Newtown residents want Adam Lanza's house torn down and made into a nature preserve

Some Newtown, Connecticut residents say in a new survey that they want the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter's home torn down and the property turned into a park or nature preserve.

The Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation received more than 1,600 responses to the survey it released on Monday on town residents' unmet needs in the wake of the December 2012 shootings. The foundation has been deciding how to distribute more than $11 million in donations made in response to the shootings, which left 20 first-graders and six educators dead.

Some survey responses said money should be set aside to tear down gunman Adam Lanza's house in Newtown, where he killed his mother before going to the school.

Newtown residents want Adam Lanza's house torn down and made into a nature preserve

Presented without comment...

People are so weird...

Second line.

While I agree with taking down the school and building a new one elsewhere .. for the mental health of the students ... I really don't think it's up to the town to decide what to do with the home of the shooter. Doesn't a bank own it? Or the family of the shooters mother? It was her house.

I could be wrong but I don't think the town owns it.
And if they don't own it ... they have no say in what happens with it.

With both Lanzas dead the house would fall to the next owner, whoever that is. If it's a bank, they likely would go along with that sentiment, but if it's a person, especially one who does not want to sell, it will be interesting to see what kind of pressure he or she is put under to agree with the "community sentiment." Of course the city could condemn the property with the right of eminent domain, this trampling on the rights of the owner. It will be interesting to see how far Adam Lanza's guilt extends.

This makes me wonder about the guy who held the three girls for over a decade (Castro (?) ).
His home was torn down and made into a park.
He had other family and I don't know the particulars of mortgages or anything, but it does make me wonder now what the legal reason for doing that was?

It appears as if this is based on one or more "write-in" comments from an unknown number of respondents to an anonymous online survey. No input was solicited specifically about tearing down the house to create a park.

There were numerous (369) written ‘other responses’.

Here is the report

reply to post by Chamberf=6

Probably who ever ended up owning the house ... the guys' son most likely ... he knew he wouldn't be able to sell it so he most likely donated it to the town and therefore he could take it off as a tax deduction. That'd be my guess. (makes the most financial sense)

FlyersFan
While I agree with taking down the school and building a new one elsewhere .. for the mental health of the students ... I really don't think it's up to the town to decide what to do with the home of the shooter. Doesn't a bank own it? Or the family of the shooters mother? It was her house.

I could be wrong but I don't think the town owns it.
And if they don't own it ... they have no say in what happens with it.

Agreed though the history of its ownership and what occurred within it would drive the value of the home down, which could have some nominal effect on other homes in the area. At the end of the day though, it's not their house to decide what should be done with it and really, trying to enforce whoever owns it now to tear it down for a park or preserve is unjustified or could even be considered guilt based blackmail (ie. your relative did this to us and now we want you to pay via the loss of the market value of the home, which, iirc, is pretty significant in value...or was).

reply to post by NickDC202


i don't get it/makes no sense/why?

Under 'Eminent domain '

The state can do whatever the hell it wants to with property, and declare it for the 'public benefit'.

Doesn't matter who owns it.

The state owns all land in this country which is why everyone has to pay them extortion fees called property taxes.

It really serves no purpose but to appease a couple of control freak type people.

If this is some new trend which really accomplishes something, I have a few ideas. Start in DC,

neo96
Under 'Eminent domain '

The state can do whatever the hell it wants to with property, and declare it for the 'public benefit'.

Doesn't matter who owns it.

The state owns all land in this country which is why everyone has to pay them extortion fees called property taxes.

Technically, yep, they could do it via eminent domain and that could be the reason behind it being turned into a preserve or park--eminent domain requires that the property be put to civic use. If they did exert that, then they would, as per court ruling on eminent domain cases, have to compensate the owner of the home at its fair market value. Basically, they'd have to buy it from the owner.

reply to post by NickDC202


I'm surprised the house is still there . Here in NZ, when a horrid act happens the house is burnt down in a week by the community. Of course no one claims they did it but it happens. Now a days fire engines are parked outside the house waiting for this to happen.

FlyersFan
While I agree with taking down the school and building a new one elsewhere .. for the mental health of the students ... I really don't think it's up to the town to decide what to do with the home of the shooter. Doesn't a bank own it? Or the family of the shooters mother? It was her house.

I could be wrong but I don't think the town owns it.
And if they don't own it ... they have no say in what happens with it.

I couldn't agree more. It strikes me as really odd and, I can't quite explain it, but it makes me a touch uncomfortable.

Chamberf=6
This makes me wonder about the guy who held the three girls for over a decade (Castro (?) ).
His home was torn down and made into a park.
He had other family and I don't know the particulars of mortgages or anything, but it does make me wonder now what the legal reason for doing that was?

I thought the same thing but when I contemplated it further I seem to think that the Cleveland House of Horrors was torn down because the insides were disgusting and the building was able to be condemned as uninhabitable.

reply to post by NickDC202

It strikes me as really odd

If you read the report, it's not very odd at all. It's a committee that manages the fund that was set up for undesignated financial donations. They are responsible for soliciting community input regarding what to do with those funds. So, they did a survey and a few people submitted the house thing as an idea.

I doubt that they will act on it. Particularly because making a park out of it would require funding well beyond when the fund dries out. Although, I'm guessing whoever owns the property would dump it readily.

Zarniwoop
reply to post by NickDC202

 

It strikes me as really odd

If you read the report, it's not very odd at all. It's a committee that manages the fund that was set up for undesignated financial donations. They are responsible for soliciting community input regarding what to do with those funds. So, they did a survey and a few people submitted the house thing as an idea.

I doubt that they will act on it. Particularly because making a park out of it would require funding well beyond when the fund dries out. Although, I'm guessing whoever owns the property would dump it readily.

I mean the Amityville Horror house on Long Island continues to be occupied (there have been a number of owners since the Defeo family was killed and it's allegedly haunted) so why tear down the Lanza home?

NickDC202
I mean the Amityville Horror house on Long Island continues to be occupied (there have been a number of owners since the Defeo family was killed and it's allegedly haunted) so why tear down the Lanza home?

erase the other crime scene?

seems to be what happens with these kinds of things....after 9/11 they hauled the debris from ground zero away as fast as humanly possible, to be destroyed...and they demolished SHES..gotta get rid of that pesky house....it might develop sentience, grow limbs, run amok, and start eating children.. -rolls eyes-