Possible Uses For Bellevue Library: Preliminary Report

A cafe, a bank, a tutoring facility, a senior center — those are just some of the ideas compiled by a task force exploring options for the Bellevue Avenue Branch. Read the preliminary report, then weigh in with what ideas sound best to you:

This Task Force was named by the Board of Directors of the Montclair Public Library, in cooperation with Major [sic] Jerry Fried , to investigate options available to the Board with respect to the Library’s Bellevue Avenue Branch (“the BAB”).

Brach [sic] History

In 1901, the Carnegie Foundation made a grant of $60,000 to fund the construction of the library that would become the Bellevue Avenue Branch. The building was designed by Francis Augustus Nelson and built in approximately 1914. The BAB was listed in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places in 1986, the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 and part of the Upper Montclair Historic Business District in 2003.

Branch Operations:

The Library provided the Task force with information concerning the operations of the BAB. This included data on how expenses were allocated between the two buildings. This shows that the cost of maintaining the BAB was approximately 9-10% of the total budget. This correlates generally with the usage patterns of the two branches. We were advised that the additional cost of keeping the BAB open for each day of the week is $50,000. The financial information provided by the Library is attached as Exhibit A of this Preliminary Report

Library Board Directions to the Task Force:

The Board expressed a general desire to continue to maintain the BAB as an operating library, ideally open more than the current one-day per week. At the same time, the Board is cognizant of the very real possibility that the funding which the Library receives from the Town may be cut significantly for 2011. Such cuts will require the Board to reconsider all aspects of it operations. The charge of the Task Force is to provide the Board with information and options to deal with the approaching budget crisis and to simultaneously inform the residents of Montclair of the situation.

It should be noted that the Task Force serves only an advisory function and has no expertise in library operations. The Library Board must make any decisions concerning the BAB or its continued operations, or the ultimate use of that property.

Finally, it must be noted that the options available to the Library Board may be severely limited, due to the financial crisis that the Town is facing. Actions taken in Trenton, including, but not limited to, the 2% tax cap, the continued loss of revenue and the looming budget hole caused by the refunds from tax appeals, make it very likely that the Library Board will be dealing with another significant cut in Town funding. This may tie their hands and make much of the discussion which follows hypothetical.

Limitations on the potential uses of the BAB

The Task Force concluded that before it could consider the potential uses to which the BAB might be put, it would be necessary to determine whether there were any legal impediments to alternate uses. We therefore sought advice from the Township Attorney, the Township Planner and the Historic Preservation Commission on this subject.

Deed or Title Restrictions: We were concerned that restrictions concerning the use of the land or building might have been imposed at the time that the land was donated or at the time the building was built, with a donation by the Carnegie Foundation. The Township Attorney, Ira Karasick, Obtained the original lease and found nothing in that document that restricts the use of the property in any way. He was unable to locate any additional document that relates to the use of this site and reports that no such document was recorded in Essex County. A copy of the entire Attorney’s report is attached as Exhibit B.

Historic Preservation Restrictions: The Library had already obtained an opinion from Mary Delaney Krugman Associates on this issue, in a letter to Library Director David Hinkley dated February 25, 2010. A copy of that letter is attached to this Report as Exhibit C. In addition, the Montclair Historic Preservation Commission provided its opinion on preservation issues related to the BAB in a letter report dated October 25, 2010. A copy of that document is attached hereto as Exhibit D. These documents set for the impact of the historic protection granted to the BAB. In summary, the results of the designations are as follows:

The federal designation will not be likely to have any impact on any action taken with respect to the BAB, since federal regulations do not come into play unless federal funds are being expended on a project related to the building. Thus, for example, if a federal grant was obtained to fund a project to make the BAB more ADA-compliant, some level of federal revue might be required.

However, almost any contemplated alternate use of the BAB would probably result in State review by the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office (NJHPO). (See the definition of “undertakings” subject to such review at page 2 of the Krugman letter.) It appears relatively clear that a sale or lease of the BAB would require that petition be filed with the NJHPO. It is somewhat less clear whether a lease arrangement that would allow a tenant to use the BAB in conjunction with the Library would trigger NJHPO scrutiny. One-time uses of the BAB facility, such as rentals for filming or fundraisers by private groups, would probably not require any NJHPO action, unless some significant alteration to the premises is involved.

Normally, Historic Preservation laws only restrict and regulate changes to the outsides of the building. In this case, the MHPC report suggests that the protection of the designation extends to the interior as well. However, the report notes that this could only be accomplished through a specific provision in a subsequent deed or lease. Such a provision would certainly impact the potential use of the building in the future and would presumably be a factor in a sale or lease price. This would be a decision for the Library Board to make, in consultation with their attorney, if and when the BAB were sold or leased.

Finally, it should be noted that the Montclair Historic Preservation Commission has only advisory and not binding in nature. This means, in practice, that the MHPC can only make a recommendation concerning a publicly owned building, such as the BAB, and that the Town or the Library Board can reject that advice. However, if the building is transferred to a private party, it is likely that the review and recommendations of the MHPC would become mandatory and binding, particularly if the property is rezoned.

Zoning Considerations: The BAB is currently zoned as “Public”. As public property, it is exempt from a number of requirements that would apply to a private property owner. These include (a) compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, (b) compliance with minimum parking requirements and similar obligations, and (c) restrictions on the use of the property set forth in Montclair ordinances.

Should the BAB be sold to a private party, the property would have to be rezoned. The most likely designation would be Neighborhood Commercial (NC), although the final decision would have to be made according to established procedures. It is not entirely clear whether the property would be rezoned in the event a private party or parties signed a long-term lease for the building.

