Thank you. >> Okay, we're going to get started. Thanks everyone. Uh I'm Victor Luca from the Township Committee and I'm the liazison to the Historic Preservation Commission and I'm going to ask our chair of the Historic Preservation Commission to come on up and say a few words of welcome,
Daniel Wright. >> Thanks everyone. I'm Daniel, chair of the Maplewood Historic Preservation Commission. Uh thanks for coming out uh to participate in this community workshop on Ridgewood Road. Um I've been
involved with the HBC for I think almost 12 years now. Um and um we have a lot of great volunteers who are on the commission and this is our
first effort to look at uh whether at looking at historic districts uh for Maplewood. So we look forward to exploring this topic with you uh to see if it is something that makes sense for our community. Um thank you.
>> Thank you Daniel. Um there are some members of the commission here. Why don't you just raise your hand and say you are? Thank you. Now um at at the different tables there's uh a person or two that have a badge on. If you're sitting at a table where someone doesn't
have a badge on, we'd ask you to move to a table that So I think like you folks, you can move to one of these tables and or or else we'll come over to you. That's even better. How's that? So maybe we can populate that table back there.
Um Oh, okay. You got that? Okay, we're good. We're all good. So you're good here, right? >> Yes. Okay, so we got Okay, everyone's covered. All right. Um so we're going to introduce So the Township hired a
consulting team and they are going to be running the meeting tonight and getting us to uh where we want to we want to end up. Uh, but we just wanted to thank you all for coming out and we know it's a cold night. Hot topic. So, uh, should be
a good one. I'm going to ask Stephen and Isabelle to come on up and start the meeting. >> Great. Thank you, Vic. Uh, before I start presenting, take a look at this note card that you should all have um, and start thinking about some ideas for
that one. Also, just logistically, if you don't have a yellow colored sheet yet, that's the FAQ form. Uh, just raise your hand if you're looking for one, we can get you one from the back or there's also a white piece of paper which you'll need at the end, so nothing to to worry
about yet. There's additional copies in the back, though. Good evening, everyone. Uh, my name is Steven Smallen. I am an architect. I live in Hoboken, New Jersey and I grew up just a town or two over from Maplewood. who was here
all the time growing up. And I'm joined here by Isabelle who um will be leading the second half of the presentation and she is a uh city planner and she's joining us from Pittsburgh. And together we are architectural heritage
consultants and we help uh towns throughout New Jersey, Kate May, Montlair, Glen Ridge develop and implement responsible historic preservation plans. Um, you want to just have a seat? So,
okay. >> You got it. >> Perfect. >> Um, this is the first community meeting on Ridgewood Road on this potential historic district. You haven't missed anything if you're if you're here tonight. The meeting is being recorded
on Zoom. It's being streamed. The recording will be posted online afterwards. And all these materials that you all have will also be available um afterwards. So tonight we're talking about not only Rididgewood Road but also the broader neighborhood that it's going
to include Baker Street, Ever Place, and Highland Place. We're not making any decisions tonight. This is purelyformational and I'm here all the way till the end to ask any questions that you have. Uh but the last part of the presentation and
this will be the first in a series of public meetings. you'll see that the process for doing historic designation in Maplewood requires a whole series um of these types of engagements. So, a little bit about Isabelle and I.
Like I said, uh I'm an architect. I sit on the historic preservation commission in my hometown of Hoboken. I also consult for the historic preservation commissions in Montlair and Glenn Ridge. The agenda for this presentation tonight
um is going to include a very quick look at Maplewood's history focusing on the Ridgewood Road neighborhood. We're going to talk about what preservation means today, the benefits of a historic district, what the process is going to look like in the coming months, and then
of course um following a quick breakout activity, I will answer any questions that people have at that point. So the first order of business here is I want to talk about why Ridgewood Road and Maplewood uh matter to everybody. So
that was this note card here. So this is going to be people raising their hands. So get ready for that. Um Maplewood I think as we all know has a very strong sense of character. It really feels like a neighborhood when you come into this town. And I think Ridgewood Road, as I
as many of us, I think feel because we live there, is one of the best examples of that pure neighborhood feel in Maplewood. So, think back to when you first came to Maplewood or walk down Bridgewood Road and think about what stood out to you and really what made
that place feel like home. Would anyone like to share what they love about Richwood Road and Maplewood? Yes. >> How close it is to the village? >> Close walk to the train and downtown.
>> Excellent. Walkability. >> Yes. >> And because of that, uh, children around that area seem to have a little bit more freedom and so you really feel like you'll decades back in terms of just children being able to.
>> Definitely. >> Yes. >> Um, I like how No house looks the same. >> Diversity of architectural styles. Definitely. We'll talk about that. Anyone else? Yes.
