Planning Board Sends Board of Education's School Chiller and Fence Plans Back to Historic Preservation Commission

The Glen Ridge Board of Education, represented by President Elisabeth Ginsburg, architect Frank Bowlby, and attorney Anthony Marino, appealed to the Planning Board after deciding to revert to earlier equipment plans at two schools. At Central Avenue School, the district wanted to return to a decorative metal fence enclosing a chiller in the Bloomfield Avenue parking lot, after the Historic Preservation Commission had instead approved a brick-wall enclosure design at its July 10, 2019 meeting. HPC member Geoffrey Darby and preservation consultant Margaret Hickey testified that the fence design had never actually been formally acted on by the Commission. At Linden Avenue School, the district similarly wanted to move a newly approved chiller from the roof to the front of the building. In both cases, the Planning Board found the current proposals had never been formally reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission and remanded them back to that body rather than ruling itself; the district's attorney argued that Planning Board review of Board of Education projects is only an advisory "courtesy" that isn't legally binding.

In routine business, Engineer Rohal presented the Mayor and Council's state-mandated capital improvement plan for informational review, and the Board reviewed plans for a new 24-by-28-foot, 22.5-foot-tall wood-clad salt storage shed at the Public Works Yard on Carteret Street, to be built 10 feet from the side property line without disturbing existing screening trees and vegetation; Mr. Dawson voiced support for the project. No public comment was made.