Signs have sprouted on front yards on Harvard Street in Montclair to protest the prospective building of a second home at #44. The owners of 44 Harvard asked the planning board, and received, a variance to subdivide the 100-foot wide lot into two 50-foot lots. One of the 50-foot lots, #44A, was listed for sale 18 days ago. Although neighbors appealed the variances, both locally and at the county level, and lost, they’re hoping their protest signs will discourage would-be buyers. Steve Hockstein writes:
The opposed neighbors (roughly 90% of the block’s residents) have decided to voice our opinion about the proposed plan with the hopes that prospective buyers will give consideration to the neighborhood before shoehorning in a new house on a block that’s pretty densely developed as it is.
The spec lot, listed for $219,000, carries this description: “Rare opportunity! Terrific family street to build to suit. All approvals inplace. Great location-perfect for commuting by train and bus, and within easy walking distance of Brookdale Park.”
According to Hockstein, the variances would allow tearing down this two-car garage as well as an enclosed porch to make way for a new 2,000 square-foot house.
The family that lives at 44 Harvard declined comment.
Do the neighbors also live in houses that were a built within a subdivision? Of course.
so it’s perfectly legal to build here, all variances have been approved, appeals have been shot down. And they still fight it.. interesting. Just because your house was already built on your 50 ft lot, you won’t let anyone else do it? And potentially build a home that could raise the appeal of your block? More NIMBY shortsightedness.
Its not the other homeowners land to decide what to do with.
44 Should put a sign in front of their house saying:
“Future home of Verizon Cell Tower”
Now a 2,000 sf house doesnt sound as bad, does it???
What size is the average lot on Harvard? My guess is not much more than 50 ft. I really dont understand what thier issue is.
The had a right to appeal it and they lost, going to this extreme is childish.
Something similar happened on my block years (and years) ago.
I thought the house at the end of the block just had a big yard, but it was another lot. At some point it was sold and a new house was built. Some of the nicest neighbors I’ve ever had moved in, the house is incredible and everything worked out fine.
Wait, this sounds vaguely familiar. If my memory serves me correctly, another family tried to build on this lot a couple of years ago and the neighbors went nutso. Doesn’t sound like a terrific family street unless you have been grandfathered in. Wasn’t the meanie who tried to start a fight with cathar at SBs involved in the previous dispute a Harvard St. resident, too?
I believe we still live in America and that freedom of speech is a right granted under the first amendment to the Constitution – namely our right to express our displeasure and disappointment in the town’s decision to allow the subdivision to go through. That’s right – we’re the “meanies” and the “nutsos.” In reply to Spiro T. Quayle and CalGal (by the way CalGal you should learn to spell – it’s their NOT thier): FYI 1) none of the homes or properties on Harvard Street were ever the result of a subdivision, 2)the result of the subdivision at 44 Harvard Street is that the new subdivided lot is now LESS than the 50 feet required by the town because variances were obtained to bypass the new minimum lot size regulation and setback. And yes – a cell tower would be preferred over having a new house built. It would be interesting to see how you would all react if this were your street. For a tolerant community, many are intolerant of the opinions of others.
First of all, don’t be absurd. You certainly would not welcome a cell tower in your neighborhood. Second, just how many feet short of the 50 foot width is the lot? A quick Google earth scan shows the lot at 44 to be “extra wide” in comparison to it’s neighbors.. if it’s a foot short, I don’t see a huge issue. Bottom line is if any of you owned the lot, you’d be trying to sell it off or develop it too. It’s a fully developed residential street with a lot on it , a chance to welcome a new family to the block and a potential improvement.
In reply to matchjames don’t presume to think you know that I would sell the lot or to develop it. Perhaps that’s what you would do (and I am thankful you are not on our block). Not all of us are out to “make a buck” at the cost of changing the look of a neighborhood. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should! Neighborhood development is not always an improvement.
Montclair 1989, of course you have freedom of speech, but you also live in a subdivision. A street full of homes with 50′ frontages is not a Lenape settlement or even a farmer’s homestead. It’s a subdivision.
tudlow, you’re right. Harvard Street is obviously not a good family street. Only an idiot would buy a subdivided lot and build a house on that street.
