[HISTORY: Adopted by the Special Town Meeting
of the Town of Middleton 10-29-2002 by Art. 14. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.Â
The purpose of Middleton's Demolition Delay Bylaw
is to preserve and protect significant buildings and structures within
the Town of Middleton that are outside local historic districts. Such
buildings and structures reflect distinctive features of the architectural,
cultural, economic, agricultural landscape or social history of the
Town, and their preservation promotes the public welfare by making
the Town a more attractive and desirable place to live and work.
B.Â
The intent of the bylaw is not to permanently prevent
demolition, but rather, to provide an opportunity to develop preservation
solutions for properties threatened with demolition through a six-month
delay in issuing a demolition permit. In addition, this delay will
give the Middleton Historical Commission ("the Commission") an opportunity
to document historic or important architectural resources before they
are lost from Middleton's cultural landscape.
C.Â
The bylaw is intended to encourage and assist owners
and Townspeople to seek out persons who might be willing to purchase,
preserve, rehabilitate or restore such structures rather than demolish
them, thus limiting detrimental effect of demolition on the historical
architectural resources of the Town.
D.Â
To achieve these purposes, the Commission is empowered
to advise the Building Commissioner with respect to the issuance of
permits for demolition of significant structures, and, where appropriate
and consistent with the intent and purpose of this bylaw, to allow
demolition under conditions designed to minimize the loss of distinctive
features of significant structures.
Any combination of materials forming a shelter for persons,
animals or property.
Any day which is not a legal municipal holiday, Saturday
or Sunday.
The Middleton Historical Commission.
Any act of pulling down, destroying, removing, razing or
moving a building or structure or any portion thereof, or commencing
the work of moving or of total or substantial destruction of a structure
or portion thereof, with the intent of completing the same.
The evaluation process by which the Commission determines
if a structure or building complies with the definition of "significant
building or structure" or "preferably preserved."
Any significant building or structure that has been determined
by the Commission, because of its importance to the historical and/or
cultural resources of the Town, to be in the public interest to preserve.
Buildings and structures listed on the Massachusetts Historical
Commission's MACRIS (Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System)
inventory of cultural and historic resources in the Town of Middleton.
The provisions of this bylaw shall apply only
to any building or structure which, in whole or in part, conforms
to the definition of "significant building or structure."
A.Â
No demolition of a building or structure, or any portion
of a significant building or structure, shall be permitted except
in conformity with the provisions of this bylaw.
B.Â
Upon receipt of an application for a demolition permit
for any significant building or structure, or portion thereof, the
Building Commissioner shall forward a copy thereof to the Commission
within five business days, and shall notify the applicant in writing
of this action. No demolition permit shall be issued at that time.
C.Â
Within 21 business days of its receipt of a copy of
an application for a demolition permit, the Commission shall make
an initial determination as to the significance of the subject structure.
The initial determination shall be positive if the structure, or a
portion thereof, meets one or other of the qualifying criteria defined
in "significant structure." Otherwise, the initial determination shall
be in the negative. The Commission shall notify the applicant of the
meeting at which it intends to make its initial determination at least
seven days in advance of said meeting, and the applicant shall be
given an opportunity to make a presentation to the Commission.
D.Â
The Commission shall notify the Building Commissioner,
Planning Board, Board of Appeals and the applicant in writing within
10 business days of its initial determination. If the initial determination
is in the negative, or if the Commission fails to notify the Building
Commissioner of its initial determination within the said 10 business
days, the Building Commissioner may, subject to the requirements of
the State Building Code and any other applicable law, bylaws, rules
and regulations, issue a demolition permit.
E.Â
If the Commission's initial determination is positive,
the Commission shall, within 30 days of its determination, conduct
a public hearing to determine whether the significant structure is
preferably preserved; the Commission shall give public notice of said
hearing by publishing notice of the time, place, and purpose of the
hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town twice, the
first notice to be published at least 14 days before the hearing and
the second notice no more than seven days before the hearing, and
by mailing a copy of said notice to the applicant, to the owner of
the premises on which the significant structure is located (if other
than the applicant) to the owners of all property within 300 feet
of the premises on which the significant structure is located as appearing
on the most recent tax list, and to such other persons as the Commission
shall deem entitled to notice.
