Residents organize to save Forney house
Group appeals zoning board approval of bank branch
BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

A group of residents march in Milltown's Fourth of July parade to demonstrate their opposition to Valley National Bank's proposal to replace the Forney House and Clinic with a bank branch. Here, Michael Shakarjian, Kathy Heilman, Barbara Wright, John Johnstone and Karen Bourque-Scott are seen passing in front of the actual Forney building on Main Street.

MILLTOWN - Residents looking to save the Forney house and Clinic from demolition have taken their efforts a step further.

The John C. Evans Project, a group of Milltown residents who incorporated as a nonprofit in May, is working to prevent Valley National Bank from replacing the nearly 150-year-old structure with a bank branch.

"I just can't understand how another bank can be justified, especially with one across the street," said Kathy Heilman, a trustee of the group.

The group's two-pronged approach to saving the Forney house consists of communicating with the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), whose approval is needed before Valley National Bank can proceed, and appealing the Zoning Board of Adjustment's April 4 approval of the project in state Superior Court.

"The attorney we've retained has been willing and able to help us on both counts," said Michael Shakarjian, also a trustee of the John C. Evans Project.

The group retained the legal services of the Princeton-based firm Lieberman and Blecher, which specializes in environmental, land use, real estate and historic preservation law. Along with sending a letter in support of the John C. Evans Project's goals to the OCC, the firm filed a complaint May 26 to appeal the zoning board decision, which granted variances and site plan approval to the bank.

"The OCC should take into account the fact that this proposal will have an unnecessary, irretrievable, adverse effect on a significant historic building eligible for inclusion in the National Register [of Historic Places]," said Joshua Levy, associate attorney for the firm. "Furthermore, the bank's proposal provides no convenience or need of the community."

Shakarjian and others who opposed the demolition of the house shared similar sentiments during months of testimony before the zoning board. Some have said they feel the proceedings were not handled appropriately, and that the public should have had more say in them.

During the hearings, representatives of Valley National Bank said the house was severely dilapidated and even unsafe. They said it could not be rehabilitated to be used for the bank branch because it would be too costly, and the structure could not be made to fit certain federal requirements for banks.

According to Heilman, the owner of South Main Street-based Gabrielle

Realty wrote to the OCC saying she is willing to help locate a buyer for the house that would be interested in retaining the structure. In doing this, she said, she would work with Dr. Bhudev Sharma, who currently owns the house and uses it for his medical practice.

"We don't want any burden on the taxpayers," Heilman said. "We're not trying to put a burden on the town."

The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) deemed the house eligible for both the state and national historic registers under three of four criteria back in October. With eligibility comes the requirement of review from SHPO before taking any major action on a given site.

Representatives of SHPO have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the zoning board hearings, as well as with what they said was an insufficient alternatives analysis provided by the bank. In a letter to the OCC, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Dorothy Guzzo stated that Valley National did not provide a list of alternative sites investigated for the bank branch.

Heilman said there are no banks farther down the road on South Main Street, and residents there would like to have a branch within walking distance.

Fredric Azrak, Valley National's attorney, declined to comment on the matter.

The John C. Evans Project has approximately 24 members, according to Shakarjian, and the core members of the group have gone into their own pockets to finance their efforts, hoping to eventually receive donations from the public.

"It's kind of a grassroots thing," Shakarjian said. "We're still in the process of getting other residents to join."

The group has gained the support of U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12), who wrote to the OCC on their behalf.

The Forney house is reported to date back to the mid to late 1800s, and was built by the Evans family, whose son served as Milltown's first mayor. Converted into a medical facility by John C. Evans, the house operated as a clinic from 1907 until the 1970s.

"He came with his horse and buggy into this town, and he put up his medical shingle, and said he wanted to practice medicine in this town," said Heilman, who has researched the Evans family history. "He really cared about the town."

Heilman related a story she said was told to her by a member of the family about Evans. During an epidemic, he paid someone to keep his Model-T Ford cranked and ready to go for 48 hours so he would be ready to go administer care to residents when needed.

"This is what Milltown is about," Heilman said.

The Forney house is the last remaining structure once owned by the Evans family, she said. The Provident Bank that stands across the street from the house replaced the former home of John Evans Sr., and the original Evans family homestead burned down.

Dr. Norman Forney Sr. was the borough's first surgeon, and many residents were born in the house. His son, also a doctor, practiced medicine in the town as well.

"They were so important to Milltown's history," Heilman said. "To us, it has become bigger than the Forney house."