AMHERST — Year-long delays on demolition are being imposed by the Historical Commission on two Amherst College-owned residential properties, though college officials have permission to raze a dilapidated estate on South Pleasant Street, as soon as its history is professionally documented.

In a May 12 hearing where members of the commission and a resident outlined concerns about the college allowing demolition by neglect to occur, commissioners voted 4-0 to set the maximum demolition delays allowed by the town bylaw, for both 355 South Pleasant St., known as the Arthur H. Dakin Estate, and 70 Northampton Road, known as either the Blair, Lewis and Florence House or the Obed F. Smith House.

In the case of the Arthur H. Dakin Estate, an unoccupied 14-room Georgian Colonial home with an attached garage, the college will be able to move forward with removing the building on the 36.9-acre site once professional documentation is complete on the 1830 residence.

Seth Wilschutz, assistant director of Planning, Design and Construction for the college, said the college is willing to do this, though he cautioned that the person hired for the work will have limited ability to enter the building, which has been condemned by the town.

Commission members said they want to input this information into the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System, along with a condition report for the barn that will remain standing.

The college has owned the property since 2003, buying it from the Dakin estate for $4.3 million by outbidding several others interested in privately developing the property for housing.

The 70 Northampton Road home, though, built in 1880 and with an attached garage, will remain standing until May 2026.

A Victorian Eclectic-style home, commission member Madeleine Helmer said the home is in a “prominent location” and Commission Chairwoman Robin Fordham described the nice exterior details on the porch. The concern for commissioners is that the home fits in with the streetscape of similar homes and will leave a void once torn down.

Both members Helmer and Hetty Startup said there should be ways to prevent what they see as demolition by neglect.

Wilschutz said that the college has many residential properties, most of which are occupied but some, from time to time, are vacant.

The college’s application for demolition states that no immediate reuse is planned for either site, with “structural backfill to allow for development at a future date.”

David Robertson, a Northampton Road resident who lives near the 70 Northampton Road, also worries about “strategic neglect” by the college and finds it insulting that in a region and state with lack of affordable housing, the college allowed two buildings that could have provided housing to fall into further disrepair, rather than attempting to rehabilitate them using portions of its endowment.

“Amherst College has been a bad neighbor, a bad citizen and a bad steward of our historic properties,” Robertson said, who also suggested the Historical Commission should have an oversight role when properties are bought and sold to ensure they remain in good condition.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.