10. HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAN

Adopted by the Mountain Lakes Planning Board, July 22, 2010

Mountain Lakes has features and sites that have substantial historic significance on the local, state and national levels.  The purpose of this Historic Preservation Plan element is to identify those historically significant features and sites and to establish strategies for their protection and preservation.  It is a central premise of this plan that these features and sites are critical to the character of the Borough and that they are important to the Borough's unique character.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION OVERVIEW/BACKGROUND

The following are the major events and significant issues relating to Historic Preservation in Mountain Lakes leading up to and taken into account in the formulation of this plan.

• In 1978 the Borough Council established a Landmarks Committee with the task of identifying major historic resources in the Borough.
• In 1985, Chairman of the Landmarks Committee John Steen, in response to a request from the Borough Council, reported on the Committee's vision for historic preservation in Mountain Lakes.  That vision included application for state and national historic district registration.
• In 1986, Mountain Lakes celebrated, with various events, the 75th anniversary of its beginnings as a planned residential park community.  This sparked a greater interest and awareness of the Borough's history on the part of many of its citizens.
• In 1987, Mr. Steen recommended to the Borough Council that state and national historic district registration be applied for in order to establish official recognition of the substantial historic significance in Mountain Lakes.  For financial reasons, that recommendation was not pursued.
• In 1988, the Borough Council became concerned about the demolition of houses that were part of the original development of Mountain Lakes as a planned residential park community (the Hapgood and Belhall homes).  As a result, the Ordinance Committee of the Planning Board was asked to recommend an ordinance for the establishment of a Historic Preservation Commission (HPC).  The commission was established in 1990 and completed a survey of most houses in the Borough.
• In 1992, the Borough Council created the position of Borough Historian with the appointment of John Steen in recognition of the importance of the many historically significant sites and features in the Borough.
• By 1992, the HPC had developed specific recommendations for a historic district and standards for historic preservation review procedures and design criteria, at the request of the Borough Council.  These were presented to the community in a series of open meetings in 1993.  Substantial public concern was expressed that the specific proposals would infringe on individual property rights.  As a result, the recommendations were not adopted.
• Subsequently, in late 1993, the Borough Council, with the support of others concerned about historic preservation in the Borough, determined that a new approach should be pursued.  As a result, the HPC was reconstituted as the Historic Preservation Committee with a revised mandate.  Public education should be the main thrust and should include efforts to foster a greater awareness in the general public of what is historically significant in Mountain Lakes, its great importance to the character and unique sense of place of the Borough, and to the preservation of property values.
• In 1994 and '95 the Arts and Crafts Quarterly magazine sponsored two symposia, part of which included bus tours in Mountain Lakes.
• To assist resident's understanding of the issues involved in renovation and alteration projects, the HPC wrote and published Historic Mountain Lakes Restoration and Renovation Handbook.  Published in 1996, it is available for sale in the Library.
• In 1999, the League of Women Voters reaffirmed their position taken in a 1987 Housing Trends Study supporting establishment of a Historic District.
• In 1999, the Borough Council convened a Character Committee to study options for preservation.  They studied the issues and surveyed the residents.  Three- quarters of survey responders favored an historic district on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.  In 2000, Borough Council supported the Committee's recommendations and requested the HPC prepare a nomination to the New Jersey and National Registers.
• Beginning in 2000 and continuing through 2005, the HPC prepared a nomination under the leadership of Joan Nix.  The district was officially listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places on 7/22/2005 and listed on the National Register on 9/7/2005.  Before the nomination was sent on to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the HPC presented the nomination to the Borough and Council in a town-wide meeting.  Council sent a resolution endorsing the nomination to SHPO with the application.
• In 2008, the HPC proposed to Council that there be a commemorative book prepared in time for Mountain Lakes' one hundred year anniversary.  The book project was begun in March 2008.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION OBJECTIVES

It should be the policy of Mountain Lakes to promote and encourage the preservation of those buildings, structures, and districts that exemplify its cultural, social, economic and architectural history.  Historic landscapes, landmark sites, landmark structures and districts are among the types of properties the Borough intends to preserve for the education, pleasure and general welfare of its citizens and guests.  Elements of this policy are to:

• Safeguard the heritage of Mountain Lakes by identifying, designating, and regulating historic landmarks and historic districts
• Preserve the residential park setting
• Continue the use of historic landmarks and districts
• Prevent demolition of historic resources

HISTORY OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

The area that would become Mountain Lakes was originally home to the Lenape who settled here around 10,000 BC.  They remained through the first European settlements of the 17th century, before moving westward after the treaty of Easton in 1758.  From the first European settlements until 1910, the year that the development of Mountain Lakes began, land titles and boundaries were shifted through disputed ownerships and deeds of dubious legality.

