Cheshire council tables townwide demolition‑delay ordinance after heated public hearing

The Cheshire Town Council on Oct. 14, 2025, held a public hearing on a proposed townwide demolition‑delay ordinance and voted to table the proposal for further review, council members said. The ordinance would have placed a 180‑day hold on demolition permits for structures 80 years or older and required Historic District Commission (HDC) review for flagged properties.

Assistant Town Planner Andrew Martelli, who presented the draft ordinance, told the council the measure grew from conversations with the Historic District Commission and would apply townwide to structures 80 years or older. “So, essentially, what this is is this is a demolition delay for any structure in town that is 80 years or older,” Martelli said, describing a process that would flag older properties in the permitting system, trigger notice and an HDC review and — if HDC found the property historic — impose a hold of up to 180 days from the date the demolition permit is submitted.

Supporters from the HDC and preservation advocates said the delay is intended to create an opportunity to salvage historic fabric or find buyers and contractors willing to rehabilitate or relocate structures rather than see materials discarded. Joseph Totillo of the Cheshire Historic District Commission said the proposal “goes back decades” and that the intent is not to block owners but to “preserve some of the character and cultural history” that defines Cheshire.

Opponents and property owners raised procedural and scope concerns. Residents at the hearing asked how many properties would be affected, whether the 80‑year threshold was arbitrary, and who would decide historical significance. Several speakers urged a narrower approach — suggestions included relying on the town’s existing inventory of historically significant properties or raising the age threshold.

Martelli provided demolition‑permit counts he said were pulled from town records: he said 2025 had seven permits (none that met the 80‑year threshold) and 2024 had seven permits, three of which he said were 80 years or older. He told the council that roughly 35 demolition permits had been pulled since 2021 but said he did not review all earlier years in detail.

Council discussion after the hearing focused on the ordinance’s details and community concerns. Councilman Wolf, who moved to table the item, said he still had “more questions than answers” after the public hearing and asked that the draft be returned to the Ordinance Review Committee (ORC) with a plan for a joint ORC–Town Council meeting so all members could consider remaining questions. Councilman Walsh seconded the motion; the council voted to table the measure unanimously.

The council instructed staff to schedule a follow‑up ORC meeting and a joint session with the full council to receive additional briefings and written questions in advance. The council also asked that ORC and staff prepare clearer descriptions of notice/appeal procedures, examples of carve‑outs and a comparison of shorter delay periods offered by other Connecticut towns.

The draft ordinance contains several specific provisions that were discussed at the hearing: the 80‑year age threshold; a 180‑day delay tied to the permit submission date; an existing 1986 historic inventory that would automatically be covered; and a 150‑foot buffer from the Town Center and South Brooksville historic district boundaries. Martelli and HDC speakers repeatedly emphasized that the delay would not permanently prevent demolition outside existing historic districts and that, if HDC finds a property not significant, the demolition permit could proceed before the full 180 days elapsed.

Next steps: the measure will return to ORC for more work and a joint meeting with the full council; no ordinance change was adopted on Oct. 14.