East Hills preserves historic home
By Brandon Duffy -September 15, 2021
The Village of East Hills has reached an agreement with the owners of a historic 92-year-old house that will preserve the building and allow them to have two buildable lots on the property.
The property at 2A Melby Lane, the John Mackay III house, is owned by Steve and Wendy Shenfeld, who in 2017 sought to demolish the main house and split the property in half as part of a four-house subdivision.
The agreement ends an ongoing discourse between the homeowners and village which involved zoning applications, denials and recommendations from the state to preserve the property.
The Mackay estate sits on 2.23 acres. Made of stone and constructed in 1929, the house was originally built for John Mackay III, grandson of John Mackay, who was one of the discoverers of the Comstock silver mines in the 1870s. His father, Clarence Mackay, was owner of the 648-acre Harbor Hill estate which made up much of East Hills from 1902 to the 1940s.
In late 2020, the East Hills Planning Board rejected the Shenfelds’ application to demolish the main house and divide the property, saying it failed to “mitigate the significant impact attending to the demolition of the Mackay house.” The rejection came a few weeks after the state’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation recommended that the structure not be knocked down.
Preserving the property, which currently is on the market, according to Zillow, allows the village to preserve a piece of history, said Mayor Michael Koblenz.
In a news release, he said, “History is a part of the fabric of our society. Through this resolution we preserve our past and embrace it as part of our culture in East Hills.”
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Press Release- Village of East Hills
East Hills Preserves Historic Site
Mayor Michael Koblenz hailed an agreement forged with Ira and Wendy Shenfeld to preserve the historic home at 2a Melby in East Hills and to allow two new buildable lots instead of three. Mayor Koblenz emphasized: “History is a part of the fabric of our society. Through this resolution we preserve our past and embrace it as part of our culture in East Hills.” The historic home will be preserved through a series of covenants which were filed and effect all future owners since they “run with the land.”
The Mayor went on to express his appreciation to the Shenfelds for resolving the matter amicably, and discontinuing the litigation they originally instituted. The builder agreed to pay all fees, including application fees, engineering fees, permit fees, as well as a recreation fee to help refurbish the theater or other facilities in the Village.
Mayor Koblenz continued: “Together, our boards and committees have worked out, after great efforts and creative thinking, a mutually beneficial resolution which protects this landmark property, yet recognizes the owners’ rights to subdivide.”
The design of the two new homes will be subject to the full review of the Architectural Review Board. The Mayor expressed his appreciation to Steven Kafka, Chairman of the Planning Board, and its members, to Spencer Kanis, Chairman of the Architectural Review Board, and its members, Michael Kosinski, Chairman of the Board of Appeals, and its members, and to historian and leader Howard Kroplick.
The Mayor also lauded the members of the Board of Trustees, Deputy Mayor, Manny Zuckerman, and Trustees Clara Pomerantz, Brian Meyerson, and Stacey Siegel who strongly supported the preservation efforts.
1 Comments
I grew up on Melby, and loved the Mackay House. So happy that they are preserving it....