Historic Preservation Commission

MADISON HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting – September 9, 2014 Attending: Co-Chairmen John Solu and Janet Foster; Members, David Luber, Alberta Marcy, Carmine Toto and Margaret Weisgerber; Recording Secretary Laurie Hagerich. Absent: Members, John Forte, Joseph Longo, and William VanRyzin; Council Liaison Robert Catalanello. Marilyn Musielski, Michael Sapio and Lisa Sapio, members of the public, were also present. The meeting was called to order as an open public meeting at 7:30 p.m. in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act. The July 8, 2014, minutes were considered and corrected to remove the first comment on page 2 in the Review of St. Vincent’s Application section. By unanimous consent, the minutes were approved as corrected. Follow Up: TCC Applications update: Mr. Toto reported there were no applications in Historic Districts that he is aware of. Sign and Façade applications update: The following sign applications were reviewed: (1) Alfred’s Sport Shop. Proposed new sign for the portion of the store retained by Alfred’s was found acceptable. The remaining portion of the store will be a new book store. The sign application for this business has not yet been submitted. (2) New signage for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine in the rear of the Boyce Building was found acceptable as to color and size. (3) New sign for Beyond Bijoux, a new jewelry business in Madison Trust Building on Waverly Place was acceptable. Mr. Solu will be attending the Sign and Façade meeting on September 11, when the above applications will be reviewed. For Action: Review of 57 Ridgedale Avenue application: This is the Jersey cottage recently renovated and sold on the corner of Ridgedale and Walnut Street. The new owner is seeking variances for impervious coverage after proposed paving of a walkway, erection of an 8 x 14 storage shed, and overhang on front door, as well as fencing of the front yard. MHPC’s comments included: • Recommendation that the shed be the same or similar neutral color as the house. • MHPC would prefer square windows and door in keeping with the character of the building. • MHPC cannot comment on the fence since there were no details provided, but would prefer it be in style of the house, wooden and painted. Ms. Foster will draft a letter with comments and deliver to the owner in time for the Board of Adjustment meeting on October 9. For Discussion: Bottle Hill Historic District road construction: Borough Engineer Robert Vogel joined the meeting to report on status of this project. It was about 1 year ago that he appeared before MHPC to discuss with Friends of Bottle Hill Historic District their major concerns and priorities for the project, which included traffic calming measures, bump outs and brick cross walks. Discussion included the following: • State of NJ has approved contribution of $200,000 out of requested $300,000 for the project, providing that construction contract must be awarded within 18 months or November 29, 2015. • It is anticipated bids will go out in the spring of 2015. • Widening of the road is not a probability, even though Ridgedale Avenue is a very narrow road with varying widths. It is not anticipated the irregular widths can be made uniform. • The Sayre Court intersection will be restructured for increased pedestrian safety. • The cost of a Summerhill Park bump-out, even thouth it was a priority of Friends of BHHD, is prohibitive. This might become a separate project in the future. • Historic lighting fixtures are not included in the present plans. • Residents will be given the option to retain present slate sidewalks which the Borough would reset. • There was discussion about trees, roots of which are damaging sidewalks. • The entrance driveway to Summerhill Park will be widened to allow safer ingress and egress. • Traffic calming efforts will be used, including signage, striping and speed monitoring. • Borough will have further discussions on obtaining Dept. of Transportation Safe Route to School funding. • Re-grading of elevated sidewalk in front of Summerhill Park will probably be cost-prohibitive. • Anticipated date for re-paving of Ridgedale Ave. is summer of 2015. Waverly Green Village Parking Lot repaving: Per Mr. Vogel, this project is still on target to move forward in Spring 2015. There will be improvements in entry and exit areas and drainage issues will be addressed. Cleanup of the dumpsters by landlords and/or tenants would be very helpful. New Business: Mr. Toto spoke about painting work he recently did on the louvered vents at Hartley Dodge Memorial. During the course of this work he noticed numerous copper flashing areas that required repair or replacement. There was separation of seams, pin holes and leaking of water, causing black stains in many areas. This situation should be addressed at the earliest possible date to avoid further damage and possibility of pieces falling off. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Laurie Hagerich, Recording Secretary