A rendering shows proposed plans for Nicolo’s Bakery & Deli at in Montclair as viewed from the Corner of Baldwin Street and Glenridge Avenue. (Studio G2 Architects via Township of Montclair)

UPDATE: Nicolo’s Italian Bakery Fights Plan to Redevelop Historic Montclair Home

A significant project that would enlarge Nicolo’s Italian Bakery & Deli and add housing units in two new buildings at the corner of Baldwin Street and Glenridge Avenue could be coming to Montclair amid strong opposition from the bakery itself.

First, however, the company seeking to expand on the property, MDZ Management LLC, must obtain the Historic Preservation Commission’s approval to demolish the building housing the bakery at 6 Baldwin St. and take down a two-family home at 12 Baldwin St., planning documents show.

Although the commission was originally slated to hear the application at its Thursday night meeting, Township Planning and Community Development Director Janice Talley said the applicant has asked that the public hearing, instead, be moved to Aug. 20.

A planning department memo to the commission outlines the project in the Pine Street Historic District.

The first phase of work would include replacing the two-family home with a three-story residential building containing nine units. The second phase would replace the existing bakery and the two apartments above it with a mixed-use building consisting of an expanded first-floor bakery and two apartments.

“The proposed redevelopment would reconfigure the site layout, including building placement, vehicular access, circulation, and parking,” according to the planning memo. “The applicant states that the project is intended to retain Nicolo’s Bakery on the site while introducing new residential development designed to reflect the character of the Pine Street Historic District.”

According to the applicant, the new buildings’ masonry construction and architectural elements would reflect this historic character, the memo says.

Bakery Opposes Plans

Nicolo’s Bakery owner Donato “D.J.” Zecchino, a tenant of the property at 6-12 Baldwin St., in an email following publication of this article expressed the business’ opposition to the proposed development.

“Nicolo’s Bakery is not seeking an expansion or redevelopment, and opposes said plans completely,” D.J. Zecchino said. “We want to stay here and be a part of this community as we have been for the last 59 years. The application before the Historical Preservation Commission falsely states that Nicolo’s Bakery supports this, which is untrue. Nicolo’s Bakery vehemently opposes this.”

He encouraged people to attend or tune into the upcoming meeting to show their support.

Jonathan D. Clemente, the attorney representing MDZ Management LLC, on Wednesday, declined to comment. “My client is not going to make any statements on the record before the hearing,” Clemente said.

State business records list Nicholas Zecchino Jr. and Mary Ann Zecchino as the “members/managers” of MDZ Management LLC and show an address in Cedar Grove. However, Clemente declined to confirm their connection to the property management company.

“It is an entity. An entity owns the property and that is the applicant,” Clemente said.

A rendering submitted to the township on behalf of MDZ Management LLC shows a proposal for the second building to be considered for Baldwin Street. (Studio G2 Architects via Township of Montclair)Preservation warranted?

Architectural Heritage Consultants, a Hoboken firm specializing in historic preservation, concluded in a project review that preserving the house at 12 Baldwin St. is warranted.

However, the firm said preserving the bakery building at 6 Baldwin St. is not justified.

The bakery itself has operated in Montclair for well over 100 years and the building dates to the early 20th century, the review states. Nicolo’s took over from D’Allesandro’s around 1967, news reports cited in the records show. The two floors above the bakery are clad in contemporary horizontal siding and contain rectangular one-over-one replacement sash windows.

Separately, the existing two-family home rises to two-and-a-half stories with a front-facing gable roof and shingle siding, the review says. Historic maps show a wood-frame dwelling present at 12 Baldwin St. by 1890, and the same general building footprint appears on the 1901 and 1906 maps, according to the review.

A photo in town planning documents shows the two-family home at 12 Baldwin St., which the Historic Preservation Commission on Thursday, July 16, is slated to consider an application for demolition. (TOWNSHIP OF MONTCLAIR)District’s History

The Pine Street Historic District developed primarily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when both structures were present, the report says. The historic district encompasses about one-square mile, including Pine, Baldwin, Bay, Grant and Sherman streets and Glenridge Avenue.

“The district retains a distinctive collection of buildings dating from the 1880s through the 1930s, including late 19th-century frame dwellings, early 20th century masonry apartment and mixed-use buildings, and small-scale neighborhood commercial properties that together create a dense historic streetscape.”

If MDZ Management LLC gains the Historic Preservation Commission’s approval for demolition, the project will require site plan approval from either the Planning Board or Zoning Board before construction could begin.

What’s New Hearing Date?

The Montclair Historic Preservation Commission is anticipated to hear the application for 6-12 Baldwin St. at 7:30 p.m., Aug. 20, in the council chambers of the Municipal Building, 205 Claremont Ave. The meeting will be livestreamed on the town’s YouTube page.

Correction: A prior version of this article misidentified the applicant. The company seeking to expand on the property, MDZ Management LLC, is owned and operated separately from the bakery.

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