The Community Preservation Committee has recommended that Town Meeting approve the purchase of the site of the former Full Sail [bar] for the sum of $665,000 and approve the expenditure of another $220,000 to then demolish the dilapidated structure and construct improvements on the then vacant land. There are apparently twin rationales for this proposal: The removal of a longstanding eyesore and the acquisition of public access to the ocean.
I suggest that the town separate these twin rationales and deal with them separately.
The demolition of the dilapidated structure is the more urgent priority and should therefore be addressed first. State law (G. L. Chapter 139, Section 3: Abatement or Removal of Nuisance by [Select Board]) authorizes a SB to order a property owner to abate a public nuisance and, if the owner fails to comply with such an order, to demolish the structure that constitutes the public nuisance at the owner’s expense, the cost of which then constitutes a lien on the land. There is no reason why the Town should expend public money to demolish a structure that the property owner has allowed to become a public nuisance. The prospect of imminent municipal demolition should serve to sharpen the pencil of the owner in determining a more reasonable sale price to the Town. In the case of the Full Sail, this means subtracting $220,000 from $665,000 rather than adding $220,000 to $665,000.
The same approach should be taken with respect to [the former] Bert’s restaurant.
– Richard M. Serkey