Committee pulls historic preservation ordinance
By darlene diebold
Staff Writer

HOLMDEL — For the second time this year, the Township Committee has killed a proposed historic preservation ordinance.

The committee recently voted 4-to-1 to introduce an ordinance regulating government-owned historic properties. A public hearing was scheduled for Monday, but on the afternoon of Dec. 4, a majority of the committee agreed to pull the proposal.

Committeeman Larry Fink proposed the ordinance in order to preserve the Conover farm buildings on the Chase bank tract on Holmdel Road. The state plans to auction the Conover farm and a second southern farm tomorrow, and the committee hoped to get restrictions in place before that date.

The State Agricultural Development Committee (SADC) purchased the two farms, which total 190 acres when combined, for $8.66 million as part of a deal to save the Chase tract. They agreed to put a historical easement on the structures on the southern farm, known as the Schenck farm, but not on the northern Conover farm structures.

"After careful consideration and some discussions with the SADC, Holmdel decided to wait until after the auction of the two farms before taking any further action," Fink said in an interview Sunday. "The Township Committee realized that the draft ordinance may not have accomplished our objectives. We may want to examine the matter again early next year. We ran out of time to do the ordinance properly, so we decided to hold off."

"When I looked at it (the ordinance), we did not have enough time to do what we wanted to do," said Committeeman Russell Dronne on Friday. "It’s better off if we do this on a more gradual basis."

Dronne also feels that if it is brought up again, all of the parties involved should get a chance to provide more input.

"I think that there would have been state opposition to the ordinance," Mayor Art Davey said in an interview on Friday. "The majority thought that it was best to pull it. It was just getting too involved with the state."

Deputy Mayor Gary Aumiller concurred, saying that "everybody agreed to cancel the ordinance. We did not have the time to do it properly."

"I just hope that before they do anything else like this that they consult the historic homeowners," said former Deputy Mayor Carole Balmer. She and other homeowners did not like the ordinance because there was no mention of government-owned lands, and it would have created a historic commission, which would have had "far reaching powers," according to Balmer.

Balmer said that a historic committee would have been better in the opinion of the historic homeowners because a committee would still be able to work on and write grants without having the far-reaching powers that a historic commission would have.

The Township Committee first considered creating a township-wide historic ordinance in April which would have affected approximately 50 homes and businesses.

"The historic commission ordinance properly failed once before. It was problematic then and now, serving no value in the preservation of historic structures. This was not a good example of efficient government, and pulling this ordinance was prudent to save further acrimony and taxpayer expense," said Committeeman Terence Wall, who voted against the original introduction of the ordinance.