OPTION 1: SALE OF THE FACILITY

This is something that the Library Board must consider, regardless of how undesirable it is to all concerned. Indeed the Krugman letter indicates that preliminary steps were taken to begin the investigation of that step. It should be noted that the Town Council and the Library Board, as a matter of public policy, do not believe that Town assets should be sold in most circumstances. The example of the sale of the Deron School and other Town facilities are remembered and regretted.

The Task Force obtained an informal appraisal of the BAB through Adriana O’Toole. The value of the BAB was estimated to be $850,000. It is difficult to know how much weight to give to this appraisal since it was informal and there are clearly few comparable to compare the BAB with in establishing a value. However, if the Library Board wishes to seriously consider the sale of the BAB, it is important to determine the value, since that would have a bearing on the decision. If the value of the BAB is in the $850,000 range, for example, it is less likely that the sale would be prudent.

There are a number of factors that make the BAB difficult to sell. Any potential new owner would have its use of the building constrained by historic preservation laws and the proposed sale would require approval by the NJHPO. The property would be rezoned and subject the owner to comply with a variety of zoning and other issues relating to parking, signage, etc. The building would have to be brought into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (while not interfering with the historically protected façade). These and similar issues would appear likely to make it difficult to find a buyer and to depress the price paid for the BAB.

It is the feeling of the Task Force that the sale of the BAB property is not a viable option.

OPTION 2: LONG-TERM LEASE OF THE PROPERTY

If a sale of the BAB property is not deemed to be prudent, the Board must consider a long-term lease of the property. This might arise if the Board determines that it is imprudent to operate the BAB as a library at this time, but wishes to retain the option of reverting to such use when times improve. The Task Force believes that this option would certainly be preferable to the alternative of simply “mothballing” the building. However, there are some considerations that should be noted:

1. The longer the term of the lease, the more likely it would be that the tenant would want to make alterations to the interior.
2. A long-terms lease to a private entity might trigger the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and possibly various Town ordinances and rules governing things like parking.
3. It might be possible to lease the floors separately.

OPTION 3: CONCURRENT USE OF THE BRANCH BY A TENANT

If the Board wishes to continue to operate the BAB in some capacity or wishes to preserve the possibility of doing so in future years, it should consider an arrangement under which a private entity rents space in the BAB and occupies the space when the BAB is not being used for library services. The Task Force believes that this would be an advisable course of action should the Board decide that it will continue the operation of the BAB. This sort of arrangement could take a number of forms:

1. The Board could rent out the ground floor of the BAB to a tenant and provide library services only on the main floor. This would lend itself to more potential uses and would probably result in more income.
2. The Board could rent out all or part of the BAB to a tenant, which would use the space on the days when the BAB was not open and providing library services. There would only be a limited number of potential tenants that could operate in this manner.
3. The Board could offer the BAB space for use by groups for fundraising events, parties, film shoots, etc. This option allows the Board to retain more control over the use of the BAB, but there would be no guaranteed income flow.

POTENTIAL ALTERNATE USES

The Task Force has received some public comment and reached out to members of the community try to ascertain whether there are viable alternate uses for the BAB . We are hoping to collect more suggestions and we are issuing this preliminary report now in the hopes of generating further discussion and suggestions. As of this date, we have found the following:

Tutoring/Test Preparation businesses: It was suggested that these types of businesses might be able to operate concurrently with the Library in the BAB. In fact, Councilman Murnick reports that the Tutoring Club of Montclair is interested in a lease arrangement. It is possible that other, similar entities might also have that interest. This sort of business might also be able to enter into a lease for the entire BAB or just one floor of the building.

Montclair State University: MSU has expressed some interest in using some or all of the BAB space. We will attempt to provide more details of this interest in our final report.

Montclair Art Museum: The Museum has also expressed interest in using part of the BAB space as a gallery. Once again, we will attempt to get further information for our final report.

School Use: We received a number of suggestions that the BAB could be used by Mt. Hebron Middle School, presumably as a library, with the school library converted to another use. The Board of Education has not commented on this suggestion at this point and it would be safe to say that they have bigger concerns to worry about at present. It was also suggested that St. Cassians, which has its school behind the BAB, might have some interest in the building. It is not clear that this is the case.

Senior Center: The Library already provides a range of services to seniors and seniors area significant portion of the BAB clientele. It might be possible to centralize senior programs in the BAB, including programs that would bring income to the Library. If he Board were to consider following this path, the Task Force recommends that it expand its exploration to include youth activities as well.

Fundraising Space: As mentioned above, it might be possible to lease this building out for fundraisers and/or parties. If this approach were to be followed, it would make sense to get the advice of a professional as to whether the kitchen facilities in the building would need to be upgraded.

Bank: We received some suggestions that the BAB could be leased or sold to a bank. We assume that this is because it looks sort of like a bank and banks have money. The types of alterations that would be required for this sort of use make this option questionable and a variety of zoning, ADA and historic preservation considerations would arise. It is worth observing that we did not receive this suggestion from anyone representing a bank.

Restaurant/Café: A number of individual suggested that a café serving coffee and sandwiches might be a successful tenant. A café is certainly a theoretical use that could coexist with an operating library. Others suggested that it would make a good site for a restaurant. The main floor might make an interesting restaurant space, but there would be parking, ADA and other considerations that might make it difficult. The kitchen might require substantial alterations. Both are options worth considering and we will try to find out additional information for our final report.