In the late 17th Century, the area was known as Old Forges.  By 1700 it was part of Whippanong, then the Hanover area, and by 1759 it had become part of the Great Boonton Tract.  In 1798 a small portion was part of Boonton Township, and the rest was included in Hanover Township, an arrangement that would last until the incorporation of Mountain Lakes Borough.  The area began to attract settlers in the 18th Century, as Old Boonetown, now Boonton, became a center for iron works and gristmills.  Workers, traders, and farmers, primarily of English and Dutch origin, established their families and built homes, some of which are still standing.

In 1908, surveyor Lewis Van Duyne of Boonton approached Herbert J. Hapgood with the idea for development of the then virgin area located on the eastern face of the highlands overlooking the Passaic River Valley.  Van Duyne had become familiar with the area while surveying for the future Jersey City Reservoir.  That year, Van Duyne and Hapgood began to purchase the land that would become Mountain Lakes, at fifteen dollars an acre, consisting of swampy meadows and woodlots which were losing their value with the increasing popularity of coal.  Van Duyne and Hapgood, however, saw value in the development of the area based upon its natural beauty and its proximity to the Lackawanna Railroad.

Work on Mountain Lakes Residential Park began in the winter of 1908-09 with the commencement of clearing and the construction of the basic elements that would set its character as a residential park community: the roads and dams.  Man-made lakes were created (Mountain and Wildwood) which formed the focus for the design of the community around which roads and residential lots were laid out.  Home construction began in 1910 and the first residents arrived in 1911.  The beginning of trolley service in 1910 was a significant asset not only for the new residents but for the workmen clearing the site and building the homes.

In 1914 Joseph Yaccarino opened a grocery store in the Midvale Stores building on Midvale Road, which was followed by a drugstore, a luncheonette, a taxi service, and a dry cleaning and tailor shop.  The building also contained the first school in Mountain Lakes, as well as the first library, and hosted church services by the Community Church before the current church was built, also in 1914.  Half the stores were later destroyed by fire.  The Mountain Lakes Club, which at the time cost the extravagant sum of more than $30,000 to build, was opened the same year.  The same year, the local post office opened, the cornerstone of the Community Church was laid, and the Education Department of the Woman's Club began a library with one hundred books donated by members.

Nearly 500 homes were constructed between 1911 and 1923 when Hapgood's operation declared bankruptcy.  During this period, the Mountain Lakes Association was formed under the leadership of John L. Houston and Lawrence Luellen (the first resident of the new community and the originator of the Lily Paper Cup).  This group, a liaison between the homeowners and developers, was responsible for initiating many improvements before the incorporation of the Borough.  Reflecting on this period, the 1934 Mountain Lakes Yearbook explained that:

A new era for the Borough began in 1923 with the re-establishment of Hapgood's operations under the new Belhall Company and the incorporation of Mountain Lakes as a municipality in 1924.  Trolley service ended in 1928 when the track was taken up and the right-of-way became a sidewalk along the Boulevard.  In the late 1920's and early 1930's, the Borough became an automobile-oriented community as roads were paved and area highways improved.  By 1931 about six hundred homes were completed and Mountain Lakes was established on a scale sufficient to support a self-sustaining community.  The Depression forced the Belhall Company into bankruptcy and its assets were liquidated by 1937 to pay creditors.

In 1938-39 the Borough was able to seize the opportunity to acquire many of the remaining undeveloped building lots, an important and far-sighted act by the new municipality.  Many of these areas were eventually incorporated into large preserved open space areas, setting into place the final important element which established the character of the Mountain Lakes community.  In the years after the war, other large tracts including Birchwood, Crystal, and Sunset Lakes were acquired and incorporated into the Borough's open space.  The preservation of these areas and their dedication as open space for the enjoyment of all residents became a cornerstone of Borough land use policy.

Many of these features and structures from Mountain Lake's early development period still exist today.

CRITERIA FOR SIGNIFICANCE

The criteria for evaluation of a site, building, structure or object as to whether it should be listed is provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior.  These evaluation criteria were used as the basis for evaluation of Mountain Lakes' resources which are in the Historic Registers.

The Mountain Lakes Historic District qualifies for National Register Criterion A and C in the areas of community planning and development and landscape design as a planned residential park suburb; and in the area of architecture for the concentration of Craftsman style homes.

