The covenants already on record with the County re: Vought House: archaeol_environ_covenants.pdf

A sample of type of historic preservation easement that will be required: hist_pres_ease_sample.pdf

I got a copy of the appraisal done on the Vought House - dated April 1st for some reason, maybe so they cover their sloppy work by claiming it an April’s Fools joke.   It’s linked here in three sections (PDFs).  I didn’t scan the addendum because those documents are available elsewhere. 
                           
             Section 1 Facts    Section 2 Analysis    Section 3 Valuation

For a selection of the major problems from all 3 sections see:  appraisalmajorerrors.pdf

Every layperson knows that even renovated this house is not worth $600,000 in today’s market.  The question: How could the $590,000 renovated and $225,000 “as is” valuation be so far off? 

Here’s the major problems with the appraisal:

• Two Clinton Township properties are identical in every way, both priced at $600,000.  One house sits in an environmental buffer for a C-1 stream which prevents the owners from building a shed, ever mowing the lawn, paving the driveway, building a garage, or disturbing existing plants or the soil in any way.   As the potential home buyer, do you still value them the same?   The appraiser for this property barely mentions the environmental buffer and DOES NOT reduce the value of the “comparable” properties to reflect the significant fact that none of them were so restricted.
• Same two Clinton Twp. properites, but one is on the State Register of Historic Properties.  Does this affect the value?  It probably will, although in reality, private individuals are not affected by this, only government entities, like school districts, are prevented from harming properties on the NJ Register. The school district must also get approval to transfer ownership and that approval will rest on them placing a satisfactory historic preservation easement on the deed.
• This not-yet written SHPO-required historic preservation easement is not factored into the value of the property. Page 20 acknowledges that private individuals are Not restricted by the house being placed on the Register.  In bold underlined letters it declares that individuals would face no restrictions on the renovations or remodeling of the property. 
• WHAT the appraiser fails to explain is: How the property can be owned by a private individual Without being transferred from the school district.  The appraisal correctly says that ”sale of the property requires” prior review and authoriation by the SHPO to assure that adequate restrictions are in place to protect the home’s significant historic features!  It’s not the Register but the easement written into the deed prior to the sale that would prevent any future private owner from harming the historic features!
• It would be a strange law indeed that prevents the school district from ripping out the ceilings but allows it to sell the property to a private party to do as they please! 
• Besides the fact that there’s no allowance for the comparable propeties being buffer-free, the Potterstown Road property had a whole cottage, a second building, which was ignored by the appraiser, who added $175,000 for the supposedly smaller size of that property.
• I could go on but these major problems are a huge disappointment in an appraisal that took five months and cost several hundred dollars.  A little clarity is not too much to expect.  Instead the picture is clouded with obviously wrong information and a sloppy valuation.  

Don Sherblom  

With the recent appraisal of the Vought House (see news article) the fate of Hunterdon’s most historic revolutionary era site is unnecessarily brought into question.  The questioning is unnecessary because anyone who knows this house and that it cannot be expanded, knows it can never be worth $590,000! 

Saving money is a good thing, especially in these trying times.  As America’s founding genius said, a penny saved is a penny earned.  But a deal where you loose far more than you gain is no bargain.  It’s penny wise and pound foolish.  Were the Vought House sold off, we’d gain a fraction of a penny one-time tax relief and lose control of what happens at our elementary and middle school campus forever, be it a smoke shop, tattoo parlor or derelict vandal magnet.

This crystal-clear picture was recently clouded by a wildly optimistic valuation of the property.  As a full-time Realtor with 12 years experience in Clinton Township and a part-time historian, I am uniquely qualified to speak to this multifaceted issue:

1) The valuation seems extremely high. A habitable three bedroom, one bath home with no garage 100 years newer than the Vought House is currently on the market in Annandale not for $590,000 (no surprise) but for $290,000! Any lay person knows a list price near $600,000 for this small old house with no garage sitting in an environmental buffer at the entrance to two schools and a stone’s throw from Rte 31 is just crazy talk.

2) Also, this valuation does not include the historic preservation easement, since that easement has not been written.  There’s absolutely no doubt the State Historic Preservation Office will require an approved preservation easement prior to any property transfer since the house is listed on the NJ Register of Historic Places.  What will it cost to repair the damaged ceiling and stabilize all four historic ceilings as required for their preservation?

3)  Even if sold ‘as is’ for $100,000, that would be a minuscule one-time savings for local taxpayers, literally a single drop in the 9 billion dollar Clinton Township tax bucket, a fraction of a penny savings for one year and 100 years of who knows what problems at the school.

4)  My daughter will  be attending the Clinton Township Middle School next year. As a parent I do not want to see this remain a derelict  abandoned house, a private residence, or a “candy” store at the edge of the middle and elementary school campus.

5) Ultimately this is not about personal gain or temporary expedient actions.  A sale is forever.  It’s about who we are as people, as a community, a township past, present and future. 

6) The most important revolutionary era historic site in Hunterdon County cannot be auctioned off to the highest bidder with no regard to what happens with this house and grounds in the years ahead.  That would be short-sighted, contradict our district’s educational mission and be a huge betrayal of our identity.

7) This property is part of American history.  Even if the citizens of Clinton Township have a legal right to sell with no regard to what happens here, as citizens of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, as Americans we are not worthy citizens if we allow such a key educational testament to the history of the American Revolution be destroyed or become unavailable to the public.   

You may think I exaggerate for effect.  If so, please read the history of the Vought Family and the American Revolution available in the Clinton Bookshop and the County library.  This property met the criteria in all four categories of the New Jersey Register of Historic Places, was nominated for the National Register and preparations are in the works for designation as a National Landmark (5% of National Register sites).  It is clearly the most important Revolutionary War site in Hunterdon County.