>> This is suffer from architecture, but the old trees are very important. I know you can go to other neighborhoods where you don't see a lot of trees. somebody wants or clearcut and I think we pay a lot of attention to that in Maplewood. I mean >> definitely you go all the way out Route
78 into those development communities and one of the first things you'll notice is only a couple saplings on each property. You don't have 100y old trees like here to I could not hear very well. I thought there was going to be a mic. >> We'll pass the microphone around during
the the questions for sure. >> Yeah, I I will do that though going forward. Yes. Loudly please. >> Part part of the charm of the village is the uh height of the buildings most part. >> Sure. The so the the height of the uh
buildings in the village. So the streetscape what it feels like to actually walk down the street that experience certainly. Anyone else? Okay, we'll move on. Um the first section here is about the historic context. So, we're going to talk about
really three centuries of development along Ridgewood Road. This is one of Maplewood's oldest pathways. It's a route that began in the 17th century as a farm road and really grew into the spine of a street car suburb in the
early 20th century. And as someone mentioned, what's really remarkable about Ridgewood Road as opposed to other parts of Maplewood is you do have marks of each era from colonial farmhouses, Victorian villas, early 20th century
planned neighborhoods, and also some post-war infill all found along that street. It's it's really a remarkably intact cross-section of Maplewood. So European settlers moved out from Nor in
the early 1600s. They established farms along Rididgewood Road, which was originally laid out all the way back in 1728. So that's half a century before the United States of America even existed. There's surviving houses like the Timothy Ball House, the Duran Heden
House, both from the um 18th century. And both of those are good examples of how buildings that are despite being 250 or 300 years old have expanded over time. People have moved into them and they've naturally adapted. And that is
something that the historic district will continue to allow and encourage even in in an appropriate manner. So by the early 1800s, this area is known as Jefferson Village. It's a small agricultural community. You start to see
Greek revival farm houses at that time. And there's maps and paintings from this period that depict really a very verdant landscape. Orchards, mills, widely spaced farmsteads. And we're fortunate enough today, if you'll believe it, that
there's still about a dozen homes in this potential historic district that date from this period prior to the Civil War. Continuing along in 1860, that was a really important year for uh
Maplewood. That's when the Morrison Essex Railroad, you know, on J Transit started a train station, a railroad depot here, 1862. And this is really when Jefferson Village became the commuter suburb that it is still today. You start to see
larger farm parcels being subdivided. Italian8 Queen Anne style homes um were developed during this time and there's still several uh notable examples of very intact especially Queen Anne style
homes in the district and today from the period of 1860 up into the end of 19 of the 1800s so that 40-year period we still have 17 buildings in the historic district from that time
continuing Moving forward uh to the early 20th century, this is when Maplewood really becomes a fully established um commuter suburb. The the grid of this portion of Maplewood is, as you all know, really permeates out from
Rididgewood Road. This is like the primary axis through this part of town. So you start to see iconic neighborhood features like the gates at Curtis Place, Hickory Drive, Washington Park, and those start to really reinforce a coh
cohesive suburban uh image. Really an ideal suburb. Colonial revival architecture uh comes about at this time. That's a pretty dominant style in the district. You get tutor revival architecture, a couple examples of that. And then by the 1930s
between the wars you start to see craftsman bungalows um and then also projects by like the Lombardi Construction Company all happens during this time. So this was the largest period of growth for this potential historic district. And from
this time the vast majority of homes in the district 81 of them are from this period following World War II. Um some of the last open lots along Rididgewood Road uh that had been subdivided from the
farmsteads were built. This is when you start to see ranch, Cape Cod, split level houses, mid-century living. These houses typically are going to have attached garages, larger picture windows, open interior layouts. They're
quintessential things you think about mid-century wise. Um, and we have about 20 homes dating to this period, and they still are significant. They may not be what people think of in a historic district, but more and more people are
understanding that especially in New Jersey, how New Jersey um became a very suburban neighborhood. This is really the last installment of that suburbanization, this 1940 to 1975 post-war infill period.
And then following the 70s, um Bridgewood Road has really seen fairly limited change. We're talking about some renovations, additions, um maybe a few larger like facade
replacements and the new houses. Some fit well, some diverge a little bit in height, massing, materials, and that can really begin to erode the historic character of the the broader neighborhood and then also the adjacent
neighbors. The goal of local historic designation is not to freeze the neighborhood. It's to ensure that future changes, additions, new construction remain compatible with the historic
streetscape, compatible with the context, responsible and sensitive neighbors. Preservation here uh supports Maple Woods. um the purpose of the historic preservation ordinance. So that's going to include safeguarding heritage,
cohesive neighborhood, and guiding change in a constructive and responsible manner. So in the last couple decades, there's really only been three completely new developments within this proposed potential historic district.
Now, we're going to talk about where Maplewood is at uh today. So, Maplewood has a historic preservation commission, which I'll talk about on the next page in a little more detail, and also has a
dozen locally designated landmarks like the Timothy Ball House, the Duran Heden House, the building we're in right now, the women's club, uh the municipal building, all locally designated,
all already reviewed by the HPC. These landmarks um show Maplewood's commitment to preserving heritage and Rididgewood Road is really the next logical step in continuing that legacy.
So the Maplewood HPC was established in 2001 under what's called municipal land use law. That's what all 550 some odd towns in New Jersey function under. That's where you get your city councils, your
township committees, zoning boards, planning boards, and HPC's. Maplewood is also one of about 40 certified local governments in New Jersey, and that means that they qualify for enhanced um historic preservation
grants and funding to do different initiatives. Maplewood was also recently, by the way, recognized as the commission of the year. um in New Jersey by preservation New Jersey. So the Maplewood HPC has seven regular
members, two alternate members, a council liaison and also an administrative officer and the members of the HPC need to meet certain qualifications. People that are familiar with building design,
construction, local history of course, um architectural history are all part of this nine member body and they have ongoing annual continuing education requirements.
