Public opposition to the destruction of the Highland Croft buildings resulted in conditions being attached to the demolition permit.
And that opposition continues to grow.
Besides the formation of a preservation group opposing the destruction of the barns and a bungalow on a piece of property that could be slated for the construction of a Home Depot, another citizens group has recently come out against the possible demolition.
The group, the Littleton Alliance, met Tuesday night to discuss the potential introduction of a big box store at the intersection of West Main Street and Interstate 93. This was one day after Littleton Town Manager Jason Hoch had issued the permits for demolition of these buildings with two conditions.
The first is that any demolition or salvaging plans be reviewed first by the fire chief and the town manager, and the other reminds the developers that they must comply with federal regulations dealing with preservations of historic buildings.
\"This gives us a chance to work constructively with any preservation efforts,\" Hoch said of the first condition. The second condition deals with federal restrictions on any pre-emptive demolition for buildings deemed historically valuable.
So far there is no time line on the plans to demolish these buildings, nor has Home Depot made any concrete plans on their arrival.
In the meantime one citizens group has started looking into its options in terms of saving the buildings on that property. As of now, there have been no offers yet to preserve the buildings, but the group (whose Web site is < a href=\"http://www.highlandcroft.org\" target=\"new_window\" > www.highlandcroft.org < /a > ) is contacting Home Depot officials in an effort to work with the company if any development on that land takes place.
Jerry Sorlucco, president of The Littleton Alliance, said people at Tuesday\'s meeting spoke about alternatives for the land, but he believes there are very few things to stop the process.
\"There is nothing in the world to prevent it,\" Sorlucco said. \"Our group has our roots in environmental causes and we are concerned we may lose that area to the big box stores. We support anything that is positive as far as keeping a historic site there, and we are also quite concerned of the effect a big box store would have on Littleton\'s infrastructure.\"
The group put forth one idea of creating middle-income housing in that area because of what it sees as a shortage of that type of housing in the Littleton area but for now, the group is concerned with the town\'s current zoning ordinances.
\"In our zoning ordinances you can put anything in a commercial area,\" Sorlucco added. \"How long before this part of town becomes another Tilton? These are very valid concerns and I think the town will have to come to grips with it.\"
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