Vanderbeck Property Hearing, Dec. 15

Monday Dec. 15 7 PM. Next Zoning Board meeting regarding the Barrister development of the Vanderbeck property in Fair Lawn. Meeting will be at Borough Hall, Fair Lawn. Their planner must still submit testimony and be available for questions from the Board, the Board's experts and the public. In the process that is followed by general comments from the public. Even though it seems that the planner may take this whole meeting, it is important to be ready with you comments, in case the public comment portion begins on the 15th.

Please attend so that Fair Lawn know that we care about what happens to history, the environment, and our neighborhoods. Current documents are in a folder on dropbox, accessible to anyone with this link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6slyvvo6m463guc/AADwhfbySFTtzpUOil9jAG8na?dl=0

Vanderbeck Property Hearing Nov 20

The hearing for the Vanderbeck property development proceeded last evening with testimony from engineer Andrew Missey on the latest plans (including revisions to the dock-loading area) and from the traffic engineer, Jay Troutman, and questions from the audience.  About 35 people attended the hearing and raised questions regarding drainage, traffic flow on Dunkerhook Road, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and impact on the historic Naugle house.

The next hearing will have testimony from the developer's planner, who must justify the development as having benefits that out-weight the negative impacts.  The date from that hearing has not been set, but residents within 200' will be notified.

There was good coverage in the Record today.  See:  http://www.northjersey.com/news/fair-lawn-zoning-board-hears-more-on-proposal-for-assisted-living-center-on-site-of-historical-homestead-1.1138299

Vanderbeck Property Hearing

The Fair Lawn Zoning Board will continue hearing testimony from Barrister about the development of the Vanderbeck property as an assisted living facility.  YOUR PRESENCE IS NEEDED.  Make your voice heard. Or just come to listen, but the Board needs to know that we are still fighting this development. 

Although we have only been able to ask questions so far, the time for testimony from the pubic will come soon.  It could be tomorrow, so be prepared if you wish to speak.

FAIR LAWN BOROUGH HALL, 11/20, 7 PM in the Courtroom

Support History and the Environment

On Thursday, October 23 at 7 pm, hearings will continue before the Planning Board on the application of Barrister to develop the 3-acre Vanderbeck property in Fair Lawn as an assisted living facility.  The meeting will be at the Borough Hall courtroom. (8-01 Fair Lawn Avenue).  Make your presence felt; make your voice heard.

Since the property is in a residential zone, development as an assisted living facility requires a use variance.  Other variances for impervious coverage, height, etc. are also being requested. For all the documents (including revised ones) that the developer has filed with the Zoning Board, as well as photos, and related materials, see this folder on dropbox.

The fate of the Vanderbeck property will also have major impacts on the residential neighborhood to the northwest of the property, the wildlife of the area, and the viewshed from the Saddle River Park (Dunkerhook Area). If the assisted living development is allowed to proceed, this beautiful piece of wooded property will be clear-cut, the Vanderbeck house will be demolished, and the Naugle house will be made an afterthought on a landscape of modern buildings, roads, and streetlights. 

The owner of the Vanderbeck property owns an easement over the adjacent Naugle House property for a right-of-way to access the property from Dunkerhook Road.  This access road would come within 10' of the Naugle house.  In addition the lighting, landscaping, curbing and sidewalks required on the right-of-way and on Dunkerhook Road would erase the last vestiges of the rural aspect of this historic site, owned by the Borough of Fair Lawn.

Come out on Thursday to demonstrate that Bergen County cares about history and the environment.

Naugle House, Fair Lawn

The Borough of Fair Lawn is legally required by its agreement with Bergen County to maintain the Naugle house.

To prevent deterioration of the Historic Preservation Property, Municipality [Fair Lawn] shall maintain the Protected Features [Naugle House and historic details] in good condition at Municipality's cost and expense.  "Good condition" means that the Protected Features are intact and structurally sound, there are few or no cosmetic imperfections and the feature needs no more than routine maintenance.  F.3.c.  Open Space Trust Fund and Historic Preservation Trust Fund Grant Agreement between the County of Bergen and Borough of Fair Lawn, 2007-2010

Do you think this qualifies?

 

What is going to happen to this house if development of the Vander Plaat property proceeds?  The access easement to the Vander Plaat property runs within 10' of the corner of the house.  Who is going to protect this house?

