[MassHistPres] Demoliton - Formal Definition

[Jack LeMenager]

Winchester revised its Demolition Delay bylaw in 2016. It includes the following definition for “Demolition,” which is similar to yours.

2.1.     “Demolition” shall mean any act of (a) pulling down, tearing down, destroying, or razing a Building or substantially all of a Building, (b) moving a Building from its site or foundation from its current location, or (c) commencing the work of any of the foregoing.

Since then, we’ve wrestled with the specific meaning of “substantially all.” Earlier this year, we defined that phrase to mean:
"The Winchester Historical Commission interprets demolition of “substantially all of a building” in Section 2.6(a) to mean pulling down, tearing down, destroying, or razing 2/3 or more of the exterior cladding, sheathing, or framing of the building as determined by measurements of area on elevation views of the exterior sides of the building."

Hope that helps. 

Jack LeMenager
Chair, Winchester Historical Commission 


> On Dec 20, 2023, at 12:38 PM, Jay Tetzloff via MassHistPres <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:
> 
> Actually I found the below definition within the Demolition Delay bylaw (separate section from zoning):
> 
> "6. Demolition. The act of pulling down, destroying, removing, dismantling or razing a building or structure or the commencement of work of total or partial demolition with intent of completing the same."
> 
> Is this consistent with the definition other Towns with Demo Delay bylaws use?
> 
> 
> On Wed, Dec 20, 2023 at 11:47 AM Jay Tetzloff <jay.tetzloff at gmail.com <mailto:jay.tetzloff at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> Hello all - in the Essex, MA zoning bylaw there is a Definitions section, but there is no formal definition for what constitutes a "demolition."  Do any of you have a definition that I could propose to add?  Right now our building inspector has no reference point to determine when a building permit is a demolition permit, and as a result our Historical Commission (which I Chair) is not seeing everything it should.  How have you all navigated this?
>> Jay Tetzloff
>> Chair
>> Essex MA Historical Commission
>> 
>> --
>> Jay E. Tetzloff
>> 612-669-9943 direct
>> https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaytetzloff
> 
> 
> --
> Jay E. Tetzloff
> 612-669-9943 direct
> https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaytetzloff
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