Curtin's complaints have been echoed by other residents with homes in the city's Hamilton Park Historic District, as well as the four other historic districts in the city (Harsimus Cove, Paulus Hook, Van Vorst Park, and the Warehouse Historic District).
The city's historic preservation officer is responsible for enforcing the guidelines of the Jersey City Historic Preservation Commission, which determine how alterations and additions can be done to historic buildings. These guidelines were adopted by the city in 1992.
Curin's frustrations have transformed into a crusade to remove city Historic Preservation Officer Dan Wrieden, whom he blames for the problems, but they have opened discussion on a larger issue of whether or not the guidelines should be overhauled so they are not as subject to personal interpretation.Why are they so angry?
Warren Curtin has owned his two-story brownstone on West Hamilton Place, overlooking Hamilton Park, for the past three years. The house is in an area a few blocks from the Holland Tunnel where many upscale professionals have spent time and money to maintain their century-old brownstones.
Homes in the Hamilton Park area have sold for prices between $500,000 and $1.2 million, with buyers willing to pay the highest prices to live in a historic district. A walk around Hamilton Park reveals the presence of just as many signs advertising companies specializing in historic preservation and restoration as signs announcing homes for sale.
Curtin bought his brownstone in 2001 as a $380,000 fixer-upper, spending $250,000 on repairs. Now the house is valued, according to Curtin, at $900,000. Curtin knows of what he speaks, since he is a real estate broker who has worked in the business for over 15 years.
Curtin's negative experience with historic preservation started in 2003 when he wanted to do work on the front of his house, including painting the façade.
"I went through the exercise of choosing colors, and I decided that colors used at my previous home on Varick Street were the best," said Curtin. He had painted that house a hunter green that was an acceptable color for a historic structure. But then, he said, Dan Wrieden weighed in with his decision.
"Dan Wrieden told me that the only color I can paint my house was brown, that any color I painted my house had to be approved by him," said Curtin, who said he made such a fuss that Wrieden eventually relented and approved Curtin's choice of color.
Curtin said he also took exception to being instructed by Robert Cotter, who in August 2003 was the director of city planning, that power-washing his house required a site visit by the historic preservation officer.
Cotter had given Curtin this instruction in a written "certificate of no effect," a document which Curtin had applied for in order to do maintenance work on his house. A certificate of no effect states that the work being done within a historic district has been reviewed by the historic preservation officer and the director of urban planning.
"It was obvious [Robert Cotter and Dan Wrieden] wanted to decide whether I needed to clean the pigeons off my own home," said Curtin.
Then, matters got worse. Curtin said that he wanted to put in iron staircase railings and gatework outside his home that would match as closely as possible with neighbors' homes.
"I did my research and found an iron works specialist who does this work and would do the whole job I requested for $7,500," said Curtin. "But that wasn't good enough for Dan Wrieden."
Curtin said Wrieden told him that he wanted Curtin to restore the original iron work that existed on the property.
"I got three estimates ranging from $32,000 to $38,000," Curtin said. "I then go to Dan Wrieden's office to meet with him for his approval in order to start the work, and he tells me that maybe it was possible to go contemporary. Well, I just wasn't going to sit in that office after hearing that, and I walked out."
Dan Wrieden did not respond to requests by phone and e-mail for an interview. A receptionist at the city's Planning Department said on Thursday that Wrieden would be out of office until this coming Monday.
Curtin soon embarked on a campaign to have Dan Wrieden removed from his position as the city's historic preservation officer, saying Wrieden's only previous historic preservation experience was as an intern with the NYC Historic Preservation Commission.
Curtin said as a result of Wrieden's decisions, "Many people are doing historic preservation without getting a certificate of approval, or are just stopping all together." He also described the guidelines as "nebulous." Others agree
Curtin found kindred souls in residents of the Hamilton Park Historic District and other districts who related to his problem.
Like fellow Hamilton Park resident Janet Allen, who said she ran into problems with Wrieden over his insistence that a particular type of brick mortar be used on her building.
Another area resident, Wayne Sharpe, bought a home on Jersey Avenue and wanted to replace the circa-1860 chain link fence in front of his home with a similar type of fence, only to be told by Wrieden earlier this year that he would have to get a fence that is a duplicate of the original, which would cost up to $15,000.
Curtin has written letters to everyone from Bob Cotter to then-Acting Jersey City Mayor L. Harvey Smith regarding his frustration with Wrieden and the historic preservation guidelines. Neighborhood meeting
A number of Hamilton Park residents vented their frustration at their neighborhood association meeting on Nov. 3. It was attended by Robert Cotter and the chairman of the Jersey City Historic Preservation Commission, Stephen Gucciardo. Attendees grilled the two for over an hour on how the guidelines should be revised or completely overhauled.
Cotter defended Wrieden's work "100 percent" and called him the "best preservation officer we've had in a long time."
Also at that meeting, Hamilton Park resident Robin Pinkowitz (also an aide for Ward E City Councilman E. Junior Maldonado), said that for as many people who were angry at Dan Wrieden and the Historic Preservation Commission, she knew many residents like herself who were happy with Wrieden's performance.
She encouraged residents at the meeting to study the guidelines of the Historic Preservation Commission and write a list of what they thought should be changed.
Once there is a consensus from the parties involved, those suggestions can be submitted to Councilman Maldonado. Possible changes
Stephen Gucciardo said last week that some members of the Historic Preservation Commission are forming a subcommittee to study the guidelines. He said the subcommittee will come up with recommendations by this January.
He also said he would look to visit the $500 escrow fee that individuals must pay to the city in order to ensure that improvements are made for historic preservation purposes. The money is supposed to be returned with interest.
"I understand the frustration of the homeowners that are trying to make their homes better," he said.
But Gerry Bakirtjy, architect and contractor who lives in the Paulus Hook Historic District, said he is opposed to the changes in the guidelines.
"There are fairly clear guidelines," Bakirtjy said. "Dan is not making this up as he goes along. The reforms that people are talking about are based on what they want."
Bakirtjy also added that he is sympathetic to the financial hardship that many homeowners face, but noted that he has seen people buying homes and claiming they need to put less expensive elements, such as vinyl as opposed to wood windows, in their historic homes, ruining the historic quality.
Bakirtjy also voiced his support for Wrieden, saying in his dealings with the man he had found him "to be very conscientious and knowledgeable."
Some of those who disagree have gone as far as to post personal attacks about Wrieden on a local Jersey City issues website.
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