 

 

Come to the Zoning Board Meeting to discuss the develoment of the Vander Plaat property on September 4 at 7 pm.  

New Jersey. "Built-out"?

In the Record of July 29, 2014 Michele S. Byers reports on some of New Jersey's firsts.  After talking about feel-good firsts--light bulbs, cultivated blueberries, seashore resorts, Byers relates that "New Jersey is the first and only state where all counties are classified as metropolitan areas."  There are an average of 1,030 people for every square mile.

In addition to being metropolitan New Jersey is headed for another first--the first state to be fully "built-out".  Build-out is defined as all be property being either preserved or developed--no tracts of open space in private hands.   Think of it: every piece of property has come on the market and been developed or re-developed (with housing or retail or churches, etc.)  or has been preserved (mostly with government money).

In this case the battle over the three acres in Fair Lawn should be seen in a larger context.  Is this land going to become part of preserved open space or is it going to be developed?  Fair Lawn, Bergen County, and New Jersey can use all the open space it can get.

Bergen County just announced 2014 Open Space Land Acquisition and Preservation Grant Program .  There is money available for purchasing open space and for historic preservation.  I hope Fair Lawn is paying attention.

Vanderbeck Property, Fair Lawn

Will the Vanderbeck, Jr. house look like this?

 

 Historic Arnold Farmhouse in Smithfield, RI, demolished

(Thanks to Todd Braisted for the heads-up on this one.)

 Zabriskie Tenant House, Paramus, New Jersey

Zoning Board hearing in Fair Lawn for the Vanderbeck property is on September 4, 7 pm, Fair Lawn Borough Hall.  Follow Dunkerhook Advocates on facebook.

Towns neglect their houses

Which of these houses are owned by municipalities?
Which of these houses would you want in your neighborhood?

The Zabriskie-Schedler house in Ridgewood and the Naugle house in Fair Lawn are both owned by the towns and left in dilapidated condition.  Some basic homeowner maintenance should be provided these treasures.  How much does it cost to trim bushes, clean gutters, keep ivy from growing on a house?  Demolition by neglect is a time-honored way to avoid facing the responsibility of maintaining a building and of making a decision.  If a house is let to go too far, then the question, with a shrug of the shoulders is, "how can we afford to fix this house up?"  So if one of these houses is in your neighborhood, speak to the town.  If they own the property, ask the Council why the town does not have to meet its own property maintenance standards.  Ridgewood has just identified 6 abandoned properties in the Village--they didn't mention the one they've abandoned.

RIDGEWOOD: Groups fighting to save house--OWNED BY THE VILLAGE

FAIR LAWN: To Fix Historic House--OWNED BY THE TOWN

DETROIT: 10 reasons for historic failures

BLOOMFIELD:  House is declared an endangered historic site 

Fair Lawn to fix historic Naugle House

Fair Lawn to fix historic Naugle House

Near HACKETSTOWN:  Abandoned Mansion 

Which of these houses is in your neighborhood?

Which of these houses is in your neighborhood?  

Which one is in Detroit?

Preservationists say there’s more money to destroy historic homes than to restore them

10 reasons for historic failures

Groups fighting to save house

House is declared an endangered historic site 

Fair Lawn to fix historic Naugle House

To Fix Historic House

Fair Lawn to fix historic Naugle House

Abandoned Mansion 

Summer Day at Dunkerhook

I had the pleasure today of a walk at Dunkerhook--on the paved path and on the dirt trail beside the river.

  The lazy Saddle River.

 

Egret in the Hohokus Brook.   Hmmm.  Which is my better profile?

Three wood-ducks from far away.

How not to Clean a Gravestone

Dick Eastman has posted the following article on his blog.  This can go in the category of "stupid genealogy crimes"  (the "perp" posted the evidence on findagrave) and more sadly, ignorance.  Spread the word--don't touch tombstones without knowing what you are doing (see links in article, esp. www.gravestonestudies.org) and ask permission. 

Marker showing fragility of stone

"Here is a sad bit of news: A man is suspected of damaging several historic graves with a wire brush recently at the New Providence Presbyterian Church on Stoney Point Road in Surgoinsville, Tennessee. He apparently used a wire brush to make the engravings on the tombstones easier to read. Now here is the worst part: he was “cleaning” the tombstones so that he could take pictures to be posted on Find-A-Grave.com!

