Historical Commission certifies 196 North Road as significant, starting demolition plan clock

SUDBURY — January 17, 2023 — Sudbury Historical Commission deems 196 North Road significant and rejects Sudbury TV's CPC bid. The 6-0 vote on the roughly 1750 Haynes family house triggers a 60-day demolition plan submission under the town's demolition delay bylaw; owner Mary Brennan, while not disputing the history, told members the house is "in bad shape" and too close to the road. The commission then certified three of its own CPC applications — the Hosmer House study, the townwide indigenous cultural landscape study and Phase 5 inventory surveys — as historically significant on 5-1 votes, with Diana Warren abstaining and arguing planning tools derive eligibility from preservation impact, not significance. Sudbury TV's video digitization application failed 1-5, with Jan Costa citing town counsel and Department of Revenue opinions that the project preserves format rather than document. Eversource representatives Denise Bartone and consultant Marty Dudak agreed to leave three pairs of roughly 33-foot rails at rail rests at mile posts 19.21, 20.09 and 21.94, and reported three railroad switches near the diamond junction were stolen earlier in January and reported to police. On a 6-0 vote the commission renamed the Town Hall cemetery sign and kiosk "Revolutionary War Cemetery established 1716 as Old Burying Ground."