[MassHistPres] Defining Partial or Substantial Demolition in Demolition Delay Bylaw

[Jack LeMenager]

Jay — The Winchester Historical Commission debated this topic for many years. Just last spring, we finally settled on a clear definition, which is used to guide our Building Department. 

Our Demolition Delay bylaw, which we call the “Preservation of Historically Significant Buildings” bylaw, includes a definition of “demolition” in section 2.6, which reads in part: “‘Demolition’ shall mean any act of (a) pulling down, tearing down, destroying, or razing a Building or substantially all of a Building…”

We interpreted “substantially all” as follows:

To guide the Building Commissioner in applying Chapter 14 of the Code of Bylaws to projects that involve significant demolition short of a complete demolition, the 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.

This interpretation should be applied without regard to whether all or any part of the building is viewable from a public way. 

I hope that’s helpful.

Jack LeMenager
Chair, Winchester Historical Commission 

> On Feb 2, 2023, at 2:22 PM, James G McAuliffe via MassHistPres <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:
> 
> What are the guideline for defining partial or substantial demolition under your demolition delay bylaw?  Do you use the architectural description in the building inventory form (Form B) to identify the character-defining features of a historic building proposed for partial demolition? 
> 
> Jim McAuliffe
> Wellfleet Historical Commission
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Jack LeMenager
781.454.7611
jlemen11 at icloud.com



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