Yes – subdivided in 1926!
Very nasty people on here. So much for diversity and respect of differing opinions.
Montclair1989, there’s nothing nasty about pointing out you live in a subdivision. Pretty much all of Montclair is subdivided from old farms and estates. Just be honest and say that you like your subdivision just the way it is and you want no one else to subdivide it further because the lot is a foot or two narrower than yours and you are opposed to lots under 50′.
Instead you go for broadbrush lambasting.
Montclair1989 seems to bear more than a passing resemblance to a certain Montclairgirl seen elsewhere here today. She’s sure a subtle one.
If you look at our signs that’s exactly what they say: “NO MORE HOUSES! Leave Harvard St the way it is!
Imagine the signs they posted in 1926!
Like me you have to get in the last word.
I think it’s a good location for a municipal parking lot
….or an MSU dorm
“I believe we still live in America and that freedom of speech is a right granted under the first amendment to the Constitution”
The right to be an ass is firmly enshrined in the US Constitution.
-Brings a tear to my eye….
….or a strip club
This would be called “infill” – building a house on land that’s already developed. It adds density to the neighborhood, and its benefits include more cost-effectiveness for mass transit, less physical separation from neighbors, and encouragement of more pedestrian travel. Sometimes infill works, and, as Chrisco proved sometimes it, er, doesn’t.
Someone once wrote that the ideal density of any urban or suburban neighborhood is eight housing units per acre.
what a bunch of children you all sound like. maybe mr. hockstein could get a job and save up the money to buy the lot himself. he obviously has a lot of free time on his hands. that way he could leave it vacant forever. nothing like intimidating and alienating your neighbors by harassing them for simply wanting to sell something that belongs to them. maybe hockstein should move back to brooklynn from where he came and leave the people at 44 alone. get a life dude. this is america. people are allowed to make money regardless of what YOU want them to do.
peace out
Here’s original Montclair Times coverage of the approvals of the variances.
The council approved it, which is a shame. But now the battle is lost and it’s within the owner’s right to split the lot.
This kind of behavior can lead to the building of a spite house.
Appletony: that is true; it is the owner’s right to split the lot and sell it just as it is our right to voice our displeasure and disappointment in the town Planning Board’s decision.
As for you – Ride164 – you must have some serious issues. By the way – good writing – especially in your lack of knowledge of capitalization rules (and it’s Brooklyn and America). I’m surprised you knew that a lot is two words and not one. Maybe you should go back under the rock you crawled out. Hopefully your children (if you unfortunately had any) aren’t looking to you for help with their homework.
To Right of Center – sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me. My experience is that people who resort to calling names and using inappropriate language do so because they lack the necessary writing or speaking skills to convey their thoughts and/or ideas. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!
guess the brooklyn comment hit home. just like i thought. you should also join your neighbor hockstein and get a job and a life. go back across the river pal, you obviously dont play well with others. its hurts so much to have you correct my grammar. please stop. i cant take it.
Actually I’ve never been to Brooklyn and as you probably were unable to figure out (lack of brain cells) I’ve been in Montclair since 1989. By the way – FYI – you’ve also gotten my gender wrong. You really have a rather large chip on your shoulder – or should I write “sholder” as you undoubtedly would?
I know – you’re practicing to be Al Bundy or maybe even Archie Bunker!
Ride2-4-6-8…able to leap solo syllablic words in a single bound…faster than chrome oxidizing…a masterful winger of adjectives. You must be a frustrated author/homosapien (okay, well that’s a stretch).
Since ad hominem is what you do, let’s play. You small minded weasel. Too bad you don’t live on that block. We know that 164 must be your address because it certainly isn’t your IQ. I’m also sure it isn’t your weight because you sound waaaaayyyy too frustrated to be emotionally stable.
People can sell whatever they choose, care to sell an organ? Maybe your brain? I have a $1.64 that should cover the cost. Though I might deserve change after giving a spin once around the mental playground.
You are an idiot!!!