"Aaaarrrggghhh!

"On July 15, church committee member Bill Davidson reported to the Surgoinsville Police Department that several tombstones had been “scrubbed” — possibly with a wire brush — causing damage to the old stones. The dark stain that builds up on tombstones over time was scrubbed clean in streaks over the engravings, and in some cases the engravings were rubbed almost smooth — to the point that the words are no longer legible. Davidson stated that some of the damaged tombstones date back to the 1700s, and some belong to Civil War veterans.

"The church didn’t give anyone permission to go onto cemetery property and scrub any stones, Davidson added.

"Here is the ironic part: the culprit was easy to find. Police did some checking on Google and located recently posted photos of the damaged tombstones at www.findagrave.com. The culprit’s user name was clearly shown on each photo.

"You can read more about this tragedy in the Kingsport Times-News at http://goo.gl/7EfPGl.
If you are in a cemetery, please do not touch any tombstone, much less historic ones, unless you know what you are doing. You can find dozens of articles online that describe what to do and what not to do. Start at https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=tombstone+care. I can recommend the Association for Gravestone Studies web site at https://www.gravestonestudies.org as an excellent resource although some of the other sites may also be very good."

Also see comments at original post:  http://blog.eogn.com/2014/08/01/how-not-to-clean-a-tombstone-for-find-a-grave/

http://www.eogn.com.

County 2014 Open Space & Historic Preservation Grants

Bergen County has announced the availability of applications for its Open Space Land Acquisition and Preservation Grant Program.  Deadline for Declaration of Intent to Apply for historic preservation funds is August 1.  Application deadline for all funds is October 31, 2014.

Open Space Guidelines, Application Forms and other information

Historic Preservation Guidelines and Application Forms

What needs preserving in your town? 

Dunkerhook Advocates now on Facebook

Follow the progress of saving the Vanderbeck house and property and restoring the Naugle House on the new facebook page of the Dunkerhook Advocates.  Keep in the loop so that you can make your voice heard.

This is what is posted about the group:

"This is an advocacy group for the historic, cultural, and landscape preservation for the Dunkerhook area of the boroughs of Fair Lawn and Paramus, which straddles the Saddle River along Dunkerhook Road in Bergen County, New Jersey.

"In the aftermath of the of the destruction of the Zabriskie Tenant House, the last remaining building on the Paramus side of the river, we hope to inspire activism to preserve the Naugle House, the Vanderbeck House, and their surrounding rural landscape as reminders of the Dutch Colonial period of this part of New Jersey.

"The New Jersey State Legislature declared Dunkerhook Road as one of eight historic roads in the Garden State, and we hope to inspire the creation of a historic district linking both sides of the Saddle River. The Vanderbeck and Naugle Properties are presently threatened by development, and in Paramus, all of the historic sites are now archaeological: houses, a church, a school, and a cemetery. We hope to see academic work done by archaeologists, preservationists, and historians to preserve the physical and cultural remnants of this unique community."

Dunkerhook Advocates on Facebook

Vanderbeck Hearing to be Sept 4

The Barrister application to develop the Vanderbeck property with an assisted living facility will resume hearings before the Fair Lawn Zoning Board on September 4 at 7 pm at the Borough Hall.  Let's make our voices heard.

Preservation in the News Today

Two important preservation news articles in the Record today:

Neglect takes toll on history:New Bridge Landing withers in turf battle  reports the struggle of Historic New Bridge Landing to get funding to open on a regular basis.  There has been no regular schedule for opening the Steuben House since 2007.  The house owned by the State had a paid interpreter for tours for school children and others for many decades.  This ended in 2007 and the only time the house is open is when volunteers from the Bergen County Historical Society open it during events or by special arrangement.

Fair Lawn to fix historic house:  Council approves $1,800 for emergency repairs. The Fair Lawn Historic Preservation Commission and the Fair Lawn Council are to be commended for stepping up to the plate to fund some emergency repairs for the Naugle house.  Let's hope more restoration follows soon.  Routine maintenance, such as cleaning gutters, should be added to Fair Lawn's building maintenance schedule, to prevent the necessity of some of the emergency work.  The main part of the work however will be to stabilize one of the stone walls.

Council to Step up to the Plate?

