Southborough panel declines to deem outbuilding at 11 Newton Street historically significant

The Southborough Historical Commission voted Sept. 15 that a rear outbuilding at 11 Newton Street is not historically or architecturally significant, meaning the commission will not trigger a public hearing under the town’s demolition-delay bylaw. The vote was 2–1 with one abstention.

The commission’s determination applies only to the small garage/outbuilding at the rear of the property, not to a larger historic barn at the street that was previously altered, Chair Kevin Miller said. “The point of tonight’s discussion is simply to determine … if the commission believes that the building has historical and or architectural significance,” Miller said during his presentation of the application.

Why it matters: a determination of historic significance would have required the commission to schedule a public hearing within 45 business days and could have led to a finding that the structure be preferentially preserved and a delay of demolition for up to nine months while potential buyers or preservation…