MHC MHC Listserve <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Subject: [MassHistPres] Sustainability vs. Demolitions

The Winchester Historical Commission is beginning a joint effort with Winchester’s Director of Sustainability to build a case against demolition from the standpoint of sustainability. To save us a lot of effort, I’m wondering if any of you have undertaken such studies.

A few words of explanation, in case this is a new topic for you. The demolition of a historic house — any house actually — results in a massive amount of waste destined for landfills. The subsequent creation of a new house creates demand for a lot of new building materials, further depleting resources: lumber, and the many other materials and products that go into the creation of a new home. In addition, there is the expenditure of energy in collecting, processing, manufacturing, and shipping those products. Conversely, renovating an existing historic home, while still requiring some new materials, is vastly preferable from a sustainability standpoint.

Our ultimate goal in gathering research data is to create a cogent, persuasive argument against demolition, and then to present it to Winchester Town Meeting in the hope of expanding our Demolition Delay bylaw from a 12-month delay to an 18- or 24-month delay. It is our feeling that the longer delay would discourage developers, many of whom do not now seem troubled by our 12-month delay.

As a side note, if any of your towns have 18- or 24-month delays, we’d appreciate learning how you successfully argued for the expansion before your Town Meeting.

Thank you, in advance, for your help.

Jack LeMenager
Winchester Historical Commission, Chair

781.454.7611
jlemen11 at icloud.com



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