Historic building preserved

I really feel bad the the property owners here. That house is worthless. I hope there is some govt body that can over-rule the Hysterical Commission

Another case of over zealous tree hugging, nut and berry eating crackpots trying to push there agenda onto the owners of the property. We can only hope that saner heads will prevail at higher levels.Historical commisions should not have the power to do such things,This decision is foolish from all angles and the commision should be ashamed for making it without having any plans for the owners on how they could facilitate the needed repairs.

Unfortunately, that's how it goes. So unless the owner starts renovating it, and has an accidental electrical fire that causes it to burn the ground, he's stuck. He might also want to make sure the insurance has been canceled first though....

Idiots! Well, the only viable solution is...arson!

Ahhh .. the artsy-fartsy's strike again ..
The owners should tell the earthy crunchies to pay for the renovations .. or go to court and force the town to hire a lawyer.

Hysterical Commissions are useless ..

This is a taking without due process.
Recommend the landowner appeals to Superior Court and starts costing the Town of Lenox some real money in legal fees.
Plus file a counter suit.
The sooner the town's legal bills mount, the sooner there will be a resolution in favor of the landowner.

To the landowner:
Don't waste time with the Regional Planning Commission.
That body will simply backup the Town.
In addition to an appeal in Superior Court, you might want also to file an action in federal court charging an illegal taking.
The sooner the Town of Lenox's legal fees go up, the sooner they'll want to settle.

HellerCarbonCapNTradeCo wrote:

To the landowner:
Don't waste time with the Regional Planning Commission.
That body will simply backup the Town.
In addition to an appeal in Superior Court, you might want also to file an action in federal court charging an illegal taking.
The sooner the Town of Lenox's legal fees go up, the sooner they'll want to settle.

Heller,
I'd be careful with that advice.
Lenox has pretty deep pockets, if the land owner had enough cash to send Lenox to the poor house, they would probably have enough chash just restore the building to its original condition. B-)

From Williamstown wrote:

<quoted text>
Heller,
I'd be careful with that advice.
Lenox has pretty deep pockets, if the land owner had enough cash to send Lenox to the poor house, they would probably have enough chash just restore the building to its original condition. B-)

Good point, but as odd as it sounds, and as rare as it might be to find in Berkshire County, some people do have priciples.
Further, if the landowner sues and wins damages, it might not cost the landowner a dime in the end.

From Williamstown wrote:

<quoted text>
Heller,
I'd be careful with that advice.
Lenox has pretty deep pockets, if the land owner had enough cash to send Lenox to the poor house, they would probably have enough chash just restore the building to its original condition. B-)

But one thing is for certain, the landowner should avoid at all costs using any Berkshire County lawyer for his litigation.
It's hard to find any in the county that are not conflicted or who wouldn't sell out the client.

A few years back, for example, a prominent Great Barrington attorney (then and now) sold out a client who was involved with litigation against both the Town of Great Barrington and Jenifer House.
Gee, now why would that happen?

Why does the Historic commission get to play God? Nostalgic fools! Nothing lasts forever.

From Williamstown wrote:

Unfortunately, that's how it goes. So unless the owner starts renovating it, and has an accidental electrical fire that causes it to burn the ground, he's stuck. He might also want to make sure the insurance has been canceled first though....

WRONG!!!! Bury the town with serious litigation and costs. They WILL cave before they exhaust the towns resources. How do you think Austin Riggs gets what they want.

Captain Toke wrote:

<quoted text>
WRONG!!!! Bury the town with serious litigation and costs. They WILL cave before they exhaust the towns resources. How do you think Austin Riggs gets what they want.

That's a different playground all together there. You need some serious money (Or friends)
to pull off hat trick like that. If this poor guy had that, it would have never made the paper.

HellerCarbonCapNTradeCo wrote:

<quoted text>
Good point, but as odd as it sounds, and as rare as it might be to find in Berkshire County, some people do have priciples.
Further, if the landowner sues and wins damages, it might not cost the landowner a dime in the end.

I have principles, they are just limited to the actions I could financially afford to take. Trying to fight the historical commission would not be an economically viable move to make, unless (like you said) you could afford to go out of house for legal counsel, and keep the pressure on.