Hefty fines issued for illegal demolition
It’s gone and no amount of money is going to bring it back.
That’s the hard truth about the historic building at 531 Commercial St., which was illegally torn down in December. And the historic district commission imposed a retroactive $250-a-day fine in hopes of deterring other buildings from being illegally demolished. Parker Thompson, the Providence, R.I.-based contractor, will be charged what is estimated to be nearly $30,000 in fines for the violations.
The commission reports it is pleased with what it views to be a “hefty” fine, but that there is growing concern in Provincetown that wealthy property owners who see such fines as chump change may circumvent rules and regulations.
“I think that we should look at making sure the fines work,” Selectwoman Michele Couture said at a recent meeting. “I think the fine for an illegal teardown should be the assessed value of the home at the time. That will make sure these don’t happen again.”
The owners of the property in question are Richard and Cheryl Bready of Providence, R.I. Richard Bready is the chief executive officer of Nortek, Inc., a Providence, R.I.-based company that makes residential and commercial building products. According to the firm’s annual report, in 2005 he received more than $40 million in compensation. But the fines are being levied against Parker Thompson, who did not have permission from the historic district commission to tear down the historic building. Contractor Glenn Parker asked the commission to charge him the fines as he took responsibility for the illegal actions rather than levy fines against the Breadys.
Initially, the plans approved were for renovations to the 1900 historic home.
But once the project was under way, Parker returned to the building department with plans for demolition. He said he was not told he needed to return to the historic district commission for demolition approval.
The fines will stop accruing once the exterior of the newly completed house is finished.
The issue of historic homes being demolished will prove to be an issue in the future as the historic district commission said it has seen a sharp increase in demolition applications.
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