The Fair Lawn Council will consider expending several thousand dollars for emergency repairs to the Naugle house.  That's a step in the right direction.  The meeting is July 15:  work session at 7 pm; regular meeting at 8 pm.  Naugle house expenditure will be taken up in the work session.    During the regular meeting the "consent agenda" includes an item establishing a Fair Lawn Community Garden Committee.  How about a committee to direct the Naugle house repairs?

Zoning Board Meeting of 5/29

The Zoning Board heard testimony from the architect and engineer for the proposed assisted living facility.  After 3 hours, the meeting adjourned at 10 pm.  The next meeting will be 6/26 at 7 pm in the Courtroom of Borough Hall and will resume with questions from the public for the engineer.  In a strange departure, Mr. Milanese was allowed to testify in the last 5 minutes of the meeting that he has offered to move the Vanderbeck house to Fair Lawn property and to help clean up the site.  However, there was no time for questions, including:

Where would it be moved to?  The borough's property is protected by open space covenants and a building would not be a permitted use.

What would be the purpose of the house?  Why would Fair Lawn take on the responsiblity for another house, when they are not taking care of the one they already own?  (the Naugle House)

About 45 citizens from Fair Lawn and beyond attended the Zoning Board meeting.  See you again in June!

The History Back Ups

The History Back Ups had a planning meeting last evening, in preparation for the Fair Lawn Zoning Board meeting consideration of the development proposal for the Vanderbeck property.  Great ideas were shared and many points of view reflected on the negative side of building an assisted living facility at this location.

Walter Tuers brought a family Bible that had once belonged to his Vanderbeck ancestors, bringing history alive for those in attendance.

Walter Tuers displaying Bible

Vanderbeck Family Bible

The History Back Ups:  We have our backs up for history

Save the Naugle House--Again

The Borough of Fair Lawn owns the historic Naugle house.  However, they are not showing any inclination to respect or save it.  Would you put off this basic maintenance?  Even though it's an historic house, there is no excuse for hanging, deteriorating shutters, vines climbing the house, broken downspouts, and gutters full of leaves and growing trees.

Vanderbeck/Naugle Update

There will be a meeting this evening at the Fair Lawn Community Center at 7 pm re: the application to develop the 3 acre Vanderbeck property.  This is a planning meeting for those concerned about the development and the two historic houses affected.

For all the documents that the developer has filed with the Zoning Board, see this folder on dropbox.

Carefully review the traffic plan, the landscaping plans, and the elevations.  This beautiful piece of wooded property will be clear-cut and the Naugle house will be made an afterthought on a landscape of modern buildings, roads, and streetlights.  

See today's Bergen Record for an article:  Fate of Old House Rests with Proposal for Senior Complex

Leave your online comments or email a letter to the editor (LettersToTheEditor@northjersey.com).

The Bergen County Historical Society's latest email blast features the Vanderbeck and Naugle houses and the Preservation Committee endorses refusing the use variance for the Vanderbeck property.

Remember the fate of the Vanderbeck property will have major impacts on the residential neighborhood to the northwest of the property, the wildlife of the area, the viewshed from the Saddle River Park (Dunkerhook Area), and on the Naugle House--owned by the Borough of Fair Lawn.

Come to the planning meeting tonight and the Zoning Board Meeting on Thursday (5/29) at 7 pm at Fair Lawn Borough Hall.

Vanderbeck and Naugle Houses, Fair Lawn

Barrister Site Plan.  Notice Naugle house outline in the center, right.

Many advocates of history followed the fight to save the Zabriskie Tenant House on Dunkerhook Road in Paramus.  On the other side of the river, on Dunkerhook Road, are the Naugle House (owned by Fair Lawn) and the Vanderbeck Sr. house (owned by the estate of Henrietta Vanderplaat).  Barrister Land Development has proposed a 126-bed, 112,710 sq. ft. assisted living facility for the 3 acre sit of the Vanderbeck House, which would require the demolition of the house.  To do so will require a use variance (the zone is residential).  The hearing is at 7:00 pm at the Fair Lawn Municipal Building on May 29.

Naugle House

In addition to the impending loss of the Vanderbeck house, the Naugle House would be seriously affected.  A right-of-way easement across the Naugle House property runs within 10' of the house and will drastically change the setting, juxtaposing a road, sidewalks, and streetlights with the historic house, as well as endangering its stability.

