Bill Fornaciari’s tenure as chair of the Community Preservation Committee was a short one – just two weeks.
Fornaciari has stepped down from his position, and the board, citing unforeseen personal reasons.
In an email to Town Clerk Kelly McElreath, Fornaciari said his resignation was effective June 27. The move also means he is no longer an alternate member of the Historic District Commission.
Fornaciari said he made the decision with his husband.
“We decided that we needed to concentrate on family and home life,” he told the Independent. “Family comes first.”
Fornaciari is an architect and a contributor to the Independent.
He was elected chair of the Community Preservation Committee June 13 to succeed Bill Keohan, who was not reappointed to the committee by the Select Board after serving on the CPC for more than two decades.
Fornaciari said he had been eager to build on Keohan’s accomplishments.
“Looking at my predecessor, the Spire (Center), Pilgrim Hall, and especially affordable housing,” he said, “I was so looking forward to be working on this stuff.”
The committee vets applications annually for some $4 million in grants to further historic preservation, open space and recreation, and affordable housing. The money comes from a 1.5 percent surcharge on Plymouth property taxes, along with additional funds from the state.
This summer, the committee is considering grant applications to restore Bug Light, to purchase cranberry bogs at Black Cat Road, to buy property at White Horse Beach on the site of the old Full Sail bar, and to build 24 affordable housing units on South Street, across the street from the Plymouth Public Library
Fornaciari said quitting his committee positions was hard.
“My passion is architecture,” he said. “My passion is historic preservation.”
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.