Historic commission rejects synthetic roof tile at 311 Ridgewood Drive, requires matching clay terracotta

Owner Frank Roda and his contractor asked the commission to approve replacing his home's century-old clay terracotta roof -- a defining feature of the Spanish Colonial Revival-style house -- with "Quarrix," a lighter, less expensive composite material made to resemble terracotta, citing persistent leaks and roof rafters that may be undersized. No structural engineering report was submitted to support that claim. Commissioners said the borough's design guidelines require matching, in-kind material for a feature this significant, and suggested instead salvaging and reusing existing tiles, with new terracotta limited to less visible portions of the roof. Vice Chair Yewaisis moved to deny the application, and it passed, with Commissioner Stearns and alternate Jeff Link abstaining -- a rare outright denial for the commission.

In other business, the commission unanimously approved a rear-yard covered structure with columns and a fireplace at 336 Washington Street, pending subcommittee review of connection and outdoor-kitchen details; a first-floor rear addition and sunroom conversion at 34 Appleton Road, on condition the applicant swap proposed PVC lattice for wood as guidelines require; and a garage replacement at 107 Clark Street, scaled back from an earlier three-story proposal to a two-bay, 15-foot tandem garage designed to avoid a separate municipal board review.

Enforcement action remains open at 359 Ridgewood Avenue, at the corner of Ridgewood and Belleville, and at 332 Ridgewood Avenue. Chair Darby said he would personally raise the borough's stalled rewrite of the historic preservation ordinance, pending since October 2022, directly with the mayor.

What to watch

• The commission plans to attend a public hearing on the ordinance changes on March 18, 2025, at 7 p.m.