How’s that for volleying below the belt? You POS!!!
wow. you both have such fragile egos. i for one am soooooooooooooo hurt. weasel? and small minded? that hurts so much. i dont know if i will be able to wake up in the am. guess you two are both a little bored tonight. pos? wow. didnt your mommy ever teach you that it is not nice to call people names? iam looking forward to the new McMansion at 44a. cry all you want. but please. the name calling. its just so upsetting. sniff. how does sore loser sound? crybaby? coward? [portion of comment deleted]
Okay kids, let’s do some math! Let’s see… Divide one by two, subtract garage and porch, add lawyer’s fees, construction and closing costs. Subtract value on current home and remaining property. Doesn’t look like that much profit to me. And say, doesn’t the township’s zoning ordinances say that profit in and of itself isn’t a recognizable reason for subdividing a property? Wasn’t there something about hardship in that ordinance?
Oh, and ride164 – congratulations!. You’ve just won the award for being the most ignorant citizen of Baristaville! Perhaps you could paint us an even more vivid picture of the bizarre and strange and dark corners of what’s left of your mind!
You go – CDJones! I think you’ve hit the mark on ride164 being “the most ignorant citizen of Baristaville!” As for being bored, is “the pot calling the kettle black?” Hmmm…I wonder if you are simply describing yourself and your sad, unrewarding, unfulfilling life. Perhaps it’s you who seems to have your only fulfillment in life be in front of a computer monitor. Take a look in the mirror if you dare. You might have to actually face yourself.
Yo, Ride-em-cow-putz,
I’m glad you were able to figure out that was Latin. How long did it take you? Do you own coloring books that help you figure those things out or did your working spouse–oh, that’s right, no one would have you.
Jones is right. Take off your socks and shoes (if you have any after moving from Arkansas) and count the little piggies. But, it’s legal (albeit underhanded) and they can do what they want. Why don’t you buy it? Move there and let hocksteen buy you a beer and have a hootin’ good time with all the others on Harvard Street? I’m sure they’d be tickled as punch to have your worthless keester to call “neighbor.”
On second thought maybe you should stay where you are–safe behind your little keyboard where it’s all nice and safe. Get your blankie {sniff, sniff} and hope some other little boys and girls will be friends with you.
Ride-into-the-sunset-ad nauseum-163.5 (Latin again)
I got an idea, why don’t the 90% of neighbors who oppose the subdivision BUY the land? Get together at your next sign making meeting and pass the hat around and buy it and that way you can keep it an empty lot and preserve the street as it is. That is simple, then you can pay the taxes on the lot every year, as a constant reminder of what a great thing you all have done for your block. It would be fair, it would be done as a public market transaction which would satisfy the appropriate market value the land would command. That way you can’t strong arm your neighbor into not realizing the full value of the person property they own. Hey Montclair1989, I will chip in $5 for the effort, as long as I can come and BBQ there anytime I want. Let me know, Thanks
getaclue…I was thinking the same thing. Or perhaps the town could buy the land and erect the skate park there instead of the proposed location at the end of my block.
Thank you, getaclue, for being a rational voice among these mean-spirited, hopeless rants. What a bunch of losers!
getaclue, I’ll chip in another $5 and bring the cold beer.
Sad thing is, the lovely family who originally wanted to build a modest home on the lot gave up after being bullied. They would have added a lot to the clearly divided community of Harvard Street. Now, who knows what’s in store. Try to have faith in your neighbors that they will do the right thing.
Forget the signs, just read the posts on this thread. Who would want neighbors like that?
When my family moved to Montclair, 14 years ago, I was about 8 years old. I remember my parents had their hearts set on a house on Harvard, but it fell through at the last moment because the owners decided not sell. Reading these vitriolic(yet amusing) posts, I am glad I didn’t grow up on this street. I’ll take my house right next to Anderson Park any day of the week.
Im also glad I didn’t grow up on Harvard Street since I attended a different Ivy League institution. The irony would have been too much to bear. As we said at school, Huck Farvard.
I would imagine the posts reflect a community and not necessarily a particular street. To all who are interested in following this thread, try not to assume all of the people who live on Harvard are on the same page.
Mary and Joseph! The vitriol here is astounding!!
