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Heideloff Sly Mansion

Friday, February 8, 2013

Heideloff Property Denied ‘Historic Landmark’ Status

At odds were private property rights versus historic preservation. After hours of discussion, the city’s planning commission splits vote down the middle, effectively tossing out the application for historic designation.

It took nearly three hours, almost 20 speakers and dozens of impassioned speeches, but the Lakewood Planning Commission finally voted — in a split decision — that the Heideloff property should not be designated a historic property. The home at 13474 Edgewater Drive is expected to be demolished to make way for a new $2 million lakefront home. Members of the planning commission deliberated for about 45 minutes on Thursday, and with a new member encouraged to abstain, the vote ended with a 3-3 decision. That effectively denied the motion to make the property “historic” under city ordinance. At the center of the debate was the issue of private property rights versus historic preservation. The neighbors, not the property owners, submitted the …

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ian king

5:28 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013

THANKS so much Neighbor for comments that so many of us Lakewoodites feel. It is absurb that this process has gotten as far as it has. I guess being President of the Historical Society gives some more insider power access and treatment than us mere Lakewood tax paying mortals. Having lived in Philadelphia, in the Society Hill area, there were at times a very contemporary townhouse next to an 18th…   more ›

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Lakefront Residents Form Overlook Park Neighborhood Association

Starting with just six members, the organization now boasts 167 members.

The idea that the Heideloff mansion on Edgewater Drive could be demolished initially prompted a group of residents along the lakefront to form a neighborhood association. But that was just the beginning. Starting with just six members late last year, the Overlook Park Neighborhood Association now has 167 members out of about 260 residents in the neighborhood it encompasses. The association includes the streets stretching from Nicholson to Belle avenues and is bordered by Lake Avenue and Lake Erie to the north. Gaynel Mellino, a resident of Edgewater Drive and president of the organization, said the idea of the neighborhood association came about because of the possibility that the Heideloff estate could be demolished. But the scope of the …

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ian king

1:14 pm on Monday, February 4, 2013

Hi DLSJR - not sure I totally agree a "modern" design would detract from this neighborhood. There are a lot of ordinary, Cape Cod style homes in this area - nothing special that one can't find in any Midwest suburb. I think Lakewood needs to have some modern/21st century architecture. It will contemporary the building stock that in many blocks of this city has seen better days! Remember, old …   more ›

Friday, January 4, 2013

Decision on Fate of Heideloff Mansion Will Have to Wait

Planning Commission defers decision that may designate the 98-year-old mansion a “historic landmark” under the city’s ordinance.

The Lakewood Planning Commission voted Thursday to hold off on a decision that would make the Heideloff mansion the city’s first residential “historic landmark” in Lakewood under the city’s ordinance. The commission made the decision without nearly half of its members in attendance. About 20 neighbors of the property did show up, and many of them tried to convince the commission to pass the designation Thursday to keep the 98-year-old mansion at 13474 Edgewater Drive from being demolished. The neighbors, not the property owners, submitted the paperwork to make the mansion a historic landmark. At odds is historic preservation versus private property rights. A law firm representing the Semaan family, which owns the property, had asked the …

Bob Beck

2:40 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013

I am in full concert with DLSJR and ian king re comments about the unwarranted taking of private property, regardless of its architectural or historical significance. Unless the neighbors have an equitable interest in the property, or are willing to particpate in the refurbishment and occupancy of subject property, this simply amounts to the uncompensated confiscation of an equitable interest in …   more ›

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