Bank postpones hearing on Forney Clinic plans
BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

MILLTOWN - Residents hoping to have input on the fate of a historic building proposed for demolition to make way for a bank will have to wait until next year.

Valley National Bank postponed the remainder of its hearing for a new branch location because of historic preservation and engineering issues, according to Frederic Azrak, an attorney for the bank.

The application is now slated to come before the borough's Zoning Board of Adjustment in January.

The Forney House and Clinic, which is located on the North Main Street site of the proposed bank, was found to be eligible for the state and national registers of historic places in late September. While it is not yet on the registers, the bank is required to take its status as a historic site into account.

"Our question is, what has happened in the last 30 years on that site that made it historic," Azrak said.

In 1978, the state and county reviewed the site and deemed it unworthy of historic preservation. In 2005, the bank hired Hunter Research, an historical resource consulting group, which came to the conclusion that the house had no historic value. When the group sent its findings to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), that office agreed, according to Azrak.

In June, Michael Shakarjian, chairman of the Lawrence Brook Watershed Partnership, filed a preliminary application for eligibility on behalf of Milltown's Environmental Commission and Historic Society. He said the conclusions drawn by Hunter Research were based on the information gathered about the site in 1978, and were not accurate.

While the process of having the Forney Clinic added to the register could take six months to a year, its eligible status has been at least partially responsible for delaying the bank's plans for the site.

The Forney building dates back to the 1850s, when it was built by Joseph Evans, the father of Milltown's first mayor. The house was converted to a medical clinic in 1890 and was operated by the Forney family, whose members were the town's doctors. It was used as a medical office until the 1970s.

The building's eligibility for the historic registers was based on several criteria, mostly relating to the fact that the house was a medical facility, according to a document from the SHPO.

Bank representatives did not specify other types of issues they are dealing with regarding the new branch opening. Azrak said the historic preservation aspect of the site is only one of several issues they are working on before coming back before the Zoning Board.

"We're negotiating with the owner on some business issues," said Michael Ghabrial, senior vice president of property management and director of real estate for the bank.

The board has heard testimony on the proposal during three hearings last summer and earlier this fall. Bank representatives have testified the building is structurally unsound and harbors numerous unsafe conditions.

At an Oct. 4 meeting, Architect Salvatore Corvino cited water and termite damage, mold and mildew, rusted pipes, asbestos, missing bricks and beams among the reasons why the building is unsalvageable.