The legal battle failed, deal with it! Same as the neighbors of Christopher Court had to do. If the decision is not to your liking, sorry but that’s the breaks. Resorting to this behavior is simply stunning. I feel like buying that lot and building a nice conforming 2-story house, and then painting it red and black and planting the ugliest shrubs known to man! Jeez!!
I guess the only way to insure that “no more houses” will be built on your street is to A. live in a community with very strict zoning laws, unlike money-hungry Montclair’s, or B. buy up the land in question, as several posters state above.
That being said, it’s over. There’s nothing that can be done so putting up those signs is rather pointless and silly at this point.
You gotta laugh at how moronic we all sound. After all, we are ALL neighbors. I’m amazed at how mean spirited this got so fast, not to mention the personal attacks initiated by ride164 and his ilk.
We put up our little signs… so what? We’re all adult enough (or so I thought) to know that the signs aren’t going to change the outcome of any of this. We’re not happy about the subdivision and wished to express that, free speech and all that. But, we’ve reconciled with the outcome of our failed efforts and we’re moving on.
I just can’t wait to see what your responses are when the planning board approves a subdivision that will cram yet another house in on YOUR block.
CD, define cram? how is a lot essentially the same size as all the others on the block “crammed” in? Not to stir this up too much, but you could say that all your houses on that street are “crammed” by your definition, no? Just curious, because if 50×100 is good for everyone else on the block, how is it that it is not good for the new home builders? makes no sense……
CDJones,
Why consider another house with a similar frontage to all the others a cram?
It’s all the fault of that insidious developer back in 1926 who built all those other houses too close together in the first place. Now some new person follows the old 1926 pattern and is roasted on an open fire.
The new rule is 60 ft. Obviously some members of the planning board wanted to avoid more “cramming.” The rest of them don’t care and approved the variance. How come so many people who don’t know the whole story and won’t be impacted by the outcome have so much to say about this?
Well, Marihad, perhaps because the neighbors have this idea that 50 feet is okay for them, and for no one else.
I AM one of the neighbors. I have a 50×100 lot. Do I wish it was 60 ft.? Hell yeah! Do I think another house/family will “add density to the neighborhood, and its benefits include more cost-effectiveness for mass transit, less physical separation from neighbors, and encouragement of more pedestrian travel”? No, I think it will add more traffic, water runoff, make the street less desirable to live on, and be detrimental to the current “streetscape.”
Marihad, I am sure your points were taking into account during the appeals process at the Town and County levels. Even so, both upheld the variance for subdivision. It’s over, get over it. More traffic? ok, I’ll give you that, 1-2 more cars pulling into their driveway, maybe even a few more bikes and kids running amok in the street. Water runoff? really, c’mon. As for making the street less desirable, I think you and your neighbors have already done that yourselves…..
We’re going in circles, Marihad. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Your house, and your neighbor’s houses, are just as responsible for traffic and water runoff as the new house will be. You all equally affect the streetscape by virtue of your 50 spacing.
You are applying a lax standard for yourselves and a strict standard for the new house. No one likes a double standard.
well, if my comments have discouraged any would-be buyers from buying that lot, my work here is done.
Mari, you and your neighbors probably have not discouraged all would be buyer, perhaps only helped to lower the value of the property is all. Or even better, you will help attract a new buyer (builder) who won’t give a $hit what they slap on that lot, as opposed to the prospective family who would look to build a nice house for their family. Nice work!
Marihad, what may very well happen is that someone buys the lot, they build a house that will fit in, they will landscape it nicely, and then the house will be offered for sale.
The word will get out about how hostile the neighbors are on Harvard, and how they have contempt for due process.
Since no new buyer is interested in pariah status, no one will buy the house. You wind up with a permanently vacant house on your block, sitting and rotting, and all your “resistance” will backfire on you because the vacant house will cause the value of your house and all your neighbors’ houses to plunge rapidly. Nice job.
you’re funny. (almost as funny as the two disreputable Republicans you’re named after).
Actually, Marihad, your block’s comittment to the environment is admirable, being concerned about storm water runoff and whatnot.