They are also all volunteers by the way. So the HPC um draws a line pretty firmly between what is reviewed versus what's not reviewed. So work that the HPC review is typically exterior work that you can see
from the street. You're standing on Rididgewood Road. If you can see it on the exterior of the house and you're changing it, it's likely something that the HPC has to review. Additions, alterations, demolition of course, or new construction. All of that is
reviewed by the HPC for designated sites like the dozen that Maplewood has already or properties within historic districts. The Maplewood HPC does not review and
will never review anything on the inside of the building. You can move your kitchen around. You can do whatever you want on the inside of your house. has nothing to do with the HPC. Landscaping, hardcaping, patios, walkways, also in
the category of not reviewed by the HPC. Ordinary maintenance and repairs. Um, small siding replacements. If you need to change some uh or repair some roof shingles, you just go ahead and take care of that. Not reviewed by
the HTC. and painting. You can paint the color of your house any color you want. You can paint the trim. You can paint the windows any color you want. If you want a recommendation from the HPC about a historically appropriate color, they can certainly give you that, but it's it's
up to you. They do not police paint color. So, the HPC when reviewing an application applies the National Secretary of the Interior uh sta standards. These are used by HPCs all
across the country and they emphasize three things uh retain, repair and compatibility. That's really a guiding set of principles for everything that the Secretary of the Interior handles. These are what are used for historic
preservation tax credits as well. And it's about balance ultimately keeping what's important but allowing contemporary thoughtful updates to it as well. So amongst Essex County, you're in good
company here. Maplewood and all of these other municipalities across Essex County already have historic preservation commissions. I will tell you because I I work with them, 87%
of the applications submitted to the Glen Ridge HPC within the last three years have been approved. In Montlair, 96%. And next door in Melbourne, 93%. So the HPC because it's all volunteers
and it's your neighbors are committed and interested in getting to an approved project with their neighbors. They are not there to deny applications in um all over the place. So typically I think what HPCs are are doing is driving
toward an appropriate solution for your particular project. And next I will reintroduce Isabelle up here to talk about some of the benefits in more detail. >> Steven's a little bit taller than me. Not quite. There we go. Okay. Hi
everyone. My name is Isabelle Lewell Vanzani. I'm an architectural historian and an urban designer. Um okay. So some of the benefits that typically come about from historic districts specifically. Uh most commonly and most
well known around historic preservation are the environmental benefits because you know the retention of an existing structure avoids demolition and waste and it preserves that embodied embodied carbon that's already in the building materials. Additionally, uh walkability
is often preserved because historic places were designed around walkability, right? One of you mentioned that that was one of the greatest things about Ridgewood Road is that it is walkable and Maplewood in general is rather walkable because of that historic fabric
and the streetscape and rhythm that comes with um the setbacks and the scale of the buildings and their height. Additionally, there's a cultural and educational value which Maplewood is already benefiting from from your 12
buildings that you specifically have locally designated. Um, it but Ridgewood Road, as Stephen has briefly mentioned, is a living timeline from the earliest history of this place to the present. And so being able to celebrate that
colonial farmsteads up to the community era development is an opportunity that a district could help promote and provide education. And I think maybe a month ago there was also a walking tour specifically about the history of of
this street. Additionally, preserving authentic buildings does connect new residents with and and young families with Maplewood's history simply because it is there. you walk by it, you see it every day. There are also economic benefits that
can happen from creating a historic district. And this one for the homeowners of course is going to be of concern. Um, typically in New Jersey, a historic district does protect your investment. So, um, the streetscape of
Ridgewood Road is already in high demand. The do the local designation is simply a tool to help protect what is already a desirable area. Uh in New Jersey, the neighborhoods with local historic districts consistently show stronger stability during downturns and
less volatility over time. It also creates a predictable real estate envel uh environment. So it's a well understood design standards that prevent incompatible al alterations that could pull down you know adjacent
property values. Additionally it supports community. So it has a repair first approach that enlists the help of local contractors and designers and trades. Uh also the
designation strengthens um the support sorry strengthens the the commitment to reinvesting in those existing homes and lastly it has been proven to enhance
marketability. So ultimately this is a long-term strategy of a community to celebrate the history and the character of that place that has been developing over hundreds of years. That's not something that can you know suddenly be
created with a new development and it's also something that does need some stewardship. Uh designation also helps to preserve that appeal and that cohesion of the place over time. And by providing predictable and fair
expectations of what the process is uh for any renovations or changes that need to happen, it helps to cater that change for the neighborhood's evolution. So looking forward, um we also wanted to discuss how the Ridgewood Road uh
neighborhood and a potential historic district could be helpful in defining Maplewood's future. So Maplewood's master plan already identifies Ridgewood Road as a high priority candidate for the local historic designation. Up here
behind me you will see uh five potential districts designate or suggested for designation in the 2008 master plan. These are expected to also be suggested for designation in the 2025 master plan
which is currently under review but has yet to officially passed. So currently we are still going by the 2008 uh historic preservation element. And so today with recent demolitions and increasing development pressure in Maplewood generally the Ridgewood Road
area is at a moment and with the support and initiative of the AHPC to decide how to balance that continued growth while protecting the historic character that defines Maplewood's identity. So the proposed district around
Ridgewood Road and defined in the master plan was also surveyed in 2006. That survey covers 132 parcels which is what we have shown on the maps on the posters
and also here behind me. And this area is really only 1.7% of Maplewood's households. It covers 2.5% of all of Maplewood's land area.
