HomeMy WebLinkAboutBarn Letter 5/29/25 RECEIVED
Donald W Bourne MAY 2 9 2025
37 Church Street, POB 192
Yarmouth Port BUILDING DEPARTMi=NT 508-375-0937
MA 02675 By onbourneI comcast.net
Mark Grylls
Building Commissioner
Yarmouth Town Hall
1146 Route 28
South Yarmouth
MA 02664
Dear Commissioner Grylls,
In 1997 I bought my house,at 37 Church Street,Yarmouth Port,after verifying that the
land it overlooks to the northward is conservation land and unbuildable. Back then it
was held temporarily by the Nature Conservancy while its permanent status was settled.I
am now my children's tenant here under a QPRT.
That conservation easement on the land to my north was sought—presumably for tax
purposes—by the Carter family, long-time residents. For their own use they reserved
some acres,a house at No.38 Church St.,outbuildings and a barn.At the time,John
Carter—now deceased—lived there and farmed part of the conservation portion.(A
small public park to the west of his garden is a memorial to Anthony Thacher,an early
resident.)
These properties are well-within the Old King's Highway Historic District in a choice
neighborhood,with nothing in the view to the north but conservation land and salt
marsh.Tha';_,was'he main reason i bought my pace back w:aen I did.
Since John Carter's death in 2017 various family members and others have irregularly
occupied the Carter house and an adjacent cottage. Like most old Cape barns,the Cart-
ers'showed growing signs of decay, notably when its cupola,a summer nesting platform
for ospreys popular with birdwatchers,toppled over.
In 2022,Tim Carter,one of the family,a builder and Vermont resident,applied for a
demolition permit and fenced the barn around to contain salvaged lumber.Two local
preservationists intervened and at a Special Town Meeting on October 22,2022 that
demolition was suspended.The interveners were granted a stay of 6 months to arrange
somehow to save the barn. In more than 21/2 years—long past the stay granted—nothing
has come of that. There was never a "save the barn" effort that I, an Abutter, or my
neighbors are aware of.
The barn kept decaying and now—the result of a storm in October '23—has
collapsed. There can be no question that this wreckage blights the neighborhood and has
significantly reduced its neighbors' property values. Below is a view from my front door:
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In no Yarmouth neighborhood, including our Historic District, would such wreckage be
permitted to remain. The owners, the Carters, were in the process of removing it when
they were interrupted for six months at the Special Town meeting mentioned, that period
has long ended.
Please confirm to us that the demolition permit has been reinstated and see to it that the
planned demolition is carried out as originally authorized, that any salvage is cleared
away within a reasonable time, and that the cleared site and foundation hole are suitably
filled and landscaped in compliance with Town and Historic District guidelines.
Yours truly,
Donald W. Bourne cc: Timothy Carter
Barbara Carter