Old Kings Highway Committee tables demolition of barn at 165 Route 6A, schedules public site visit

The Old Kings Highway Committee on Monday tabled a request to demolish a barn at 165 Route 6A and asked the applicant to allow a publicly noticed site visit before the committee decides whether to permit demolition.

The action came after the applicant’s agent, Christopher Weeks, owner-operator at Weeks on the Cape, told the committee the barn’s interior was extensively deteriorated. “The inside of the barn just was not worth salvaging whatsoever,” Weeks said, describing beetle damage, decayed foundation conditions and extensive replacement lumber inside the structure. Owner Greg Belzecian (listed on the agenda) told the committee he plans to return the barn to residential use and removed a commercial tenant prior to pursuing the project.

Committee members and attendees pressed for additional fact-finding. One committee member said they would not support demolition “without looking at it first,” and members raised two procedural concerns that must be resolved before demolition can be authorized: the town building official’s guidance about the sequence of reviews and an outstanding side-setback/variance issue that appears to require Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) action. The meeting record shows the building inspector (referred to in the discussion as Mark Rills) had advised the applicants to appear before the Old Kings Highway Committee before going to the ZBA; committee members nevertheless said they needed a site visit to assess whether the barn could be salvaged.

Resident Sharon Hamilton, who said she walks past the barn daily, asked what criteria the committee would use to judge salvageability; a committee member replied that internal structural conditions — notably beams and joists visible on an interior inspection — would determine whether rehabilitation was feasible.

After discussion, a committee member moved to table application 25D002 and to plan a public site visit. The motion was seconded and the committee voted to table the application; committee members stated they would not authorize demolition without the site visit and resolution of outstanding permitting questions. The applicant said he will await ZBA action (the owner indicated a ZBA appearance scheduled for April 24) and that he did not intend to demolish the barn without necessary approvals.

What’s next: The committee directed staff to post and publicize a site visit so members and interested residents can inspect the building. The committee will take up the application again after the site visit and after any relevant ZBA determinations are complete.