A cautionary tale: In Franklin Park, NJ, a historic tavern was, uh, accidentally torn down. How? The Asbury Park Press reports, the building's owner "put the wrong address on the application to demolish the structure, leading to an approval by a zoning official." The building, formerly a Dutch farm, had been on the Route 27 property since the Revolutionary War, and the township explained since the address was incorrect, the historic commission didn't know about the permit approval. The building's former owner John Allegro lamented to the APP that when he needed to change anything with the building, "It took months and there were a lot of hearings...I guess the face of the town is changing and that's understandable. But I'm not happy with the way this all went down. What is the sense of having a Historic Commission? This place had Queen Anne construction, a vaulted tin ceiling and timbers that were 300 years old. It was a really cool old building."
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