A proposed district to be clear does not change zoning at all. So the zoning of this area would remain the same uh R137 and R1-5. So there there are no changes to zoning
laws with a historic district. As we've also discussed tonight, it has many points of development over time, but the average construction date is around 1910 with about I think it was 12 of the 18th
century landmarks still standing, which is pretty impeccable, remarkable actually. And this makes Ridgewood Road an unusually complete timeline of Maplewood's growth and history
throughout all of these decades. So moving forward, as we've mentioned, Ridgewood Road and the district that would potentially be here is chosen because it is a road that represents the whole story of Maplewood's development history across three
centuries. So from those colonial farms to the 20th century suburb that history is quite unique and it is important to the story of of why this place is the way it is and it is represented in the h
homes and the architecture along Rididgewood Road. Additionally, the integrity of most of those buildings is is still quite intact. So these resources uh from the 1700s and you know like the little house are still very
much how they were when they were created with some additions over time and small changes but more or less most of the architecture along this road is still what we would consider significant and intact.
Um that gives it prominence. So, additionally to it being representative of the history over time, it does serve as a gateway to the Maplewood community. It is a road that many people take to to come into the township and also it goes
by major institutional buildings along uh that road. And lastly, this district benefits enormously from having had that 2006 survey already completed. Uh because it's an intensive architectural
survey. And if you don't have one of the sheets of your own home, you can look at the example on the backboard. It's right by the check-in. But this is an address level inventory of all the history of each property along this road, which is required and would be necessary to
create a district. So, since that work has already been done, um probably needing a few updates. That was almost 20 years ago, but it is a great starting point uh for Maplewood if you all decide to create historic district.
So this survey from 2006 is the one I just mentioned and um it's a little bit blurry on your screen but essentially all 130ome properties have an entire little booklet
essentially about that site's history. What has happened to it? How has it evolved? What are the important architectural moments? Who has lived there? all that kind of information has already been gathered about the site um and its architectural assets.
So, the historic district nomination process, it actually hasn't started yet. Tonight is the very beginning uh just an initial meeting to talk about historic preservation and talk about these
districts and to answer any questions anyone has at the end. But this process also as Stephen briefly mentioned it goes through a a number of stages. So it begins with HPC deciding to nominate the district then it moves to the planning
board uh for a consistency review. So after the HPC submits a nomination report, it would then go to the township community for adoption by ordinance if it is to pass through. And
then let's assume it passed. It moves on to uh the planning board where they have to review the report to make sure that is compliant with the township's master plan and the suggestions recommended in what will be the master plan of 2025.
And if it is in alignment with that, then the last step is for the township committee to vote and adopt uh the ordinance. Now, each step does include, sorry, let me step back. Each step does include public notices and
hearings every point along the way up here. So, there are multiple opportunities for comments and feedback and concerns and questions um and participation throughout this whole process. But additionally, Maplewood uh the town is incorporating additional
community outreach. So this is the very first opportunity and and meeting around that. U but the plan is to have two community workshops uh an interactive online story map which is kind of like an online website that
can record feedback. It has active maps and that will help anybody understand where this is in the process as well as get answers to different questions. And so tonight the goal really is to begin understanding what your questions
are. It's an opportunity to learn about historic districts and then in the future workshop two um hopefully many of you will still be interested and come back uh we will dive deeper into what a historic district nomination would mean to Richard Road itself. So this is
really the beginning of an in-depth decision for the township. So, uh, just to quickly wrap up before we go into an activity and then the question period and and concluding with
a survey, uh, just to recap, you know, the reason we're here tonight is because Maplewood is a historic commuter suburb. The Ridgewood Road does have this very unusual uh, opportunity to celebrate its history and that full timeline from foundation
to today. There is a sense of cohesive neighborhoods, a sense of place that exists in Maplewood, which uh is part of its charm. And to keep that character intact, intact, you still have to allow for change to
happen, and that will happen. People will want to do things with their own homes. Uh but historic district does provide the opportunity to help guide that change um with sensitivity to the character of the whole place. uh because it's a resource for the entire Maplewood
community and the people who come to visit and who will come to live here and partake in its future. So the the next step specifically to the community outreach after this we will in a few weeks uh create the story map and
that will record everything you've seen tonight and some additional information. It'll also show clearly the process as it's moving along and where the HPC and the town are in that process. Uh then moving forward early next year, we will
have a second community workshop. You will be informed probably with postcards, maybe with door hangers. I don't know if Stephen's going to go back out there again, but maybe postcards, Facebook, online, um email chains. you will find out about the community workshop if you're interested in coming
back to hear more about that and then uh a nomination proposal notice if it does get to that point. Uh that would be mailed to everybody's address who is affected but it would also again be on all the social media and public websites. So those are really the steps
that we're looking at um late December and then early next year in January and February. So this next uh part of our meeting is is really going to be an interactive conversation at your tables to start
discussing ideas, thoughts about this questions. Um it's just a beginning. We have about 20 minutes to do this and then we will regroup and we will answer any questions that you have or that came up during the conversations and as I
said we will conclude the meeting with a survey for those who are on Zoom. Um if you have any questions or answers that you want to add in you can send it into the chat. We will be looking at that um later. We will look at the questions as well if we can and try to answer some of
those. But uh for those on Zoom, if you exit out, don't worry. You will get a survey popup and please fill that out because everybody who's here in person um they have a physical copy. That's the white sheet that we will do at the end of the meeting or on your way out if you
like or you can you'll be able to scan it on your phone too. So for this interactive thing, we did want everybody to sit at the round tables. It looks like most people are paired up, which is great. And um the goal
is start with a warm-up introduction. That'll be about 2 or 3 minutes. Then we're going to share some thoughts for five minutes and then go into discussion of the benefits and concerns around around what you think about a historic
district of Ridgewood Road. And we will conclude with a quick little poll at the table and then move forward. So, first up, um, the warm-up. If everyone could just go around kind of
in a circle at your table answering, you know, my name is Isabelle. What brought you to Maplewood or Rididgewood Road in particular? For me, it was this meeting tonight to to meet all of you guys and, you know, one detail that you love about Rididgewood Road or of your Rididgewood
Road house if you live there. So, if you can just go answer all three in a line and let's go. How about clockwise? So, we will do that and when you finish, you're welcome to have someone at your table raise your hand and I can flip it
to the next part and we can just keep going. Otherwise, I will give everyone a timer of like, okay, we're moving forward. >> Thank you. That's right. >> Yes, sir. Oh yeah.
