AUGUST 9, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2015, 9:50 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD – The future of the village-owned Schedler property – a crumbling 200-year-old house on seven wooded acres abutting Route 17 – was suddenly back on the council’s agenda last week because of an impending deadline.
Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said time was running out to apply for a matching grant from the Bergen County Historic Trust Fund that would be used to stabilize the building.
In 2009, Ridgewood purchased the thickly wooded property, believed to have been the site of a Revolutionary War encampment or battle, with $2.7 million in open space grant money specified for active recreation. The move preempted any commercial development of the site.
Resident Isabella Altano – representing Ridgewood Eastside Development, a grass-roots citizens group – pleaded with the council Wednesday night to meet the grant’s deadline next month.
The house, which was occupied by Florence Schedler until she died in 2007 at age 104, “is in dire need of help,” Altano said. She said the “roof is falling and mold is present.”
Altano said an anonymous donor had placed $45,000 in an escrow account, earmarking the funds for the structure, but village officials said the fact that the source of the money is unknown is an issue.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-to-review-200-year-old-house-1.1389542
The Historic Zabriskie-Schedler House is not “a crumbling 200-year-old house”, in fact, the information could not be more inaccurate. There is a structural investigation I would love to give the Record that clearly reaffirms the structural integrity of the 1820’s historic house. We can always find space for a 90′ multi-purpose field in a much better location but the destruction of an Historic house is a final death sentence for the Village and for history.. The Zabriskie-Schedler House has already been included in the Village of Ridgewood Master Plan, under “Historic Preservation Plan Element” the Village’s list of historic sites under the following criteria:
A. Important to the general development of the area and the unique cultural heritage of the community.
B. Significant example of an architectural style or period.
C. Representative example of vernacular architecture of the area.
This information has recently been reaffirmed during the re-examination of the Master Plan.
Funds are needed urgently to stabilize the Historic Zabriskie-Schedler House. Last year, The Ridgewood Historic Commission echoed the concerns of many village residents and submitted a request for a “Certificate of Eligibility”. This request was granted and on May 2, 2014 by the Department of Environmental Protection, Natural and Historic Resources, Historic Preservation Office, Trenton. The letter states, among other historic attributes, that “the Zabriskie-Schedler House is individually eligible for listing in New Jersey and in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C as an example of third period Jersey Dutch framed houses.
As usual, Chris Harris did a crummy job of reporting the news, making it favor the Aronsohn group as always. The funds are definitely there, waiting for the project to proceed. Councilwoman Hauck LIED by saying definitively that Ms. Altano had declined an extra $45K from a donor that she chose not to deal with. This was an outright lie, and Ms. Altano explained the truth at the end of the meeting. Ms. Sonenfeld knew that Hauck was lying, but she remained mute. Come on Chris, can’t you report the whole story, or at least be accurate in what you do put in print?
All you need to do is watch Livestream to get to the bottom of this story. Clearly, Mrs. Hauck was not telling the truth and clearly, Mr. Mayor want the house torn down. Ms. Altano did an excellent job of presenting FACTS. I don’t know what the right use for this property is or if the house should be saved but I’d like the information presented to the public to be truthful and unbiased.
Mrs. Hauck will get re-elected next year. The seniors love her. ” Does anyone what some brownies”
we will see
Hah…yes PJ, we will see,…if you will show!
“Across the board, people just feel that our government should be more responsive,” Aronsohn said. “That responsiveness should come in the form of more fiscal responsibility, in the form of budgeting differently, in the form of better response to cleanup. And then it comes in the form of the daily stuff, not getting emails returned, not getting phone calls returned. We need to change that. We will change that.
“The voters wanted new ideas and new commitment to do government right. That’s what the three of us will deliver,” he said.
Hey district 14 how do you like the 3 amigos now?
I’m a senior and I hate her guts.
What we need are some viable candidates to run against our Council majority. Their borderline illegal practice of deciding in advance on how to vote on every issue has to stop. Their subsequent attempts to silence opposing points of view because “we already have the votes” is dictatorial. This is not how local government should work in the United States. Unfortunately they are the incumbents so it is our responsibility as citizens to vote them out.
Can someone please start naming names of local residents that might be persuaded to run against these 3? I’ll make the phone calls.