Pine Mount Consulting provides expertise in historic preservation, open space preservation, community planning, economic development, and creative placemaking.

With over 20 years of experience in taking a comprehensive approach to community development, Pine Mount Consulting has a unique skill set to help guide your organization or community through ever-changing challenges.  Communities are evolving at a rapid pace, populations are diversifying and moving, and leaders are in an accelerating sprint to create the amenities that will provide the high quality of life savvy residents and visitors are coming to expect. 

 

PLANNING

Through a comprehensive view and analysis of a community the critical attributes can be revealed and precise recommendations can be implemented.

DEVELOPMENT

Determining the most effective investments in a community for quality of life and economic vitality. Communities today need a smart growth plan of action to remain relevant and sustainable.

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Preservation

To maintain a unique sense of place and secure a vibrant and attractive community space, preservation of both significant historic structures and open space is essential as a community grows.

 

The Alliance Colony Foundation began research to build a heritage center at Alliance Cemetery in Pittsgrove Township, Salem County, New Jersey.  The concept of the center revolved around the relocation of endangered shuls, or small synagogues, to the site, which in combination with the existing resources at the cemetery would create a comprehensive interpretive experience of rural Jewish life in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Within in a few years, the Foundation had completed a Feasibility Study and was ready to begin the grant seeking process for brick and mortar restoration of some of the resources and to move the planning component of the center to the schematic phase.  Pine Mount Consulting was selected by the Alliance Colony Foundation to provide management oversight to the various consultants involved in the restoration of the resources.  As well, Pine Mount Consulting secured Determination of Eligibility letters for specific structures plus the overall site from the N.J. State Historic Preservation Office, including a full historic nomination for the 1899 Bayuk House.  Finally, Pine Mount applied for and received a Historic Resources Management Grant from the N.J. Historic Trust to fund the schematic phase of the planning work as well as a Capital Improvement Grant for the restoration of the Bayuk House.

 
 

Historic Preservation involves both districts and individual historic sites. Pine Mount Consulting has considerable experience in both. Whether your site or neighborhood deserves to be listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places, or grant funds need to be sought for planning or rehabilitation purposes, Pine Mount Consulting can lead the effort to ensure that your historic places are protected and appreciated.

 
Greenwich Firehall

Greenwich Firehall

The Greenwich Township Firehall in Cumberland County, New Jersey, while built in 1925 and located within a historic district, was not contributing to the district and therefore not protected by State and National Register listing. The building is currently utilized as a firehall and emergency management facility and was facing pressure to alter its interior and exterior doors as part of new state requirements. Pine Mount Consulting successfully secured a Determination of Eligibility from the State of New Jersey so that more historically respectful alternatives to the new standards could be implemented.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church is a parish church located in Bridgeton, New Jersey.  The Vestry of St. Andrew’s selected Pine Mount Consulting to apply for and manage a Historic Resources Management grant from the N.J. Historic Trust.  St. Andrew’s was built in 1865 in a Gothic revival style, with pointed arch windows, a square tower topped by an octagonal spire and board-and-batten exterior cladding.  It was the spire that was the cause for concern, as it had begun to separate from the church proper, indicating a serious structural problem.  Pine Mount Consulting was successful in receiving a $15,000 grant from the N.J. Historic Trust and selected Keast & Hood Associates of Philadelphia to conduct a structural analysis of the steeple.  The analysis found severe deterioration in the wooden structural members of the steeple.  The recommendation made to the Vestry was to seek additional grant funding from the N.J. Historic Trust for the repairs needed to make the steeple structurally stable once again.

 

Matthew Pisarski has over 20 years of experience in program development, grant procurement, board management, farmland and open space preservation, and historic register nominations.  He has shepherded organizations and administered grant funds for creative placemaking and community development.  For the past several years he has conducted grant writing workshops in Cumberland, Gloucester, Atlantic and Burlington Counties.

 

 
 

For 20 years Matthew has administered Cumberland County's Farmland Preservation Program.  Cumberland ranks first in the state in value of agricultural commodities sold, and agriculture is one of the largest sectors of the county's economy.  As administrator of the preservation program, Matthew has preserved over 22,000 acres in approximately 220 separate transactions.  During his tenure he has shepherded nearly $100 million in development easements.  

 

Regarding open space, Matthew has completed several land acquisitions, including a multi-partner acquisition of 120 acres in Upper Deerfield Township along Sunset Lake and a 600-acre park development in the City of Vineland.