HPC reelects Darby as chair, approves reworked rear deck near Appleton Place, and Douglas Road owner drops composite-siding bid

Glen Ridge's Historic Preservation Commission opened its 2025 term at the January 6 meeting by unanimously reelecting Geoffrey Darby as chair, Christine Yewaisis as vice chair, and Steven Smolyn as secretary, then adopted its bylaws and its 2025 meeting calendar (shifting the regular start time from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m., with a note that the October 1 date may need to move because it falls on Yom Kippur).

On the applications side, the commission approved a revised rear deck addition at 181 Ridgewood Road for Elizabeth and Rajeev Prabhakar, a follow-up to a 2023 submission. The new version relocates the deck to the northeast corner of the house, reducing its visibility from Appleton Place; the commission's only condition was a revised drawing showing an infill railing detail to match the home's existing railing profile.

The more notable outcome came at 23 Douglas Road, where owners Tracy and Elliot Nix sought to replace deteriorating wood siding with composite material to match their detached garage. The commission pushed back, calling the wood siding a character-defining, likely-original historic feature that should be preserved rather than replaced wholesale. Chair Darby said the observed deterioration looked limited and that full composite replacement wasn't necessary or consistent with the borough's preservation guidelines; the commission's consultant cited a National Park Service preservation brief on substitute materials and recommended the applicant investigate water infiltration as the likely cause, plus a "dutchman" patch repair for the worst sections instead of full replacement. Facing that guidance, the applicant voluntarily withdrew the application, so no formal HPC action was taken.

What to watch

• The HPC's consultant invited commissioners to a Certified Local Government training session in Montclair on January 16.