HPC approves pool-house windows on a narrow 4-3 vote, with Chair Darby among the dissenters

At its January 3, 2024 organizational and hearing meeting, Glen Ridge's Historic Preservation Commission opened by unanimously reelecting Geoffrey Darby as chair, Christine Yewaisis as vice chair, and Margaret Hickey as secretary for 2024, then adopted its bylaws and meeting calendar.

The night's closest vote came on a pool-house renovation at 35 Highland Avenue for Jared and Lara Winnick, where architect Erik Schultz proposed three grouped windows on the street-facing elevation. Commissioner Joaquin Stearns and Chair Darby both argued the three-window layout looked unbalanced and favored a more symmetrical two-window design, while Christine Yewaisis and Dina Deshan said the three-window version was acceptable. The application passed only 4-3, with Robert Deacon, Yewaisis, Deshan and Jeff Link voting yes and Darby, Stearns and Greg Lane voting no.

The commission also heard an extensive, unresolved debate over a proposed new house at 90 Ridgewood Avenue for Miguel and Liz Nieves, where members said the design mixed Renaissance-Revival and Prairie-style elements without a clear architectural identity, particularly a stone-and-shingle combination they felt had no precedent in the historic district. Rather than deny it outright, the commission approved the demolition of the existing ranch and the new building's overall footprint and massing, but explicitly reserved final approval of the facade and material details for a future meeting. Other approvals that night, several with commissioners recusing themselves from specific applicant conflicts, included additions at 401 Forest Avenue (Yewaisis recused), 26 Appleton Road, 78 Lincoln Street (Deshan recused), and 40 Forest Avenue (Darby and Lane recused). A separate slate-roof application at 344 Washington Street was not voted on; the owner agreed to return with a structural engineer's report.

What to watch

• The facade and material details for the new house at 90 Ridgewood Avenue are expected to return for final HPC approval at a future meeting.
• 344 Washington Street's slate roof replacement is expected to return once the owner obtains a structural engineer's report.