Wow. We'll let it describe them. real eventually. >> Okay. There'll be something. Yeah, >> I So
>> yeah, Maybe question also. >> Yeah, I think that's great. >> When your group is ready, there's some questions for the second part to share. So if you lived in one of the homes, you received the survey and the question is when was your home built
and anything in the research, if you do not live in a house, you can talk about your home and whether it's historic or not. So let's move on to the second section. So this part is about your home. If you
live onwood road, you can speak about the history of your house. If not you can speak about history of where you lived and that building. So second section is five. I have all these
tear down. It's fine. They said this about the first Yes. Mr. building across. photograph,
by the way. Yeah. I do things. He wanted to question. >> Yeah. Maybe about 10 more minutes in the session and we'll wait to last part.
We did that. So the third section is focused on discussing any benefits and concerns that have come to your mind uh tonight with the group of people that you're sitting with. So, what benefits of a local historic district feel most
relevant to you? What worries you? What info or examples would reduce that concern? And if there is someone from the committee, if you could actually just jot little notes about anything that comes up um so that we can review that later, that'd be very helpful. Um,
and I think since I know last section was a little bit short, um, maybe we should just start with whoever hasn't spoken yet or, um, hasn't spoken in a while at your group. So, thanks. 10 minutes for this portion.
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. I have something. So Daddy was Anybody else? pressure. Well, stupid.
might be something Yes. Okay, we're going to wrap up the last comments. It's a loud Chrisapt. Okay, let's gather back together and
we're going to do the last part of the pole. Oh, >> so there were two additional questions that some of the committee members brought up and are they're curious about that we're going to ask actually before uh this one. First, who who lives on
Ridgewood Road or in this potential district? if you could raise your hand. That's about 50%, maybe a little bit more. That's pretty good. We're happy that you guys are here. Um the second question is um three possible answers.
So in this initial moment, where are you today in terms of being supportive, unsure, or opposed to a historic district on Ridgewood Road? So um let's start with those of you who feel opposed
to this. You can raise your hand. I'll raise my hand for all three. If you feel opposed and you don't feel comfortable raising your hand now, you can come talk to me afterwards, too, and I can record your concerns. That way, we we understand. We can address them and figure out, you know, why because we we
do want to hear. Um, if you're unsure, please raise your hand, okay? And then those of you who feel pretty uh supportive of a historic district on Richwood Road, the room's actually pretty split. There were a few people who didn't raise your
hands, so hopefully you'll come talk to me or Stephen or any of the committee members afterwards. Um and then the last question, and this is to move us into the portion where you guys are going to be asking um us questions. Steven's going to stand up here and try to answer
to the best of his ability and I will move through the crowd uh with a mic. But the the last one was we were curious how you heard about tonight's meeting. So if anyone wants to raise your hand and share um that'd be helpful. Okay,
I'll start to my right. >> Door hanger. >> Door hangers. Who who got a door hanger? I imagine everybody who who lives here. Any other ways that you guys found out about it? >> Postcard.
>> I had a neighbor text me an encouragement. >> That's a good one. The community. Okay. So, we're going to move on now to the question portion. Uh those of you on Zoom, you can also ask questions. We have it
here. We can see and so we'll be able to pull up. Um, if we don't get to it and you're on Zoom, we will respond via email and u make sure that that answer is also shared uh widely with the group. So, I'm gonna pass it back over to Stephen and I will be walking around.
So, if you have a question, raise your hand and I'll just kind of move in some kind of order. And in terms of time, we we have until you guys are out of questions, but I think in order to respect everybody
else's time, maybe what do you think? >> Well, I think everybody can ask one question first and if there multiple questions, we'll do another round. Uh just just so everybody's a chance. And as one more quick reminder before you leave, please do fill out the survey or
at least wait to um see the QR code here in case you can't stay for the whole question period. Okay, thanks. >> And while you're thinking of questions, I'm just going to bounce back through the nomination process
just to clarify because it is a little confusing. It is a multi-step process. So, we're we're before this process even starts. This is very informal and high level tonight. Um the first formal notice you will receive
in the mail is going to be once the HPC is in receipt of or has developed the nomination proposal. That will be considered at a public uh publicly noticed public meeting of the HPC.
