Rhinebeck enacts building protections

By Patricia Doxsey , Freeman staff Daily Freeman Monday, February 20, 2005

RHINEBECK - Owning a property of historic significance in this town now will come with strings attached.

The Town Board last week adopted the Historic Buildings Protection Law, which is expected to protect historic buildings from wanton demolition and keep the town within state guidelines for waterfront development funding. The only prohibition in the law is against razing buildings without the town Planning Board's permission.

The law does not govern any other types of work a property owner might want to undertake, but it does urge owners of historic properties to voluntarily take steps to preserve the original features and elements of the structure when making improvements or alterations.

Town Supervisor Dennis McGuire said Rhinebeck is unique in the number and quality of historic buildings in the community.

"Some of these buildings have been here as long as the town of Rhinebeck has been here," he said. "These are valuable structures that, once they're gone, they're gone."

McGuire said the law should help the town retain its character and beauty.

"If this local law does that, then we've accomplished something for the future," he said.

Sally Mazzarella, chairwoman of the town's Comprehensive Plan Committee, has said that besides protecting individual buildings deemed to be of historical significance, the law will bolster the town's efforts to get support from the state.

If the town adopts a waterfront revitalization program that subsequently is adopted by the state, the town can call on the state to advocate on its behalf to protect the community's resources, Mazzarella has said.

Under the historic preservation law, property owners seeking to remove or demolish a historic building must get a certificate of removal from the town Planning Board. Property owners also must provide planners with the exact location of the building and a 10-year chronology of its use.

Planners then must hold a public hearing on the request to determine whether to issue the permit. In contemplating the request, they must consider, among other things, whether the building is of such architectural or historic significance that its removal would be a detriment to the public interest; whether it is important to the character of the community; and whether retaining the building would maintain real estate values in the community.

Applicants can apply for a certificate of economic hardship that would allow owners to demolish a building, even if it meets the criteria for preservation, if the owners can show the building in its existing state is causing an unreasonable financial burden, cannot be adapted for another use or cannot be sold at fair market value.

AFFECTED PROPERTIES RHINEBECK - Thirty-eight structures in six districts in the town are affected by the Historic Buildings Protection Law. The year listed after each indicates when it was designated historic.

* Astor Home for Aged, 36 Mill St., 1987.
* Barringer Farmhouse, U.S. Route 9, 1987.
* Benner House, 77 Mill St., 1987.
* Cox Farmhouse, Old Post Road, 1987.
* Delamater Henry House, 44 Montgomery St., 1973.
* Evergreen Lands, Delano Drive, 1987.
* Fredenburg House, Old Post Road, 1987.
* Free Church Parsonage, William and Grinnell streets, Rhinecliff, 1987. * The Grove, Miller Road and state Route 308, 1987.
* Heermance House and Law Office, Rhinecliff and Long Dock roads, Rhinecliff, 1987.
* Hillside Methodist Church, U.S. Route 9, 1987.
* Mansakenning, Ackert Hook Road, 1987.
* The Maples, 108 Montgomery St., 1987.
* Marquardt Farm, Wurtemburg Road, 1987.
* J.W. Moore House, Mill Road, 1987.
* Morton Memorial Library, Kelly Street, Rhinecliff, 1987.
* O'Brien General Store and Post Office, Schatzell Avenue and Charles Street, Rhinecliff, 1987.
* Jan Pier House, state Route 308, 1987. * Kip-Beekman-Heermance Site, Rhinecliff, 1989.
* Pilgrim's Progress Bridge, Miller Road, 1987.
* Progue House, Primrose Hill Road, 1987.
* Pultz Farmhouse, Wurtemburg Road, 1987.
* Rhinecliff Hotel, Schatzell Avenue, Rhinecliff, 1987.
* Riverside Methodist Church and Parsonage, Charles and Orchard streets, Rhinecliff, 1987.
* Robert Sands Estate, state Route 308 and U.S. Route 9, 1975.
* Salisbury Turnpike Bridge, Old Turnpike Road, 1987.
* Sipperly Lown Farmhouse, U.S. Route 9, 1987.
* Slate Quarry Road Dutch Barn, Slate Quarry Road, 1987.
* St. Paul's Lutheran Church, parsonage and cemetery, Wurtemburg Road, 1987.
* Steenburgh Tavern, U.S. Route 9, 1987.
* Stonecrest, Old Post Road, 1987. * Strawberry Hill, Ackert Hook Road, 1987.
* Traver House, Wynkoop Lane, 1987.
* J.E. Traver Farm, Violet Hill Road, 1987.
* John H. Traver Farm, Wurtemburg Road, 1987.
* U.S. Post Office, 14 Mill St., 1989.
* Van Vredenburg Farm, Cedar Heights Road, 1987.
* Williams Farm, Enterprise Road, 1987.

THE LAW also includes properties that "may ... in the future" be designated as "contributing" to six historic districts.

They are:
* Evangelican Lutheran Church of St. Peter, also known as the Old Stone Church, which covers 70 acres on U.S. Route 9 and includes three buildings.
* Grasmere, which covers 600 acres on Mill Road. It has 12 buildings and four other structures.
* Hudson River Heritage Historic District, also known as Hudson River National Historic Landmarks District, near Staatsburg. It has 1,402 buildings, 382 other structures and three objects.
* Rhinebeck Village Historic District at U.S. Route 9 and state Route 308. It covers 1,670 acres and has 272 buildings.
* Rock Ledge, comprising 4,010 acres on Ackert Hook Road, Haggerty Hill Road and Troy Drive. It consists of five buildings and five other structures.
* Sixteen Mile District, along the Hudson River, which has 121,000 acres and 233 buildings.

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