Ridgefield Historical Society members are encouraged to participate in an important decision in January that will have long-lasting effects for the preservation of our town’s heritage. With the new year comes the opportunity to approve the creation of the East Ridge Historic District and add protection to an area that figured prominently in the earliest history of the town.
Past town meetings gave historic district status to areas of Main Street and High Ridge, and now that the residents of the proposed new East Ridge Historic District (Branchville Road to Prospect Street) have voted their approval, the establishment of this important new district will be voted on at a Town Meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 7:30pm at Veterans Park School at 8 Governor Street.
There will be a public hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 7:30pm in the Town Hall Annex at 66 Prospect St. at which residents can hear details of the proposal and ask questions. Please add your support for this new district, at the hearing and at the town meeting. This new district will help protect a part of the town’s center that encompasses important properties from many eras of town history.
Should the East Ridge Historic District be successfully designated at that Town meeting, it will become the first new Ridgefield historic district established since 1968.
The steps towards designation started with a 63-page Study Report prepared by the Ridgefield Historic District Commission and the Ridgefield Historical Society. The Study Report includes a map showing the boundaries of the properties to be included in the proposed historic district as well as detailed descriptions of these properties. The report also outlines the historical importance of East Ridge and its integration into the fabric of the Town Center:
“When the Town of Ridgefield was founded in 1708, the founders laid out three parallel roads running north and south along the three ridges comprising the Ridgefield Town Center. More than 300 years later this area continues to comprise the Ridgefield Town Center. These three historic ridge roads are Main Street, High Ridge Avenue and East Ridge Road. Each of these three ridge roads and the properties lining the historic parts of these ridge roads have been fairly well preserved over a great many years. The Main Street and High Ridge areas are part of the existing regulated historic districts #1 and #2, respectively, which are under the purview of Ridgefield Historic District Commission. East Ridge Road, however, is not in a regulated historic district and, accordingly, lacks similar statutory preservation protection notwithstanding its historical, architectural and scenic streetscape values.”
The Study Report was reviewed by Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office as well as by both the Town’s Planning & Zoning and Economic & Community Development Commissions. It was unanimously approved by all three bodies. Following these approvals and a public hearing to which all property owners of East Ridge were invited, a secret ballot was mailed to all non-municipal property owners. In order to move forward with the designation, a two-thirds majority of these eligible owners needed to cast “yes” votes. That balloting resulted in only one “no” vote.
The Study Report for the East Ridge Historic District is available on the Town of Ridgefield’s website, www.ridgefieldct.gov.
