UPDATED: Council rejects redevelopment plan for Stanhope House
STANHOPE. The proposed ordinance, which was voted down 4-1, would have allowed the 230-year-old structure to be bulldozed and replaced by a five-story building with one floor of retail space and four floors of residential units.
Stanhope /
| 23 May 2024 | 05:44
Scott Dunn, who used to work at the Stanhope House, speaks against the proposed ordinance at the Borough Council meeting Tuesday, May 14. (Photo by Bryan Fumagalli)
The Borough Council rejected a redevelopment plan for 45 Main St., the address of the Stanhope House, at its meeting Tuesday night, May 14.
The proposed ordinance, which was voted down 4-1, would have allowed the 230-year-old structure to be bulldozed and replaced by a five-story building with one floor of retail space and four floors of residential units.
Thomas Romano was the only council member to vote for the redevelopment plan. Mayor Gene Wronko and Council President Bill Thornton recused themselves from the vote because of conflicts of interest. Both have worked at the venue.
Explaining her vote against the plan, Councilwoman Diana Kuncken, a 50-year resident who has been on the council for 25 years, said, “I have always hoped that someday something would come along and rejuvenate and bring some life back to downtown ... . It’s always been my dream, maybe a little coffee shop. A place people could take a walk and stop and have a cup of coffee and a pastry. ...
“I am voting no because I firmly believe that we need something different in downtown Stanhope. Maybe this will be a catalyst for something that will come that meets the needs and the wants and the desires of our community.”
When asked to comment on the council’s decision, Jon Klein, owner of the Stanhope House, said, “No comment at this time.”
Built in the 1790s, the Stanhope House has served as a private home, stagecoach stop, general store, post office, tavern, rooming house and hotel. In 1970, it became a performance space and later a legendary blues venue that has hosted performers such as Muddy Waters and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
The venue, while still active, is a shell of its former self, Klein has said.
Options for the future of the property are up in the air.
The meeting May 14 was moved from the municipal building to Valley Road School because of the large crowd expected to attend.
Everyone who approached the podium before the council’s vote, whether a Stanhope resident or not, spoke against the measure.
After being approached last year by Klein of BGK Realty Group, the property’s owner, the borough’s Land Use Board designated the site as an “area in need of redevelopment.”
A redevelopment plan was put together in October by Bowman Consulting Group of Parsippany.