Panel unanimously turns thumbs down on Weirs house demolition

LACONIA — The city’s Heritage Commission has turned thumbs down on a request to demolish an historic house in Weirs Beach, meaning at the very least the building will not be torn down anytime soon.

The commission voted 5-0 against a request by the owners of a 150-year-old house at 76 Lakeside Ave., who want to tear down the structure. Members of the commission said demolishing the structure, which is close to several other late 19th century buildings which overlook Lake Winnipesaukee, was unnecessary, short-sighted, and would erode the historic character of the area.

“The house opens up the historical character of The Weirs,” commission member Jane Whitehead said, during the hour-long public hearing Wednesday. “It would lose a chunk of its charm” if the building was demolished, she added.

The building’s owners want to tear down the two-story, gingerbread house because it has been vacant for the past three years and, they argue, a single-family residence is not the highest and best use of the land, which is in the Commercial-Resort zone.

The commission now has 10 days to schedule another meeting with the owners to discuss any alternatives to demolishing the structure, Planning Director Dean Trefethen explained Thursday.

“If at that meeting no agreement is reached the commission has 10 days to decide whether to allow the demolition to proceed, or to petition the City Council for a 60-day extension during which time the commission would attempt to raise funds to save the building or remove it from its present location,” Trefethen said.

The City Council has the option to grant or deny that request, Trefethen said. While the commission can delay the demolition of a building that is more than 50 years old, it has no authority to forbid a demolition from taking place.

Robert Csendes bought the property four years ago. The house has been unoccupied since a tenant moved out three years ago, he said recently.

“I don’t want the building to be sitting vacant,” said Csendes, a part owner of 76 Lakeside LLC, the legal entity which owns the building.

Emily Ricard, another part owner, told the commission Wednesday it was willing to donate the house to anyone interested in preserving the structure who would move it off the property, and further would give $10,000 to help defray the moving cost.

Robert Ames, who owns property and several businesses in Weirs Beach, spoke against the demolition plan. He said development in that part of the city is difficult because of the short tourist season. He noted commercial buildings which have been torn down in recent years have not been replaced with new businesses, but instead have been paved over for parking.

Ames said that the fact that the owners have no specific plans for the property once the building is demolished is particularly worrisome.

“If there was a proposal to put something there, then we could make an evaluation if the new use would be an addition to the area,” he said.

State Rep. Charlie St. Clair was also concerned by the lack of plans for a new use of the property.

“My worry is that it will be a parking lot and will stay that way for a long time,” he said.

Ricard said that is not the owners’ intent.

She said the building needs to come down in order to do the surveys and other studies needed to find out specifically what kind of new building the land could support.

“They can’t figure what could be built until after the building comes down,” she said.

Whitehead, however, disagreed, saying there is non-invasive technology which can determine what material is beneath the surface of property that eliminates the need to dig test pits or bore holes in the ground.

Tara Shore, who serves on the Historic District Commission, said if the owner chose to preserve the building it could likely qualify for a break on its property taxes, eligible for properties where the preservation of historic character would be seen as an economic benefit to an area.