Perhaps you should all sign a pact banning anyone on Harvard from building an addition on their house or widening the driveway, or maybe even adding a nice patio out back, since all that does is add to runoff problems.
That’s putting your money where your mouth is.
It amazes me how small minded most of you are who have been replying to some of what is being said on this thread. It obviously escapes all of you that you are using this forum to express your opinions while using this right to name call and denigrate those of us who value our ability to express OUR opinions. At no time have the family at 44 Harvard been maligned, ostracized, or been treated with contempt. When we hold our block parties all attend and are just as friendly – despite the accusations that you all continue to make. Just as they chose to go ahead with the subdivision (as is their right) we are expressing our displeasure. As for “the lovely family who originally wanted to build a modest home on the lot gave up after being bullied,” all of us on Harvard know that this issue has been and will remain strictly a monetary issue. The current family living at 44 Harvard are going to have to make their house smaller, lose most of their front AND rear yards AND tear down their garage. Honestly – who in any town (especially Montclair) makes their house smaller if they intend to remain on the block? So much for demonstrating honesty and integrity.
1989, get over it, it is done, kaput, finis, all over but the crying I guess. You have made your opinion well known here, and now posters on this forum have done the same, still not gonna change the fact that a new house will be built there whether you like it or not. You and your neighbors bellyaching and further protests only lend to the conclusion by most here on these posts to agree that you need to get over it.
Montclair1989, since you are so intent on demonstrating honesty and integrity, allow another 50 foot lot and home on your street, just like your own lot and home. That would be fair. You act like someone is inserting an abomination on your block.
Dear getaclue, GET A CLUE! Take your marbles and go home. When someone on your block or in your neighborhood decides to put up a sign in support for or protest against something – I’m sure you will tell them to stop crying and get over it. After all – everyone should take their lumps and swallow them.
OK, I pledge not to add an addition to my house. Oh wait, I can’t! I only have a 50-ft. lot!
As for our attitudes affecting the sale of the lot or house that gets built on it, I don’t know anyone who takes the personalities of the neighbors into consideration when deciding on a real estate purchase, there being much more important criteria. So I don’t foresee a brand-new “rotting” empty house in our future. But thanks for your concern.
Cram. My definition: When you are removing part of your house and taking down your two-car garage in order to make room for a 2000+ sq. ft. house on a 50×100 lot. Cram.
89,
I think you have exhausted this issue. You are the one that resorts to name calling on here, not I. Please reread these posts if you think otherwise. I, just as you have so duly noted that you have done for yourself, am expressing MY opinion. My opinion just seems to be more in tune with that of the Township and County, as well as the majority of other posters on this forum. I agree, looking at your street, the houses are a bit tightly packed in, been that way for a long time I’m guessing, I’m betting before 1989 when you arrived in this town. The fact of the matter is that at this point you and your neighbors seem spiteful and resentful to the point that you can’t get over it and accept it for what it is and are spreading ill will. If you wanted to be more constructive (in my opinion) maybe you should host a car wash to raise money to buy the land yourself? Just an opinion…..
Thanks for the suggestion. Can we count on you for your donation?
I just feel bad for those who live on Harvard and don’t have a problem with the issue. Can’t everyone just be thankful they have homes, and their health and a pretty nice piece of the pie? So many of the voices in this thread sound terribly spoiled when you consider the state of our planet right now. When you wake up and find out you have cancer or find you no longer have a job, you will regret all the time and energy you wasted being angry. I’ve wasted enough of my own time – good luck Harvard Street. Try not to kill one another!
wow. cant believe you ladies are still arguing over this. i can imagine how comfortable the family from 44 must feel as they step over those silly signs on their way to that all-inclusive block party. what a laugh. cant imagine how anyone could ever spend any time with you people. ever. get a job and a life folks. its over . you guys lost. now go find some other silly cause to pursue in between your junior leauge meetings and yoga classes
“define cram?”
IMHO, anything under the minimum lot size which is in place for a reason. The variance was given at the expense of the neighbors.
You are quite the Latin scholar. It is homo sapiens, not sapien, and ad nauseam, not nauseum.