Town Meeting Rejects Effort to Weaken Demolition Delay
Article 27 panned as poorly written, inconsistent.
An effort to make it easier to bypass the Reading Historical Commission’s ability to delay the demolition of historical structures failed Thursday. At the second day of Town Meeting, David Mancuso of Making Reading Better presented article 27, which he crafted with the intent to create a simple process to appeal the delay. As he described it, an impacted homeowner could write a letter, appear before the Board of Selectmen, argue his or her case and receive a verdict. But the article’s opponents, including the historical commission and the bylaw committee, panned article 27 as poorly written, inaccurate and inconsistent with its intent. In response, Town Meeting Member John Carpenter asked the bylaw committee for more specific criticism. “…
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John Carpenter
10:42 am on Saturday, November 19, 2011
I was disappointed in the Bylaw Committee's vague dismissal, and the Historical Commission's claims, which misrepresented how the draft bylaw had been developed. If there's another meeting on this topic with the Historical Commission, we should ensure that it is an open meeting, and several Town Meeting members should attend to hear what is actually said, and see how constructive the Commission's… more ›