They'll talk about it and they'll vote on um whether or not to accept it. There'll be an opportunity for comments and questions at that meeting. Of course, there will be a subsequent meeting which is now the second formal public meeting on an HPC meeting where
they have a nomination report that's going to be quite a bit longer than the nomination proposal. Um so when they consider the nomination report, you'll get a notice in the mail. Again, you'll probably get a link to review that nomination report and you'll again have
an opportunity to attend a public meeting on that. That is what gets referred to the township committee for a first reading to the planning board for master plan consistency and then back to the
township committee for a final action of adoption. Okay. So, at this point, we will take any questions that folks have on what we've discussed tonight. >> One one more thing we wanted to mention was what we're going to focus on in the
second workshop. Um, Stephen, do you want to just reiterate that? >> Yeah. So, the second workshop early next year is going to be more detailed. We're going to talk about um in very practical terms what an HPC review would look like
for many of the types of applications that would occur in Ridgewood Road. Um like I said, I work with Glenn Ridge. We review two 300 applications a year. It's a residential district of 1400 properties. um I have a pretty good
sense as to where HPC's land on a whole variety of of issues um that homeowners um might might face or or consider when looking to renovate their house. So, we're going to talk about um examples of
different types of projects in the historic district that would be appropriate maybe versus inappropriate. Uh we'll we'll talk about um what the length of time for HDC review looks like, what the application form looks like, which we're in the process of
simplifying, and what's necessary, you know, to get an approval and how that meshes in with other approvals like you might need from the planning board uh or the board of adjustment in town. Any questions though? Yes, we're still
looking and if you're on Zoom again, if you have questions, please just type those in. Sorry, >> table had two questions. Um, hope we get addressed. One was if approved, um, how does itffect home owners insurance? was the first question and the second one
was if approved um would the HPC um provide a list of contractors who are equipped to still sort of understand the mission but >> so your homeowners insurance shouldn't have anything to do with historic
district designation. I don't think homeowners insurance for example would have anything to do with whether you're in the R15 or R17 zone. So I think district designation is kind of in the same category as a a non-factor for that
type of thing. Um the second question related to >> uh would they provide like a list of vendors? There's a concern expressed about people not having >> there's less and less people in the skilled trades. Uh so the HPC
cannot formally recommend contractors. Um but they do, I think, maintain a list on the left side of people in the area that are familiar with historic building um practices, repairing wood windows,
um people that are experienced with dealing with slate roofs, things that are a little bit more difficult to find is on the website. Um but it's of course always for the homeowner to to do their homework and and select the best contractor for that project.
Yes. Hi, I'm I lived in the community for 30 years in multiple houses. I'm an interior designer. So, I've had to to deal with the the plan the building um
>> buildings department >> and I don't know about the bridge or other districts that you work with but is historic by historically known to be very not easy to get your you know permits
>> and if and by the way I you know I'm I live in one of the oldest to homes and make wood and I love it and I you know I'm all for this but you're if it's adding another layer of bureaucracy to get if you just want to renovate a bathroom or
or more importantly if you want to do anything that touches in front of your house replace the windows in front of my house say I have to get a permit for now I have to and then by the way if I have a bar in my home and I was given a quote
to preserve the windows the farmer was also built in 1879. The code I to glaze a window was $1,200 for a 18 in by 16in window. >> Now, if I and
>> we'll take that contractor off the list. >> I was also giving for 2000 >> after clos. >> So, so to answer your first question, um that was a concern right off the bat when Isabelle and I started on this project. One of our last um projects was
setting up an HPC from scratch. And something we heard time and time from homeowners was that they hated the duration between when they file a permit and they get an approval. I'm an architect. I also deal with that every day and it frustrates me as well. So
what we're looking to do and we've been talking to the administration proactively about this since the HPC presently is reviewing 12 H 12 buildings like this one and other typically buildings owned by the um municipality or private a few privately owned as
well. And now that potential designation is going to grow to nearly 150 structures. They need to be ready to have this process integrated closely handinand with who's doing building permit reviews. And also if a project
needs to be reviewed by another board like the planning board or the zoning board, we want to make sure that the HPC review is happening as close to concurrently with the review of that other board so that the homeowner is getting an answer from the typically
from the HPC first and then the planning or zoning board in that particular type of situation shortly thereafter and they're not waiting months and months and months. In New Jersey, per municipal land use law, once you submit an application to a historic preservation
commission, they have 45 days, 45 calendar days to get back to you with an answer or it's automatically approved. And that is something that we enforce in Glen Ridge very rarely happens because we have monthly meetings and we stay on
top of applications. Um, but we're aware that if we don't act, it's approved. the homeowner cannot sit around 46 or more days waiting for an action. So that that is definitely something high priority and we want to make sure that once a
district is designated that the administration the building department all understand what needs to be done so paper is moving around quickly and the homeowners are not sitting there waiting for their permits to be approved. I want to add on to that that um the HPC it
sounds like a way that would happen or maybe would is there's the option to have certain projects fasttracked so that it doesn't have to wait for everybody to get together once a month. So those will be like smaller types of
projects and that are obviously easy to recruit. They don't take a lot of debate. Um so it won't just be one process for every single type of project. Um there will be the fasttracking one and then the the regular process which might need a a
bigger group >> and we'll get into that in the next meeting in more detail. That's minor work that's going to include things like replacing an existing roof with an appropriate material. uh replacement of existing shingles, clapboard, siding, or
other um decorative elements that maintain the architectural integrity of the structure that's handled quickly over email. And then there's a third type of application, an emergency application. Tree falls on your house, a window, something catastrophic happens,
there's a whole very very expedited process for that. You basically take care of it and then you talk to the HPC afterwards. And there's very specific emergency situations. >> Following next question, but literally literally that case in point
of the love trees on their property fell on our roof, you know, their property and so we just went through I mean there there had never been another >> there had never been another roof on the house. That house was built in 1879. He
had a wood roof with no sub with no um sub no and then was shingles over shingles and then and then um asphalt over that. So when the tree fell on it, it literally the original wood
from 1878. There was it literally just crumbled. There was no sub nothing. Now would I love to have restored it with the original wood shingles? I sure would, but that's $100,000. So, in our case, we didn't and we went
through the insurance company, but they it was very expensive because it got to all be it had never been, >> you know, that's what happens in older homes. People >> do renovations that are I don't I don't
know that's not bad, but >> yeah, >> it's not. But my point is if I can only go to wood to help sell my roof because that's what it was filled with, you know, now it's already it's done. So I don't want to leave you with a cliffhanger, but we will talk about
composite and substitute materials in the next workshop and how the National Park Service has really embraced those a lot more recently. >> Anyone else another question? And two quick questions. So the first one is once the historical preservation
view is is in place and we all have a lot of experience with this what are some of the complaints that you hear about the historical preserve preservation committee from the community because we don't have a lot of experience with it. We'd like to know
what other people have said in the past um in your experience. Uh the second one has to do with u preservation of and the protection of your your the value of your home. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Like did you have any numbers on that? You would like to hear
that. >> So to answer the second question first, um on the HBC's website, we've put hyperlinks to three studies. Um, two of them were done in New Jersey related to property values in historic districts over time and showing how they are
certainly stabilized and very well insulated in economic downturns like what we saw in 2008 etc. Um, your first question though related to common complaints about historic districts. um
beyond the time of approvals and the potential for it to prolong um getting your you know your project or house added on to or fixed or whatever it may be which was the first question here and we're we're addressing that with the administration as best we can.
