Tiverton Police Chief Patrick Jones, who has been serving as interim town administrator since the first week of December, predicted a reporter’s questions before he even asked them Tuesday …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
Please log in to continue |
Register to post eventsIf you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here. Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content. |
Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.
Tiverton Police Chief Patrick Jones, who has been serving as interim town administrator since the first week of December, predicted a reporter’s questions before he even asked them Tuesday morning:
“This must be about the house,” he said.
Jones, who has served in the interim role since the departure of former administrator Chris Cotta, has walked into what he acknowledged is a “firestorm” following the destruction of the historic Lafayette House at 3118 Main Road last Wednesday, Dec. 18. The historic and instantly recognizable home’s loss has galvanized the town, and Jones said he has heard from many residents upset about it.
On Tuesday, Jones said that while he does not have all the facts of the case and isn’t familiar with all the steps that went into the home’s demolition and the town’s approval of it, he will find out:
“I’m definitely going to look into this and see what role the town had, and if anything needs to be changed to better avoid these situations in the future. Are there procedures that can be put in place to either avoid these or address them?"
The permit
Kingston resident David Rose, who owns the 35.6 acres on which the home formerly sat and another 46 acres of land elsewhere in Tiverton, applied for a demolition permit in August, writing ‘No’ when prompted to state whether the 1760 home was “listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Register, or the local, Tiverton Register of Historic Places?"
Though not listed on the national register, the house is on a list of historic Tiverton structures, and "Architectural Resources of Tiverton, RI," published by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission in 1983.
One question Jones wants to answer is how the home's historic nature was missed as the demo permit was reviewed, and what, if any, penalties, exist when an application contains false information.
Hoyle on leave
That role would have fallen to building inspector and code enforcement officer John Hoyle, who has served in that role since 2021 and was serving in his role when the demo application was first received and when he signed it in late October.
But Hoyle was unavailable to comment on the issue this week — he has been on leave since the first week of December, the same week Jones took over as interim town administrator. When asked about the nature of the leave, Jones said he could not comment further, citing personnel confidentiality restraints.
But he said that in Hoyle's place, the town has hired a part time zoning official and is working with the state's office of code enforcement to help keep up with the department's heavy work load. He would comment on when or if Hoyle will return.
Increased wait period?
One thing Jones wants to get to the bottom of is the town's processes, and how they can be reviewed and improved.
Jones said he plans to speak to preservationists and Susan Anderson, a member of the Tiverton Historic Preservation Advisory Board and the Tiverton Historical Society. In an interview Monday, she bemoaned the home's loss and said the town could have had the tools to address situations like this, had officials only taken the board's advice:
Last year, several years after the destruction of the historic Wingover House in Tiverton, members of the advisory board finalized a proposed ordinance change that would have tightened reporting policies when a historic home was marked for demolition.
Currently, town ordinances require only that permits to demolish historic buildings, structures and sites can only be issued after 90 days have passed following the original application date. The change proposed by the advisory board would have increased that wait period to six months, and would also have required the building inspector to notify the board within 15 days of the original application date.
Anderson said that proposed ordinance changed was forwarded to town officials, and she does not know why it was never reviewed or put in place.
Not the first permit
The demo permit is not the first permit to raze or modify the home sought this year, according to Tiverton records.
In June, Rose applied for a building permit, writing in the application that the plan was to "remove structure," though there was no detail as to which building — the Lafayette House, or two barns on the property — would be removed. But that permit was apparently never issued, and the town's online permitting database states only that the application was "stopped" at some point, with no clarification.
As was the case with the demolition permit, Rose marked 'No' when prompted to state whether the structure at issue was historic.
Would-be preservationists had a plan
Rose did not return a voicemail left by the Sakonnet Times. But several residents said this week that they have heard that Rose, who has had the property listed for years, originally planned to move part of the structure.
Though it is not well known, the home was added on to in 1810, but the two portions were not connected, apart from non-structural lathing placed between the two separate structures.
Earlier this year, a Tiverton resident who contacted the Times Monday saw an ad on Craigslist offering the home for salvage. He was intrigued and wrote in an e-mail to the Sakonnet Times that he contacted a local preservationist who was interested in taking on the job.
Before long, he wrote, a plan was in the works to move the later 1810 addition, though he said it was clear that the earlier portion of the house was "too far gone" after sitting vacant and partially exposed to the elements for some 40 years.
He said that local preservationist, who he declined to name, brought in a crew to strip the plaster and lath, exposing posts and beams and readying (the newer portion) for removal" off the property, to land elsewhere in Tiverton.
"An architect made drawings and a structural engineer determined that the frame would comply with building codes when re-erected."
Alas, he said, "it didn't happen quickly enough. With brutal speed the building was demolished in a day."
"They're just devastated," he said Tuesday of the would-be preservationists.
Tax incentives as open space
Rose owns at least three properties in Tiverton — the Lafayette land, 15 acres directly across from it on Main Road, and another 31 acres on Seapowet Avenue, according to Tiverton tax records.
The Lafayette house has been in the Rose family for many years, and while it was assessed at a total of $794,743 for the building and land, the Tiverton Tax Assessor's office confirmed Tuesday morning that much of the 35.6 acres on which the home sat is enrolled in a tax incentive program under the state's Farm, Forest and Open Space Act, which offers land owners significant tax breaks if they use their land for related purposes.
According to the property's most recent revaluation, the home was assessed at $301,400, and the land at $493,343. However, the total assessed value is listed at $463,700, given its enrollment in the state program.
At the town's current $14.90 tax rate, Rose will save $4,490.86 per year in taxes with the home no longer being taxed.