Thursday, November 20, 2014

Landmarks: Resubmit plans for partially razed home

A few days ago posted a story from Jose Lambiet's Gossip Extra on a preservation drama going on in Palm Beach. The builder hired to do the 'construction' made some videos and posted them to Facebook. To say he regrets doing that is an understatement. Yesterday he appeared before the Landmarks Commission to explain himself. Again, this is not a situation in which you wish to find yourself before a historic preservation board. This is from the Shiny Sheet's David Rogers on their meeting yesterday and the builders explanation: 
During the meeting, Cooley [Chairman William Cooley] had staff show video clips Rossi [builder John Rossi] made documenting construction progress for owner Chuck Schumacher. In two clips Rossi had posted to Facebook, he jokes about the home’s condition.
“Here’s your house. Ain’t much left of it,” Rossi said with a chuckle. “Just a few feet. It is what it is, buddy. All for you.”
Rossi apologized for how he described the project in the clips.
“It’s my nature to be comical,” he said. “I did this job on a fixed (price) contract and I am just trying to kill the pain with humor. I didn’t mean to offend anybody.”
Rossi apologized for removing the 20-foot section without the town’s approval on Sept.2 but said the demolition was needed to protect workers’ lives. After crews cut windows into the second floor of the home’s front section, a doorway there ripped apart, Rossi said.