2023-09-20-HC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Town’s plan, but according to their attorney William Dailey, the owner’s plan was to return to the Zoning Board of Appeals because the MHC has indicated that the preservation restriction will not be approved. Ms. Fenollosa asked that given that the special permit specifically referred to the Preservation Restriction and attached statement of the Historical Commission saying that the relocation and new construction of Hosmer House was approved based on the expectation that a preservation would be filed, could the ZBA waive it without coming back to the Historical Commission? Mr. Kelly stated that it is likely that ZBA would not do that. Ms. Fenollosa inquired: will the Certificate of Occupancy be issued by Building Department? Mr. Kelly stated that yes. If they cannot meet the conditions, the certificate of Occupancy will not be issued. Mr. Kalsow stated that his understanding was that the original RFP, which led to the disposition of the house, also required a Massachusetts Historical Commission preservation restriction, so if a preservation restriction is not issued, they will be in violation of RFP. Ms. Fenollosa echoed that point and stated that if responses to the RFP were conditioned on an agreement to put a preservation restriction in place, her concern was the fairness of the whole process. If that preservation restriction condition gets waived later, there may have been other developers who would have bid on the house if it did not have a restriction/requirement. Ms. Bennett stated that she was disturbed by the blatant disregard that the RFP has been violated by the homeowner, who agreed and signed that RFP for the relocation approval. Mr. Rotberg asked: was this house for sale? What were the revised plans on which the stop work order was released? Mr. Kelly stated that he had to approve the plans when he received the requested letter. Ms. Bennett reiterated that someone with historic preservation expertise should have been consulted before the stop work order had been lifted. Mr. Kelly stated that he has that expertise. Mr. Kalsow inquired about that did Mr. Kelly understand concerning what the Massachusetts Historical Commission requires? Mr. Kelly stated that it looks like it will be very difficult for MHC to support a preservation restriction on the completed house and the preservation restriction was still required to issue the Certificate of Occupancy. Ms. Bennett and Mr. Kalsow stated that the action of the developers has made it difficult for the MHC to approve the preservation restriction. Mr. Rotberg inquired about that whether the color of the house was matching the historic nature of original Hosmer House? Mr. Rotberg summarized that based on the current situation, the expectations on all parties was that the Massachusetts Historical Commission will refuse to approve this historical Preservation order. Mr. Kalsow stated that one thing we should not ignore was that ZBA can look at its own decision, but the ZBA cannot change the contract that was signed between the Town and the owner. Mr. Rotberg stated that from the Town’s point of review, the original decision could conceivably be revised. 2 / 5