The Bradford Historic Architectural Review Board received the
resignation of two of its members, including the chairman of the
board Mark Luciano, at its meeting Thursday.
The board also approved a recommendation of a potentially
controversial issue in giving the OK for demolition of a house that
is considered a contributing building to the historic district.
According Luciano, the application for demolition of a house
owned by and located next to the Church of the Ascension on
Chautauqua Place came before the board at the September
meeting.
Regarding the resignations, he said the outcome of the vote and
the situation between Roger Feura and his application for
demolition of the building at 45 Main St. were reasons he and
Charla Munn decided to resign.
Due to the restrictions the board is responsible to follow,
Luciano and Munn felt their roles in volunteering for the board
didn’t always match their own feelings toward continually rising
issues, he said.
Knowing that they might have to deny the church the right to
tear the building down, Luciano said he decided to resign from the
board.
“We have rules and regulations we have to follow and a historic
building is considered a contributing building (to the historic
district,) and that building is one,” said Luciano. “I don’t know
why. They don’t want it.”
He said they tabled the application at the HARB meeting in
September to give the applicants time to come up with another
possibility that would help them fall within the guidelines of what
is required to see the demolition of a contributing historic
building come to fruition.
Luciano provided an example in the issue with Tops Friendly
Markets several years ago when officials approached the board to
tear down the old store building to make room for the new building
while tearing down St. Bernard Church rectory and the convent that
were located in the historic district.
He said the board was able to approve the demolition because it
would result in an economic advancement for the city, which was one
of the criteria set by the state that would allow the board to
approve the application.
The HARB is responsible for making a decision within 30 days as
mandated by the state, or the application for demolition of the
house on Chautauqua Place would be automatically approved.
At the meeting were supporters of the demolition of the house
including Debbie Cavagnaro, senior warden of the church, and Bill
Tremaine, a junior warden, as well as Bob Costello, manager of
Emery Towers, whose parking lot abuts the house.
Luciano read from a letter from Michel Lefevre, the director of
HARB at the state level, which gave reasons the application for
demolition might not be approved.
Listed were the loss of tax base for the structure, which were
$219 for the city, $152 for the county, and $485 in school taxes;
loss of revenue for the building; and the fact that since the
building could be sold, hardship (to the current owner) was hard to
be discovered.
“We need to protect our historic resources,” Luciano quoted from
the letter.
Cavagnaro asked how the decision was made to tear down the
convent which sat next to the former St. Bernard Elementary School
and is not being utilized by Tops for parking or any part of their
new building.
After some discussion, a man in the back supporting the church
request said, “We are just looking for some consistency.”
Sally Costik, curator of the Bradford Landmark Society who sits
on the HARB, was asked what historical value the house had. She
said what they know is that it was built in 1895 and was actually
two houses put together during World War II.
Tremaine and Cavagnaro explained that they had to keep the rent
low in the house so as not to make too much money from their
tenants. They also said the plumbing and heating systems need
work.
“We are in the religious business, we are not supposed to make
money,” said Tremaine.
Costello said, “We are not going to leave an eyesore there. It’s
not as though someone is going to drive by and say, ‘I wanted to
live there and they tore it down.'”
An agreement between the church and Emery Towers exits where
Costello will add parking in the area the house sits when it is
demolished.
Gloria Colella, a member of the HARB made the motion to approve
the application for demolition.
Costik asked what the state would say if they did approve the
application.
Luciano said they are a board in Bradford and, “we are here to
do what is best. We have a job to do and we have responsibility to
the citizens, too.”
Luciano asked for a second on the motion. There was no
response.
Colella said, “The people who make the rules don’t know – they
don’t live here.”
Finally, Tom Seagren seconded the motion. Voting yes were
Seagren, Colella, and Greg Nickel. Costik voted no. Luciano
abstained for personal reasons and Fire Chief Bill McCormack asked,
“Are we going to run into a problem with the Feura building
later?”
The issue with the building at 45 Main St. owned by Feura
includes the fact that Feura bought the building in March and has
decided to tear it down and make way for a parking lot. HARB denied
his first application because it was incomplete. The Downtown
Bradford Revitalization Corp. members claim they have a right to
buy the building before it could have been sold to Feura and they
would not approve of removal of the building for a parking lot.
Feura has announced he plans to re-apply for demolition adding
in all of the previous missing pieces.
After some discussion, McCormack voted yes. But the vote was
still only four to one when Luciano decided to change his
abstention to vote yes. The issue will now go before city
council.
With the vote finished, Luciano read the resignation
letters.
Luciano writes in his letter, “As chairman of the HARB, I felt
that by giving of my expertise as a building contractor, I could
help the city and property owners in the district.
“As a small business owner, I know it is difficult to run a
successful business,” continues the letter. “I feel that I am not
helping those I respect the most. Therefore, I must resign.”
