A public hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 30, about a revised application submitted by the owner of the Baxter House to subdivide the property. The hearing will be held at Village Hall at 7:30 p.m.
“The homeowner has submitted revised plans to attempt to respond to public and Planning Board comments at the Dec. 21 Planning Board meeting on the proposed subdivision,” said Baxter Estates Mayor Nora Haagenson. “The village has repeatedly sought cooperation from the owner in taking basic steps to stabilize the structure as the owner explores whether they can obtain necessary village approvals for possible projects. Presently, the applicant is asking to subdivide the property, to maintain and renovate the Baxter House on one lot and build a new home on the proposed new lot.”
The house was recently tarped and the windows were covered with plastic by a contractor hired by the homeowner to protect it.
“In January, the village board adopted amendments to its historic preservation law that the village believes strengthens its ability to require maintenance steps by the owner,” said Mayor Haagenson. “Members of the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society urged basic remedial steps, such as the protective tarp, that the board of trustees also had been contemplating. After the January meeting, the village attorney advised the owner’s counsel that the owner would need to take remedial steps, primarily installation of a tarp, recommended by the village building inspector, by the end of February, or the village would need to consider instituting formal enforcement to require such steps. The owner then retained a contractor to install the tarp, which was completed on Feb. 19.”
The tarp on the roof and plastic over the windows withstood, for the most part, a wind storm on Feb. 24. “It is the hope of the village that, with the tarp in place, the structure is stabilized while paths to restore the building are explored,” said the Mayor.
