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Montclair HPC wins $30,000 CLG grant; public urges preservation as master-plan reexamination begins
Summary
The Historic Preservation Commission announced a $30,000 Certified Local Government grant to survey 248 South End parcels and invited public comment on the master-plan reexamination; residents urged stronger preservation measures and commissioners explained the HPC’s advisory limits and how to engage planning-board processes and ADU proposals.
The Montclair Historic Preservation Commission on July 16 announced it has received a $30,000 Certified Local Government (CLG) grant to complete a historic-structure survey of 248 parcels in the township’s South End (the 3rd and 4th wards) and used a public session to explain the commission’s role in the town’s master-plan reexamination.
Chair Bennett read the commission’s enabling ordinance and emphasized that the HPC’s authority is limited to exterior work within local historic districts and to demolition review in certain circumstances. "We do not have the authority to tell people what to do to the exterior of their homes," Bennett said, adding that the commission follows the Secretary of the Interior standards and local design guidelines.
Staff announced the CLG award and said an RFP for consultants on the structure survey and a separate RFP for work on the police building are in preparation and under review by the New Jersey Historic Trust. The grant-funded survey will generate individual fact sheets for each of the 248 parcels and will allow the commission and state reviewers to identify properties that may merit added protections in the future.
Members of the public used the hearing to press preservation concerns and ask how residents can influence zoning and master-plan decisions. Michelle McLeod, who gave her address during the session, said she is concerned the town’s skyline and neighborhood fabric are changing as new development rises. Commissioner and planning-board liaison members encouraged residents to attend the planning board’s master-plan meetings and the posted ward sessions (July 22 at Edgemont Park House, July 29 at Montclair Fire Headquarters, and August 5 at the Bellevue branch library) to shape policy and zoning changes.
A resident, Christopher Bloor, asked whether the commission evaluates accessory dwelling unit (ADU) proposals on a neighborhood basis or individually. Commissioners said ADU applications are reviewed case by case and that many ADUs can be built "as of right" without variances; the commission offered design guidance and said ADUs can be compatible with historic preservation when sized and detailed to fit existing buildings.
Next steps: staff will finalize the RFP and share it with commissioners and the New Jersey Historic Trust; the CLG-funded survey work will proceed during the coming year. The commission encouraged public participation in the planning-board master-plan roadshow so residents can influence zoning and future land-use outcomes.
