• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School news
  • Pre-schools in Wellesley
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Business news
  • Embracing diversity
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Fire & police scanner
  • Worship
  • POPS Senior Profiles
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Live gov’t meetings
  • Events
  • About us
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

New Wellesley bylaw could make town less of a teardown target

April 26, 2017 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

After a school vacation break, a refreshed Wellesley Town Meeting was right back at it this week mulling another significant proposed bylaw addressing the changing face of the town’s housing market.

And like the TLAG Amendment to the Large House Review bylaw that passed two weeks ago, the Historic Preservation Demolition Review bylaw got Town Meeting’s blessing this week. The demolition review bylaw passed via a clear voice vote, whereas the TLAG vote was closer, and determined by actually counting those for and against (catch a recording of the Demolition Review bylaw discussion on Wellesley Public Media here).

The Wellesley Historical Commission has been gathering public input on the concept for this newest bylaw for some time now, including through a petition posted last summer.

The Commission has cited the town’s comprehensive plan as recommending that a demolition delay be imposed on homes with possible historical significance, and Commission chairman Arvid von Taube apologized on behalf of the Commission for taking so long to bring such a bylaw proposal to Town Meeting.  Fellow Commission member Grant Brown also pointed to the fact that all of Wellesley’s neighboring towns have such a practice — and that many are expanding those rules. “That Wellesley is an outlier is widely known,” he said.

The fact that Wellesley hasn’t had such a rule has lured many a developer to town to snap up teardown targets and plop down giant replacement homes for a relatively quick profit. More than 614 homes have been torn down in Wellesley since 2007, and currently there’s a teardown every four days, according to the Commission. The bylaw would seek to protect “the Wellesley we know and love but which is evaporating before us every single day with each teardown that contributed to our historic fabric,” von Taube said.

14 Winslow Rd. teardown, June 2014

The citizen and town meeting member discussion that followed presentations by von Taube and Brown included numerous testimonials regarding the demise of Wellesley’s historic and diverse housing stock — a housing stock that has been an attraction to many in moving here. Those apprehensive of the bylaw, or straight-out against it, worried that the decisions of the town as to what is or is not historic could be too subjective and could burn those who really need to sell their homes in a hurry. And that included some on the Board of Selectmen, which voted 3-2 against the bylaw. Some suggested that a continued influx of larger homes is just a reality and that hopes of Wellesley returning to a time when affordable starter homes would be among the mix are deluding themselves, with even basic Capes going for more than $1M.

The Historical Commission’s reps stressed that the bylaw is not a ban on teardowns of homes built before Dec. 31, 1949 (the date specified in the bylaw) nor “anti-development”, but rather presents an opportunity to pause and have a conversation about properties that would preferably be preserved before it’s too late to save some of them and perhaps the trees surrounding them. The Commission’s hope is that the bylaw could result in more renovations and additions, rather than demolitions.

image_print

Filed Under: Houses, Real estate

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements:

Linden Square, Wellesley
Wonderful Wellesley, Lockheart
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Beacon Hill Athletic Clubs, Wellesley
Volvo
Prepped and Polished Boston Tutoring and Test Prep
Cheesy Street Grill
Admit Fit, Wellesley
Mature Caregivers
charles river chamber
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Most Read Posts

  • Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)
  • Friday is letters-to-the-editor day on The Swellesley Report
  • Congratulations to the Wellesley High Class of '23
  • Boston Calling 2023: Music marathon makes for Memorial Day Weekend to remember
  • Wellesley Athlete of the Week: Track & Field’s Lillie Caiazzo

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Upcoming Events

Jun 6
10:00 am - 11:30 am

Select Board office hours

Jun 6
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

2023 Wellesley Democratic Town Committee Caucus

Jun 8
10:00 am - 11:00 am Event Series

Tour at Boston Outdoor Preschool Network

Jun 10
10:00 am - 11:30 am

Rules of the Ride bike safety event

Jun 10
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Soirée For WTP…A Teal Tie Affair

View Calendar

Recent Comments

  • Bob Brown on Wellesley Trails Committee guided trail walk: Hemlock Gorge & Echo Bridge (June 3, 9-10am)
  • Anne on Wellesley Trails Committee guided trail walk: Hemlock Gorge & Echo Bridge (June 3, 9-10am)
  • Bob Brown on New Wellesley Square high rise is for the birds
  • Mauyra on New Wellesley Square high rise is for the birds
  • Ellen on Wellesley Rec to make pickleball rec to schools, NRC

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group
Deland, Gibson, Wellesley
  • swellesley reach ad
  • support swellesley
Rick Cram, leader

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login