What happened to the garage

[anon-5239]

[anon-4os8]

These are sensible questions that should be answered.

[anon-88r5]

Per meeting minutes:

11 Symmes Court (B38, L4): within Historic District; Secretary inquired with Zoning Officer who stated that
the garage structure was in the process of being renovated when the remaining standing walls fell. Secretary
will email General Contractor to confirm garage will be built as like styl


However:

Why were the walls not secured when the renovation started? How could they just fall, something happened. Why wasn't HPC notified of the change?

I think there is more to it than stated.

[anon-np17]

Oh goodness. The horrors of Cranbury.

[anon-88r5]

When you live in the historic district there are certain things agreed upon. Losing buildings impacts the district so if everyone did this, tore down a house, etc.. it would be a horror to preserving the look.

[anon-4os8]

So the gist is this is a loophole everyone in the district should be aware of. Don't sweat what the HPC says you need to preserve. Just make sure that during demo it suffers an accident and you are good to go with new construction and no consequences. Presumably the HPC has to treat everyone equally so they'll have to take everyone's word for it, not require it be inspected before the accident is cleared and new construction started, etc.

Good to know.

[anon-8q9p]

okay gang, lets relax a bit here. I walk my dog by this house and garage every day. I have wondered for years when a strong enough storm would come taking the garage down as it stood with a 20 degree slant. It is now replaced with what looks like an identical garage on the same footprint but it doesnt look like its about to collapse. Actually, as a casual observer who moved here over 30 years ago because of the historic characteristics of this town, and owner of a home in the historic district, if you ask me, this whole project on the house itself looks great, with effort to match unique rooflines, and old brick, which I am sure added cost to the project. What would you expect to happen when a wall collapses - put it back up even if wood is rotted? The beautiful historic integrity of the property has been maintained as far as I can see and that is what is important and what we expect from HPC.

[anon-1nnq]

It’s about the process. Things happen, but the homeowner and contractor never seemed to notify the right people. I know a few barns in bad condition were taken down. It HPC was consulted. In this case I wonder how the walls simply collapsed and why HOC and zoning were not told upfront when it happened.

[anon-4os8]

[anon;Oqs8-5915]

The primary problem was "HPC member running the project"-----------Maybe that member should be reevaluated--is there a conflict??? You bet there is, and not one member nor the liasion from the Township Committee will say boo about what happened---and the rest of the folks in town could care less!

[anon-88r5]

Are you saying the contractor doing the work is an HPC member?

If the contractor doing the work is an HPC member then certainly they should have informed HPC of what was occurring. I don't disagree.

I do disagree that an HPC member if a contractor should not work on any homes in the Historic District. They should have a right to income. But, they should recuse themselves from any discussion about the project.

[anon-0390]

Let’s all settle down. ITS JUST A GARAGE

[anon-s6p5]

In general I agree it is a garage, but it is an exterior building in the historic district. So regardless if a garage or outbuilding there are zoning rules that need to be followed and if not then HPC could be sued by the next home owner who wants to do something.

For example, let's say someone put vinyl siding on their home without HPC approval and then it just stayed. The homeowner said the siding was falling off and they needed to put vinyl up. HPC says ok we understand, now because of that precedent other homeowners can do the same.

That is why residents in the district should follow the regulations. By living there the residents make a defacto agreement with the town.

The homeowners in the district have expenses no one else in town does and has restrictions no one else in town does. This is to maintain a home the way the town wants it to look. This keeps the town looking great, but at the resident's expense. For example, a home in Cranbury Greene can re-roof any time, but a historic district home with a slate roof must use slate or fake slate to replace and that is tremendously more expensive than asphalt. Or they can replace windows if replaced with wood, while homes in other areas can use windows with other materials.

In turn, the town for its part wants the public areas to look good and the street to be pedestrian friendly. No one drives to walk around Cranbury Greene or Shadow Oaks, but they do for Main St. and that is where the heritage is for the town. Therefore, I am okay that my tax dollars go to trees and increased policing in this area more than others because the district is an important element of the community.

But, if the residents start ignoring the rules and the town stops taking care of the trees etc... then our historic district starts to degrade.

[anon-4os8]

[anon;oqx8-5915]

Just wait until the Farmland Preserved Barclay farm house on Plainsboro road "mysteriously" collapses. Considering that last years "crop" was let to rot in the field and no crop is planted now and there are weeds all over the fields; what can we expect next? Maybe HPC should be working to get that waste of our tax dollars straghtened out. Something makes me think our Field of Dreams has become a nightmare---------

[anon-s6p5]

It has been mentioned at TC meetings. A corporation owns the la d and home and is non responsive. It is not in the HIstoric district so nothing they can do.