Um, people talk about the cost of genuine materials, wood, slate, brick versus modern composite, substitute, imitative materials. And HPC's across
New Jersey fall in different places on on those topics. And we'll talk about that where Maplewood is at the HPC here during the next workshop. But I'll tell you it it ranges from wood, wood and wood which is the only thing appropriate
in Kate May to Glen Ridge and Monontlair similar building stocks to maple wood have really embraced um good quality composite and imitative materials that will that will stand the test of time
and most importantly have a very very similar appearance to the original historic material. And in many cases, especially in Glenn Ridge, will allow homes that maybe had a compromised roof that originally in the 20s was built
with cedar shaped roof. Someone put slate on in the 40s because it was fireproof. And now here in 20 20 years later, the slate roof is is beginning to to fail or degrade. the decision they have is potentially asphalt shingle,
spending a lot of money on new slate or looking at something in between like a composite um polymerbased product that looks like slate shingle and that's something that the HPC in many cases has been favorable about. We'll get into that in very specific detail in the next
workshop. I'll bring samples. We'll talk about all the different scenarios. We you've also encountered and I don't it doesn't quite apply it would even apply to the system historic district um because it is all residential it's zon residential or one like low residential
I mean I don't think it allows for apartment buildings to be built on the road but in historic districts where there is a commercial component so businesses or the ability to build multifamily sometimes private developers
are concerned that historic district will prevent them from in the future, you know, like demolishing or one story, whatever, to build something higher and accommodate either more business or more um apartments,
the a historic district doesn't prevent that zoning. So if the zoning allows for a fivetory building, that person is still able to build a five-story building if the original structure that's let's say one story is not a
significant historic property. If the one-story structure is historically significant, they can still build the building, but it's going to be a process with the HPC a little bit back and forth um and finding there are other
solutions, but at the end of the day, an HPC in almost every case can't like forever prevent all types of development. Um, it's really the zoning that controls the height of buildings, the density allowed there, the types of uses. So, it's the
zoning laws that still oversee kind of all those big questions. But we have come across that sort of scenario where in commercial and multif family districts there's a little bit more debate because you know there might be other types of density in the future
that someone wants to build. >> It's a little nuance. We'll talk about very specifically for Ridgewood Road and and the other streets. Yes. over here. Another question. I was just um I get a question also that uh outside of the 12 uh the 12 uh places
and and buildings and homes that are um now uh uh under designation that on Ridgewood Road in this historic district that the homes that are 18th century um
19th cent early 19th century homes will have a diff If you were going to be doing something on those as opposed to a home that was built in the 50s, they inside of that desperate itself, those two homes would have different designation, right?
>> Both are locally designated. However, they would be treated in a different manner by the HPC. So the question related to homes from say 1740 to 1950ish,
those are very historic old homes versus homes from 1950 to today. Those two categories um would be contributing historic buildings and non-contributing buildings that just happen to be part of the historic district. for the
contributing historic buildings, the really old important buildings in the historic district. The HPC is doing a a full review of the alteration or addition application. If it's a non-contributing building, something built more recently, and this will be
all talk discussed in the second workshop, but if it's a more recently constructed building, it's still in the historic district. It's still reviewed by the HPC, but it's really just reviewed for compatibility with the adjacent context. It's essentially
making sure that a building from 1960 is not turned into an eyesore for the rest of the neighborhood that really starts to affect adjacent properties. >> Yes. >> Uh who are these uh HPC committee
members? How are they chosen? What qualifications do they have to have? >> Sure. So, the Maplewood, like for any other volunteer boards, has a portal online. They're selected for the HPC. They need to fall into a couple different categories of experience.
