giving panel the ability
to prohibit demolition
Planners asked to endorse
giving panel the ability
to prohibit demolition
BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer
GLORIA STRAVELLI The Red Bank Historical Preservation Commission is using the plan to develop the property around this Harrrison Avenue house as an example of why it should be granted the ability to prevent the demolition of historic property.
Unless the borough gives the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission authority to block destruction of historic structures, properties, including a farmhouse that is the oldest remaining building on the east side of Red Bank, will continue to be lost to development, according to a local preservationist.
"In the absence of a strong Historic Preservation ordinance, which is available under Municipal Land Use Law, our town cannot preserve its history and … it’s historic properties," George Bowden, chairman of the Red Bank Historic Preservation Com-mission told a Nov. 24 Planning Board hearing.
"Red Bank’s character and history will continue to diminish as developers lawfully acquire, demolish and economically exploit historic properties in the absence of local ordinance controls," he continued.
While the commission, established by ordinance last year, does not have the power to bar demolition of historic properties, "we do have the moral obligation to call to the attention of the Planning Board, the council and the public that this is a historic site and structure worth saving," he told the hearing.
Speaking at the end of a Planning Board hearing on an application to subdivide property at 27 Harrison Ave., demolish a 150-year-old farmhouse on the site and build two new single-family homes, Bowden called for a Master Plan revision to strengthen the borough’s preservation ordinance.
"This is a prime example of the need for the Planning Board to exercise its authority to revise the master plan to support a forceful historic preservation ordinance," he said, "which, in select and appropriate situations, could prohibit destruction of our historic past."
Established in January, the Red Bank Historic Preservation Committee can review and comment on applications for development permits involving structures on an inventory of the borough’s historic structures but does not have the power to block approval.
Reading from a prepared statement, Bowden said 27 Harrison Ave., which has historical associations with a former U.S. president, is in disrepair but "appears to be structurally sound and could realistically be a candidate for restoration."
"It appears that the house, which formerly faced River Road, is one of the oldest homes in Red Bank," he said.
While experts testifying for the applicant, Remodeling Specialists LLC, Little Silver, argued the structure doesn’t meet the criteria for historic status, Bowden said the "the historic roots integral to 27 Harrison Ave. simply cannot be ignored."
According to the commission’s documentation, the two-story, 19th-century farmhouse was part of a 147-acre farm that ran between River Road and Ridge Road and was once owned by John Cleaves Symmes Harrison, son of William Henry Harrison, ninth president of the United States and grandson of Benjamin Harrison, who signed the Declaration of Independence.
"I believe the house is the oldest standing historic structure east of Branch Avenue in the eastern part of Red Bank," Borough Historian Timothy J. McMahon told the planning board.
He said the first wife of John Cleaves Symmes Harrison was Clarissa Pike, daughter of the discoverer of Pike’s Peak.
Harrison bought the property around 1820, he said, and when he died in 1829, then Gen. William Henry Harrison sold 71 acres of the property to Ebenezer Allen. According to McMahon’s research, Allen sold the tract to Joseph Parker in 1836.
The Parker family raised geese on a pond on the land, a fact that lent the name Goosetown to the area from Harrison to Prospect avenues, he noted. He said records indicate the house once faced River Road, but was turned around circa 1873.
However, Julie Carmelich, an architectural historian with Arch2, Metuchen, testifying on behalf of the applicant, said 27 Harrison Ave. doesn’t meet any of the criteria defined in the historic commission’s own guidelines including that a structure be located in one of the borough’s three historic districts or be a visual landmark. "Just being old is not enough for the criteria," she told the Planning Board.
Carmelich said a site visit, conversations with local historians and research at the Red Bank Public Library and at the Monmouth County Historical Association didn’t turn up significant historical connections with the house.
According to her research, she said, "the National Register of Historic Places would not qualify this as a historic place."
In addition, she said, the original architectural details on the house no longer exist and the exterior is covered by synthetic siding, asphalt roof shingles and the interior has been divided into apartments.
"For a house to be historic, it must be old and also maintain a certain level of architectural integrity," she explained. "That does not exist now."
Remodeling Specialists, whose principal is Michael Cicenia, Little Silver, is the owner of 27 Harrison Ave.
The company is seeking approval for a minor subdivision into two, 16,000-square-foot lots, demolition of an existing dwelling, variances for lot frontage and sideyard setback and design waivers in the RA Zone to permit construction of two new single family homes.
Attorney Gordon Gemma, testifying as a land use planner on behalf of the applicant, said the 50-foot frontage provided for each new lot, where 75 feet is required, is consistent with lots in the area bordering Fair Haven.
According to Cicenia, who previously completed a similar development project at 41 Harrison Ave., the new homes would each be 3,000-square-feet, Victorian-style single-family residences with four bedrooms.
The Nov. 24 hearing was a continuation and since several members of the Planning Board did not attend the initial hearing, they were ineligible to vote on the application, resulting in a shortfall for a quorum at last week’s hearing.
The application was carried to the Dec. 8 meeting.