LONDONDERRY — The owner of a historic barn located at 2 Litchfield Road has received approval from the Historic Heritage Commission to tear it down.
And at least one member of the commission wasn’t happy about it.
“I’m a little emotional about this,” said member Laura Schenkman. “I got on the commission to preserve history. They met the requirement. That’s what we’re voting on and there’s nothing that supersedes that. If we allow our emotions to get ahead of us, then we will be here until midnight.”
The public hearing was held after the commission had previously dismissed the demolition request in July. At that meeting, the commission said barn owner Richard Flier could request demolition again after getting a licensed engineer’s report regarding the safety of the building.
On Friday night, Flier and his lawyer Laura Gandia submitted the report to the commission, saying the findings were extremely similar to what Zoning Administrator Nick Codner and Assistant Building Inspector Brad Anderson had previously submitted to the commission.
“He said, because of these issues, any attempt at remedial work would be unsafe for those involved due to the existing deterioration in structural instability and is not recommended,” Gandia said.
The report noted several major areas of concern, including the stone foundation being reduced to rubble, the majority of the roof being rotted, and roof beams sagging to the point of imminent structure failure.
The main reason Flier needed permission for the barn’s demolition was because the building is in a Commercial III zone, a town historic overlay, and has a historical easement that was placed in 2006.
The easement became the subject of discussion at a June 2023 Town Council meeting, where the town ultimately kept it. This makes it more difficult to update the exterior of the barn and building because renovations must meet the preservation standards of the easement.
Attendees of the public hearing defended the structure. Elizabeth Gillis, a resident and business owner in town, spoke about how the barn had initially attracted her to the property years ago and she had originally thought of purchasing the land to make it into a business space.
Former Town Councilor Deb Paul had previously owned the building, and said during public comment that she had spent approximately $70,000 in fixes for the building. She urged the commission to demand Flier build a similar barn in its stead, saying she had to face stipulations like that when she had been the owner.
“One of the things that I was hoping is that you would put restrictions that he must replace it with a barn that looks exactly like the barn that was taken down and hopefully encourage Mr. Flier to use some of the pieces of the beams within the new structure that he plans on using,” she said.
Commission member Jim Butler said he agreed the building needed to be demolished, and knew that he could not speculate on what the property would be used for, but hoped that Flier would not use the vacant land to build commercial property.
“That intersection is extremely dangerous and I’m concerned about having that barn taken down,” Butler said. “I’m concerned that if we take that barn down, something could go in there that would create more traffic for that intersection.”
The next step in the process will be with the Demolition Delay Committee, who will also have to grant approval for the demolition.