Planning Board Delays Graydon Historical Status Hearing

The planning board on Tuesday elected to move a discussion to . The hearing was pushed to Dec. 20, the planning board's next meeting.

As historic sites, the .

Currently, the planning board is only brought in as a courtesy when municipal projects are altered, as they go directly to village council. Although the board would be able to review and make suggestions should the two sites be added, they would still not have real legislative power over municipal buildings, per state rulings, Village Planner Blais Brancheau previously said in Sept. 2010.

Historic Preservation Committee Chairman Art Wrubel – who was in attendance Tuesday – said over a year ago when he pitched the plan that the current process of bypassing the planning board for municipal projects "is bad government."

He noted while Village Council would still have the ultimate word on municipal matters, the planning board should at least weigh in should the sites be in the Master Plan.

"I want to take it out of the political realm and put it into the planning realm," Wrubel said last September.

The village's natural-bottomed pool was named to a list of 10 most endangered state historic sites by non-profit group Preservation New Jersey in spring of 2010. 

"As we acknowledge each year, selections to the '10 Most Endangered Historic Sites' list are based on the likelihood that solutions can be found and historic buildings and places can be brought back to useful and productive life," Preservation NJ said in a statement at the time. "Proudly, PNJ points to many properties previously listed among the '10 Most Endangered' that have now been saved, preserved and brought new life."

To be included, a site must meet three criteria:  

• Historic significance and architectural integrity;
• The critical nature of the threat identified; and
• The likelihood that inclusion on the list would have a positive impact on efforts to protect the site. 

Due to lengthy testimony on two proposed downtown housing developments, the hearing could not be crammed into Tuesday night's agenda. Mayor Keith Killion requested it be the first item on the agenda for Dec. 20, with Wrubel opening the discussion.