There needs to be at least one person on the commission uh familiar with architecture construction, one with architectural history and local history and then um another person with familiarity with I think general general
history. So you have three requirements like that and then the rest of the members are chosen uh by the township committee and appointed uh through the process and it's I think to a one to fouryear uh term that they're appointed
and like the um to be mayor asked at the beginning of the meeting. Uh there's several of them here tonight >> and the training member of the CL. Yeah, because Maplewood is a certified local government. It's one of those 40 towns
in New Jersey, all the members on the commission, all nine of them have to attend annual training on historic preservation to make sure they're up to speed with best practices. And I think as part of this project, for example, the training that may happen next year
would probably include a good bit about the appropriateness of composite and imitative materials as opposed to genuine, potentially more expensive historic materials because that's a topic that comes up all the time. Every single HBC meeting I go to, we talk
about materials. >> Yes. >> Oh, please. This is great. you mentioned early on in your presentation these tax credit >> I had probably said that the secretary of the interior standards for rehabilitation
is what the state historic preservation office would use in reviewing a project for whether or not it qualifies for a historic preservation tax credit HPC has really nothing to do with that it's just the same document that both of
them are referencing as standards What's the timeline process? When do you expect the uh from where we are today to be where you exist? >> From the time a nomination proposal is submitted until the council adopts something. >> Yes.
>> Could be anywhere from four months to as long as the town committee feels is appropriate. >> It's a se it's a multi-month process though for sure. >> Okay. Uh nothing will happen between now and January. I can assure you of that
we're not doing work during Christmas and New >> Year. My I guess my daily question is I don't live in a district that's closed but I live in just federal student. So uh
what's the process for creating more districts or expanding the system? >> There's a few different processes. is the one that we're following for the Ridgewood Road neighborhood was a district that was identified almost 20
years ago in that historic preservation. I have it >> in the historic preservation plan element. There were um four or five of them identified and there's a pretty straightforward process for those. Um, homeowners can also submit their own
nomination proposals for their house, a site, and that can be added to the list of a dozen or um, new districts can be surveyed. This is the survey for Ridgewood Road.
It's it's long um, from 2006. So, the identification cataloging all needs to be in place. There's a series of public hearings. It takes a tiny bit longer than the process we're looking to follow for Vidwood Road. Um but it's substantially the
same. There's a series of hearings. It's spelled out um if you're interested in reading municipal ordinances. It's in um article 8 of the town code and it's it's in the historic preservation
chapter and it is outlined in section 271-79 spells out much of what I tried to summarize on the flowchart. Let us know to their more >> I thought I heard
there are other parts of town slated to be serving. Is that correct? somebody said that you know but there there are a bunch of other neighborhoods that uh that we've done those inepth
architectural surveys of um ones that aren't in the 2008 list or island college hill um that might be it next year we'll be doing a survey of
Is there a limitation on the number of historic districts? >> No, Glen Bridge is 95% of the town is in a historic district. It just requires a tremendous amount of research, as you can see, to justify and
make sure we're on stable ground here for what we're designating so it's not done willy-nilly. >> Yes. I'm I'm wondering what happened 20 years ago. If Ridgewood Road was proposed 20 years ago, did it get to nomination and did the council have
chance to consider it? >> Not that I know of. Um it's very common for surveys to be done and not acted on or taken to the next level. Um the last project Isabelle and I worked on recently was looking at a survey that
was done in 1989. I think sometimes what happens also is these surveys can happen along with master planning efforts of the township um or zoning updates where they may have extra budget or extra interest to also
do uh historic preservation portion of that study. So sometimes it's it's along with another planning effort but maybe not specifically to create a district or to nominate uh things locally. I think there's another question over here and I
might have that be the last one out of respect to time, but anybody who wants to stay and ask us more questions, we can we can stay with you. Um, but I won't keep everybody up that way. >> Hi, I just wondered how would somebody
know that they had to apply to the historic preservation committee for approval? I mean, there was a house that recently got torn down on high place that apparently should have had some designation or something. How would you
know that as a homeowner? You're buying a house in town or you want or you want to do work on your home? >> The realer should inform them first. Uh the homeowner needs to do their research in in buying a home anywhere as part of this process that we're about to embark
on. anyone living in this potential district will receive, as you can tell, a litany of material in the mail. Um, making it abundantly clear that they're becoming part of something, which is which is great. Um,
really, someone needs to know to apply to the HBC the same way that they need to know to apply for a building permit. It's the same office. It's the same place or or the same area of the building that that's happening. And once
the um historic district moves along, I think the HBC like they're they're pretty good about sending mailings and birthday cards uh to homeowners. We'll be sendingformational content to all the folks that live in the historic district
um introducing themselves and letting them know how they can they can help. The HPC will never reach out to a homeowner telling them to do something. By the way, this is not an HOA. They are there to react once an application is submitted or provide advice prior to an
application being submitted. They're not writing people up for, you know, paint that window better or anything like that. So, um, usually now the township's planning board, you know, if someone's submitting a permit for a building
alteration or building demolition in their system, it that address will in most cases now show up as also being in the historic district. And so, they will be able to let the homeowner know, hey, you were part of this district. you also are going to need to in an application
with the HPC or in some cases it it can be kind of one thing and it automatically goes to there. So it can also come from the township. >> Any last questions? We could take maybe just one or two more if there are any. >> I have really good ones.
The township committee ultimately makes the decision here after a series of um hearings don't get to vote on. >> No, no. Homeowners can come and ask questions or make comments at any of these public
hearings, but there's not um like a caucus really anywhere in New Jersey for historic district designations. Well, since it's your local representative. >> Great. Well, please make sure to return the white colored um surveys to the back
table before you leave um or scan the QR code online. And thank you again all for joining and staying um for the whole