[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of Agawam as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 12-21-1972 as
§ 4-1 of the Code of the Town of Agawam]
A.
The Building Code of the State of Massachusetts as
provided for in MGL C. 143, § 93 et seq. is hereby adopted
as the Building Code of the town and shall apply to the construction,
erection and repair of all buildings and structures within the town.
The effective date of this code is January 1, 1975.
B.
Copies of such code shall be on file in the Building
Department. (See MGL C. 143, § 93-100, as to provisions
establishing the State Building Code; MGL C. 143, § 92,
as to codes in effect prior to January 1, 1975.)
[Added 1-7-1981; amended 5-5-1986 by
TOR-86-11; 10-2-2000 by TOR-2000-7]
A.
Building, electrical and plumbing permit fees and
inspection certificate fees by the Inspection Services Department
or Building Department shall be waived in their entirety for buildings
or structures or parts thereof owned by the town.
B.
Inspection certificate fees by the Inspection Services
Department or Building Department shall be waived in their entirety
for buildings or structures or parts thereof used solely for religious
purposes.
C.
Nothing herein shall be construed as a waiver of the
requirement to obtain an inspection certificate or to obtain a building,
electrical, or plumbing permit.
[Added 5-17-1999 by TOR-99-1]
A.
Intent and purpose. The purpose of this section is
to preserve and protect historically significant buildings within
the Town of Agawam and to encourage owners of such buildings to seek
out persons who are willing to purchase, preserve, rehabilitate or
restore such buildings rather than demolish them. To achieve this
purpose, the Agawam Historical Commission is empowered to advise the
Inspector of Buildings with respect to the issuance of permits for
demolition of historically significant buildings. The issuance of
demolition permits for historically significant buildings is regulated
as provided in this section.
B.
BUILDING
COMMISSION
DEMOLITION
HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT BUILDING
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
SIGNIFICANT BUILDING
(1)
(2)
Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the
following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed
to them by this subsection:
Any combination of materials forming a shelter for persons,
animals, or property.
The Agawam Historical Commission
Any act of pulling down, destroying, removing or razing a
building or any portion thereof; or commencing the work of total or
substantial destruction with the intent of completing the same.
Any building or portion thereof which after a public hearing
of the Agawam Historical Commission:
Is deemed to be associated with one or more
historic persons or events, or with the architectural, cultural, economic,
political or social history of the Town of Agawam; or
Is historically or architecturally important
(in terms of period, style, method of building construction or association
with a famous architect or builder) either by itself or in the context
of a group of buildings or structures; or
Is located within any federal, state or local
historic district; or
Is located within 150 feet of a federal, state
or local historic district boundary.
Any building or portion thereof which:
Is included in the Agawam Inventory of Historic
Structures prepared by the Commission, as amended from time to time,
including those buildings listed for which complete surveys may be
pending; or
Is listed on, or is within an area listed on,
the National Register of Historic Places, or is the subject of a pending
application for listing on said National Register.
C.
Procedure.
(1)
Upon receipt of an application for a demolition permit
for a significant building, the Inspector of Buildings shall forward
a copy thereof to the office of Planning and Community Development.
No demolition permit shall be issued at that time.
(2)
Within five days, the office of Planning and Community
Development shall make an initial determination of the building. If
the building is listed in the Agawam Inventory of Historic Structures
or listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the initial
determination shall be positive. If the building is not listed in
the Inventory or on the National Register of Historic Places, the
initial determination shall be negative. If the building receives
a positive determination, the Office of Planning and Community Development
shall notify the Commission in writing of the determination. If the
building receives a negative determination, the office of Planning
and Community Development shall notify the Inspector of Buildings
in writing.
(3)
If the initial determination is negative, the Inspector
of Buildings may issue the demolition permit. If the initial determination
is positive, within 30 days of receipt of the determination from the
office of Planning and Community Development, the Commission shall
hold a public hearing. The Historical Commission shall give public
notice thereof by publishing notice of the time, place and purpose
of the hearing in a local newspaper at least 14 days before said hearing
and also within seven days of said hearing, mail a copy of said notice
to the applicant, to the owners of all property deemed by the Commission
to be affected thereby as they appear in the records of the Assessor's
office, and to such other persons as the Commission shall deem entitled
to notice.
(4)
If, after such hearing, the Commission determines
that the demolition of the significant building would not be detrimental
to the historical or architectural heritage or resources of the town,
the Commission shall so notify the Inspector of Buildings within 10
days. Upon receipt of such notification, or after the expiration of
15 days from the date of the conduct of the hearing if the Inspector
of Buildings has not received notification from the Commission, the
Inspector of Buildings may, subject to the requirements of the state
building code and any other applicable laws, ordinances, rules and
regulations, issue the demolition permit.
(5)
If the Commission determines that the demolition of
the significant building would be detrimental to the historical or
architectural heritage or resources of the town, such building shall
be considered a historically significant building. The Commission
shall notify the Massachusetts Historic Commission, the office of
Planning and Community Development, and other interested parties requesting
assistance in preservation funding and adaptive reuses.
(6)
Upon a determination by the Commission that the significant
building which is the subject of the application for a demolition
permit is a historically significant building, the Commission shall
so advise the applicant and the Inspector of Buildings, and no demolition
permit may be issued until at least six months alter the date of such
determination by the Commission.
(7)
The Commission and other appropriate town departments
shall make all efforts to assist the applicant in the preservation,
rehabilitation, and/or restoration of the historically significant
building(s). Such efforts may include seeking buyers for the property,
seeking grants for preservation, rehabilitation and/or restoration,
or obtaining other professional assistance.
(8)
Notwithstanding the preceding subsection, the Inspector
of Buildings may issue a demolition permit for a historically significant
building at any time after receipt of written advice from the Commission
to the effect that either:
(a)
The 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 building;
or
(b)
The Commission is satisfied that, for at least six
months since the determination that the building is a historically
significant building, the owner has made continuing, bona fide and
reasonable efforts to locate a purchaser to preserve, rehabilitate
and restore the building, and that such efforts have been unsuccessful.
D.
Enforcement and remedies.
(1)
The Inspector of Buildings is authorized to institute
any and all proceedings in law or equity as he or she deems necessary
and appropriate to obtain compliance with the requirements of this
section, or to prevent violation thereof.
(2)
No building permit shall be issued with respect to
any premises upon which a significant building has been voluntarily
demolished in violation of this section for a period of two years
after the date of the completion of such demolition, such date of
completion to be determined by the Inspector of Buildings. As used
herein "premises" includes the parcel of land upon which the demolished
significant building was located.
E.
Severability. If any subsection and/or portion of
this section is for any reason declared invalid or unconstitutional
by any court, every other subsection and/or portion shall continue
in full force and effect.
[On 12-5-2016 by TR-2016-64, the Town adopted 780 CMR
115, Appendix A (the Stretch Energy Code) of the Massachusetts Board
of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS), including future editions,
amendments or modifications thereto, effective 1-2-2017.]