F.Â
If, after a public hearing, the Commission determines
that demolition of the significant structure would not be detrimental
to the historical or architectural heritage or resources of the Town,
the Commission shall so notify the applicant, the owner, if other
than the applicant, and the Building Commissioner, in writing, within
10 business days of such determination. Upon receipt of such notice,
or upon the expiration of 10 business days from the date of the close
of the Commission's public hearing without having received any notification
from the Commission, the Building Commissioner may, subject to the
requirements of the State Building Code and any other applicable laws,
bylaws, rules and regulations, issue a demolition permit for the subject
structure.
G.Â
If, after the public hearing, the Commission determines
that demolition of the significant structure would be detrimental
to the historical or architectural heritage or resources of the Town,
such structure shall be considered to be a preferably preserved structure,
and the Commission shall so advise the applicant, the owner if other
than the applicant, and the Building Commissioner, in writing, within
10 business days, and no demolition permit shall be issued until six
months after the date of such determination by the Commission.
H.Â
During the six-month delay period following the Commission's
determination that a structure is to be considered preferably preserved,
the Commission shall notify the Massachusetts Historical Commission,
the Town Administrator, and any other interested party in an effort
to obtain assistance in obtaining preservation funding or in finding
an adaptive use of the structure which will result in its preservation.
I.Â
Notwithstanding the preceding subsections, the Building
Commissioner may issue a demolition permit for a preferably preserved
significant structure at any time after receipt of written advice
from the Commission to the effect that:
(1)Â
Commission is satisfied that there is no reasonable
likelihood that either the owner or some other person or group is
willing to purchase, preserve, rehabilitate or restore such structure,
or
(2)Â
Commission is satisfied that for at least three months
the owner has made continuing, bona fide and reasonable efforts to
locate a purchaser to preserve, rehabilitate and restore the subject
structure, and that such efforts have been unsuccessful;
(3)Â
Commission has determined that the proposed moving
or demolition may be conducted in a specified manner so as not to
be detrimental to the historical or architectural heritage or resources
of the Town.
Once a significant building or structure is
determined to be a preferably preserved structure, the owner shall
be responsible for properly securing the building or structure, if
vacant, to the satisfaction of the Building Commissioner. Should the
owner fail to so secure the building or structure, a subsequent destruction
of the structure at any time during the six-month demolition delay
period, which destruction could have been prevented by the required
security measures, shall be considered a demolition in violation of
this bylaw.
A.Â
Notwithstanding the following provisions, the Building
Commissioner may issue a demolition permit at any time in the event
of imminent and substantial danger to the health or safety of the
public due to deteriorating conditions. Prior to doing so, the Building
Commissioner shall inspect the building or structure and document,
in writing, the findings and reasons requiring an emergency demolition,
a copy of which shall be forwarded immediately to the Commission.
Before allowing emergency demolition, the Building Commissioner shall
make every effort to inform the Chairperson of the Commission of their
intention to allow demolition before they issue a permit for emergency
demolition.
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28]
B.Â
No provision of this bylaw is intended to conflict
with or abridge any obligations or rights conferred by MGL c. 143
regarding removal or demolition of dangerous or abandoned structures.
In the event of a conflict, the applicable provisions of c. 143 shall
control.
Nothing in this bylaw shall be deemed to conflict
with the provisions of the Historic Districts Act, MGL c. 40C,
with respect to requirements of notice, hearing and issuance by the
Commission of a certificate of appropriateness, a certificate of nonapplicability
or a certificate of hardship prior to demolition of any building or
structure in an historic district.
A.Â
The Building Commissioner is specifically authorized
to institute any actions, in law or in equity, as deemed necessary
to obtain compliance with the requirement of this bylaw to prevent
a threatened violation thereof.
B.Â
Except as provided below, whenever a significant building
or structure or any portion thereof has been voluntarily demolished
in violation of this bylaw, and for a period of two years after the
date of completion of such demolition, no building permit shall be
issued with respect to any premises upon which such demolition has
occurred. As used herein, "premises" includes the parcel of land upon
which the demolished significant structure was located.
C.Â
Notwithstanding the foregoing, whenever the Commission
shall, on its own initiative, or on application of the landowner,
determine that earlier reconstruction, restoration or other remediation
of any demolition in violation of this bylaw better serves the intent
and purpose of this bylaw, it may, prior to the expiration of said
period of two years, but no sooner than six months from the date of
completion of any demolition in violation of this bylaw, authorize
issuance of building permit, upon such conditions as the Commission
deems necessary or appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this
bylaw, and may so notify the Building Commissioner.
If any section, paragraph or part of this bylaw
is for any reason declared invalid or unconstitutional by any court,
every other section, paragraph and part shall continue in full force
and effect.