05/05/2025 Annual Town Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Motion passes 182 to 20 at 9:21PM Article 25 To see if the Town will vote to amend the General Bylaws as follows: Make Chapter 3, Article VI "Reserved" and renumber Historical Commission under a new Chapter 3, Article XVI; And further, adopt the following General Bylaw, and authorize the Town Clerk, with the approval of the Town Manager, to make any minor formatting and numerical changes to ensure consistency with the remainder of the Town's Bylaws: §3-60 Demolition Delay Bylaw L Establishment and Purpose. The primary responsibility of the Mashpee Historical Commission is to administer the Town's Demolition Delay Bylaw, which is established to protect the Town's historic, and aesthetic resources. Here on Cape Cod, including the nearby communities of Falmouth, Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Chatham, Orleans, Harwich, Dennis, Yarmouth and Barnstable, many have adopted such bylaws to review the proposed "demolition, partial demolition, or removal of a building or structure" that is, in whole or in part, constructed before a certain date or that appears on the national or state registers of historic places. This Bylaw is therefore adopted for the purpose of protecting the historic, and aesthetic resources of the Town of Mashpee by preserving, rehabilitating, researching, or restoring, whenever possible, historically significant structures which constitute or reflect distinctive features of the cultural, or historic resources of the Town, thereby promoting the public welfare and preserving the cultural and historic heritage of Mashpee. By discouraging the destruction of such cultural assets, it is hereby declared as a matter of public policy that the protection, enhancement, perpetuation, and use of structures of historical significance located within the Town of Mashpee is a public necessity and is required in the interest of prosperity, civic pride, and the general welfare of the citizens of Mashpee. To that end, when an application is filed to demolish or remove such a building or structure, the Historical Commission will hold a public hearing to determine if the building or structure is "historically significant" — as defined in the town's bylaw — and, if it is significant, if it is "preferably preserved" — again, as defined by the bylaw. A structure deemed by a majority vote of the Commission as "preferably preserved" cannot receive a demolition permit for 18 months from the Commission's decision. During such a delay, the Commission explores alternatives to the proposed demolition with the applicant. The Commission can lift the delay if certain conditions are met.