HISTORIC SITES SURVEYS

Mountain Lakes was the subject of a brief outline survey by Acroterion, contracted for by Morris County Heritage Commission in 1987.  The preparers found that there were resources of historic significance in the borough which would need a more intensive survey effort.

In 1990, a partial survey of the Borough was completed by the Historic Preservation Commission, who trained interested residents to survey.

Between 2000 and 2004, an intensive field survey was completed by HPC-trained volunteers; eventually encompassing 1,631 resources (contributing and non-contributing) within the district.  A comprehensive body of information on individual historic properties was compiled through a combination of historic map analysis, archival research and field surveys and incorporated in the nomination to the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.  A copy of the nomination is held in Borough Hall, a copy is held at the Mountain Lakes Library, a copy resides in Trenton with the NJ SHPO, and there is a fourth copy in Washington D.C.

LOCATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF HISTORIC SITES AND HISTORIC DISTRICTS

One historic district and one historic site are currently listed in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places (SR) and the National Register of Historic Places (NR).  The district is the Mountain Lakes Historic District (SHPO Opinion: 9/11/2000; SR: 7/22/2005; NR: 9/7/2005).  The historic site is the Grimes Farm, aka Jonathan Grimes Farmstead at 4 Craven Road (SR: 10/6/1976; NR: 4/1/1977).

As the Mountain Lakes Historic District is extensive, the National Register nomination is included by reference here.  This Historic Preservation Plan designates the approved district as mapped on Appendix Map G.  Its boundaries encompass the original area Hapgood envisioned as his planned suburb.  The district is roughly bounded by Pocono Road to the west, the border between Denville and Mountain Lakes in the Tourne to the north, Rock Lane and Powerville Road to the east and the railroad right-of-way to the south.  The 1,397 acre district is bisected by Boulevard and contains all of the lakes wholly within the Borough.  Tables of the contributing resources in the Mountain Lakes Historic District are contained in Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4.  There are 738 contributing buildings, 43 contributing sites, and 306 contributing structures.

In addition, there are four properties which are listed on the Morris County Inventory of Historic Sites.  These are the Righter House at 99 Pocono Road, the Mountain Lakes Railroad Station at 99 Midvale Road, the Lake Drive School at 10 Lake Drive, and the Community Church at 48 Briarcliff Road.  Each of these is a part of the Mountain Lakes Historic District.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROPOSALS

The previous Historic Preservation Element of the Master Plan had an objective to "promote the preservation of Mountain Lakes' historic resources through a better understanding among Borough citizens, public officials, property owners and prospective developers/re-developers of what is historically significant." It recommended education and public awareness as a means to promote preservation.  Although these strategies have been helpful, they have fallen short in several areas including: prevention of demolitions of historic structures and the modification of the original topography.

The Borough should pass historic preservation ordinance(s).  The basic purpose of such ordinance(s) would be to promote the protection and preservation of historic resources/structures, particularly those designated as Key Landmarks; reduce the demolitions of Hapgood and Belhall residential structures; minimize topography changes; and permit the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment to take historic significance into account when hearing applications.

Historic Preservation Ordinance(s) should:

1. Reconstitute the Historic Preservation Committee to an Historic Preservation Advisory Commission (HPC).
2. Establish a list of Key Landmarks.  The initial Key Landmarks would be the entrance gates to the Borough at the Boonton Township border on the Boulevard and at Crane Road, the Train Station, Lake Drive School, Briarcliff School, the Community Church, St. Peters Church, the Mountain Lakes Club, the original Midvale Stores building, the Mountain Lakes Garage, the Grimes House and the Esplanade.  This ordinance would allow for the expansion of the list of Key Landmarks as needed.
3. Prohibit demolition or the significant alteration of the exteriors of Key Landmarks
4. Prepare a list of municipally designated historic landmarks.  This list would include all of the contributing structures, sites and buildings in the National and State Register of Historic Place's Mountain Lakes Historic District, and certain structures outside of that area.
5. Provide incentives for the preservation of, and disincentives to the demolition of all historic structures.

EVALUATION OF IMPACT OF OTHER MASTER PLAN ELEMENTS

The provisions of other master plan elements have direct bearing on the preservation of historic sites and districts.  Proposals for future land use, housing, circulation, conservation, community facilities, or recreation can directly affect these resources.  As required by statute, a detailed analysis of the impact of other Master Plan elements on the Historic Preservation Plan is contained in Appendix H.  The historic preservation plan seeks to find a balance between, on the one hand, the preservation, maintenance and interpretation of the Borough's critical historic resources, and on the other hand, the community's need for ongoing changes in land use.