The Fair Lawn Historic Preservation Commission will be making a report to the Zoning Board.  I have urged them to recommend denial of the use variance.

Refuse the use variance request.  To protect the Naugle house, which should be Fair Lawn's first priority, the Zoning Board should refuse the use variance request from Barrister for the assisted living facility in a residential zone. The negative effects (which will be weighed against the "beneficial" use of an assisted living facility) include increased run-off, exacerbation of flooding issues, light and noise pollution, increased traffic, possible road-widening and destruction of the setting for the Naugle house.

Make the Naugle house the first priority.  Proposed demolition of the Vanderbeck house by the developer is a smoke-screen issue, to get the the Historic Preservation Commission, the Zoning Board, and the town to  compromise to save the house (by moving it).  What is being compromised is the Naugle house that everyone worked so hard to save.

The Value of the property.  The true value of the property is what can be built on it within the present zoning restrictions.  It's backwards to say that the owner is entitled to build an assisted living facility because its the only way to to make the property worth $2,000,000.  The owner is not entitled to a property worth two million, but to get from his property the value it has in the zone to which has been assigned.

If there must be a Compromise  If the facility must be built, the easement for access should be moved from the north-south section of Dunkerhook Road to the east-west Dunkerhook Road (or Century Road extension).  This becomes feasible since the developer now owns additional frontage on east-west road and a two way entrance and exit could be constructed with additional land from the front of the Green Acres property. The present easement could be restored to Green Acres status, thereby keeping the total amount of Green Acres land the same.  Then there would be a small, but continuous, green space around the Naugle house, retaining a sense of place that is totally lost if the present easement is developed.

Our Power  A request that the use variance be denied, puts the Vanderbeck house in no more danger that presently exists.  It is in grave danger of being destroyed.  I fear that the citizens of Fair Lawn can do little to change that.  What we can do is be advocates for the Naugle house and the preservation of the area as a residential community within Fair Lawn.  If we can save the Vanderbeck house at the same time, that will be the bonus.

Too many compromises make a mockery of our history by leaving the Naugle House an afterthought on the landscape.

The Birth of Ridgewood

I've been working on a program for the Ridgewood Public Library.  It is based on a remarkable series of photographs taken about 1869 and we'll be focusing on the time period 1865 (when the first Ridgewood post office was established) to 1876 (when the township was established).  Along the way are many interesting stories and look at life and architecture in Ridgewood during that time.  In working on this program I've been exploring ways of enhancing Bergen County research and will be sharing those in the next few weeks.

Do you know what products were grown in Ridgewood?  Did you know that we had two octagonal buildings at one time?  Did you know that Ridgewood was once known for its rowdyism?  Join us Wednesday evening to learn about these things and more.  Hope to see you there, Peggy

Wednesday, February 26, 7 pm . The Birth of Ridgewood, 1865-1876: From Post Office to Township, From Farm to Suburb.

Join Peggy Norris and Joe Suplicki as they use documents, maps, and the historic panoramic photos taken of Ridgewood, ca. 1869, to present a slide lecture focused on the critical years between 1865 and 1876, from the establishment of the local Post Office to the formation of Ridgewood Township.

In 1865, Ridgewood, a place of barns and fields, was becoming a suburb of houses and streets.  The four Ridgewood panoramic photographs taken ca. 1869 from Prospect Street provide the basis for exploration of this critical time in Ridgewood’s history.  What was life like then?  Why were people from New York moving to Ridgewood?  What crops were growing on the farms?  What were the newcomers doing to earn a living?  What connects us in 2014 to Ridgewood-ites of 1870?

Come and Learn!

Bolger Heritage Center is on Facebook.

 

Thanks for all who've liked our facebook page!  I hope you are enjoying the posts from Archives Intern, Jessica Stauffer.

Our Bolger Heritage Center facebook page has information on our upcoming events, local history highlighting our collections, and classes. Plus, we have postings about Ridgewood neighborhoods for the 2014 Village calendar theme and are sharing information on other local events. Check it out at www.facebook.com/pages/Bolger-Heritage-Center-Ridgewood-Public-Library/279348035520307!

Best Regards, Peggy

Peggy W.Norris
Bolger Heritage Center
Ridgewood Public Library
125 No. Maple Ave.
Ridgewood, NJ 07450

201-670-5600, ext. 135

pnorris@ridgewoodlibrary.org
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