Contact Info

phone201-547-5010
One Jackson Square (364 MLK Drive), 2nd floor
Jersey City, NJ 07305

Tanya Marione, PP, AICP
Director

Dan M. Wrieden
Historic Preservation Officer
Directions
[email protected]

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

The Historic Preservation Commission, as established by the 2001 Land Development Ordinance, works to identify, record and protect buildings, sites, places, structures, objects or landscape features of significant historical, architectural, social and archeological value. The identification of historic resources for municipal landmarking is based on the National Register Criteria for Evaluation established by the United States Department of the Interior. The eleven-member commission strives to help the public in understanding the importance of these historic resources, both individually and in the context of the surrounding districts and neighborhoods by encouraging appropriate development and rehabilitation in accordance with the Jersey City Land Development Ordinance Chapter 345.71 : Historic Preservation Standards and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for the Treatment of Historic Properties, especially the Standards for Rehabilitation. The Commission is currently supported by three preservation staff, Dan, Maggie, and Sara, an attorney, and secretarial staff.

Flyer adertising the historic preservation plan and the community meeting on July 27th at 6Pm in the holloway building at 4 jackson square

ADVISORIES

As of January 1, 2023, the follow changes will be in effect for the Jersey City HPC:

New Fee Schedule: An amended fee schedule for the HPC was adopted by the City Council on November 28, 2022 and the vast majority of fees for HPC review have increased for the first time in 21 years. The new fee schedule can be found here and will be in effect for all applications filed beginning January 1, 2023.

All applications starting June 14, 2023 must be submitted through the Jersey City Licensing and Permitting website. To submit an application to the Historic Preservation Commission, you must first create a user account on the Jersey City Licensing and Permitting website. Sign up here.

If you have already created an account you may also click one of the options below. Before submitting, please be sure you are submitting your application to the correct land use board.

Staff requests that ALL appointment requests, questions, and general communication be submitted via email to [email protected] until further notice.

Be advised, until further notice, all public meetings will be held virtually as video conferences with public access. See information on digital agendas below.

Interactive Zoning Map

DIGITAL AGENDAS AND PLANS FOR DOWNLOAD

To access an agenda for a Jersey City public meeting, or view the Jersey City Calendar.

Agendas have hyperlinks to download digital plans, reports and other materials for all applications to be presented to the commission. Within the agenda, click on a link for the case you wish to review. Alternatively, you can search by address or case number to review digital plans at the Jersey City Open Data Portal. Plans for cases will be made available on the portal after agendas are sunshined.

If you wish to receive email notice of when staff publishes materials on the portal, create a username or login, navigate to the dataset you are interested in, and select the "follow" button to receive alerts.

VIRTUAL MEETING ACCESS INSTRUCTIONS

The Jersey City Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment, and the Historic Preservation Commission are utilizing the service, Zoom, to conduct virtual meetings in compliance with New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act.

To access a Historic Preservation Commission via Zoom, please click here.

If you have questions about how to access virtual meetings click here to review our Zoom Meeting Instructions.

The Historic Preservation Commission consists of nine regular members (appointed for four-year terms) and two alternates (appointed for two-year terms). These members are appointed by the Mayor from the community and to ensure a wide spectrum of experience and expertise.

Commissioners are designated to fulfill one of three categories:

Class A
A person who is knowledgeable in building design and construction or architectural history.

Class B
A person who is knowledgeable of, or who has a demonstrated interest in local history.

Class C
Any citizen of the City who shall hold no other municipal office, position or employment except for membership on the Planning Board or Board of Adjustment. Four regular members shall be of and designated of Class A and B with the remaining balance of Commissioners being Class C.

The City has five local historic districts and thirteen local landmarks designated for protection. The five current districts are the Hamilton Park, Harsimus Cove, Paulus Hook and Van Vorst Park Historic Districts in the downtown section of Jersey City, and as of July 1, 2015, the recently designated West Bergen East Lincoln Park Historic District. Ellis Island, William Dickinson High School, the Van Wagenen-Apple Tree House, Holland Street, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, the Pennsylvania Railroad Harsimus Branch Embankment, the Butler Brothers Warehouse, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Warehouse (Headquarters) and the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Warehouse Auxiliary Building and Bakery, the Merchants' Refrigerating Company Warehouse, The Former Whitlock Cordage Site, the Jersey City Women’s Club and the former Saint John’s Episcopal Church are individual landmarks. The development of these resources is under the jurisdiction of the Historic Preservation Ordinance and Commission.

The City Council designated the West Bergen-East Lincoln Park Historic District, already on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places, a Municipal Landmark District on June 10, 2015, taking effect on July 1, 2015. You can read the full Designation Report written by the City’s consultant and find a district map .

Any development, construction, alteration, rehabilitation or repair of any sign, building or property within the four designated Historic Districts of the City or a landmark building, requires the owner of the property to first secure a Certificate of No Effect (CoNE) or a Certificate of Appropriateness (CoA) from the Jersey City Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), before work commences whether or not a construction permit is required.

Most work is reviewed by the staff of the Historic Preservation Commission and may be approved under a Certificate of No Effect with any necessary conditions. Generally, work that is approved by staff under a Certificate of No Effect consists of rehabilitation, restoration, maintenance and repairs. Applications for interior work which requires a permit from the office of the Zoning Officer or the Construction Code Official but has been determined to have no adverse effect on a landmark building is also issued a Certificate of No Effect.

The Historic Preservation Commission generally reviews applications for Certificates of Appropriateness which are sought for projects which include new construction, rear yard and rooftop additions, demolitions and work that does not appear to be consistent with the City’s Historic Preservation Standards and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for the treatment of Historic Properties. When an application has been determined to be complete, Staff will calendar the project for a hearing on the Historic Preservation Commission’s Calendar. Monthly meetings are generally held in the City Council Chambers on the second or third Monday of the Month and all applications must be presented to Staff at least two weeks before the planned hearing date for calendar consideration to allow enough time for review for completeness.
Homeowners, architects, contractors and applicants are always welcome to informally discuss their projects with the Commission’s Staff before submitting an application.

• HPC Application Form
• HPC Meeting Calendar

Sometimes, work is done on a property without obtaining the proper approvals and permits beforehand. In some instances, this work could jeopardize or harm historic fabric or may be simply inappropriate. Usually, a Certificate of No Effect or a Certificate of Appropriateness is posted on a property in a visible place, along with the building permit, otherwise known as a yellow card. Regardless, if you have any questions about work on a landmark building or within a historic district, please feel free to contact us. All inquiries and complaints are confidential and will be checked by professional staff of the Commission in a timely manner.

To report work on designated properties in the Jersey City Historic Districts that do not appear to have approval from the Historic Preservation Commission, or appears to be exceeding the limits of a granted approval please complete this form.

At present the Historic Preservation Officer reviews all applications for demolition throughout the City in order to verify the age of the building or structure under consideration. The purpose of this review is to establish the age of the building in accordance with Chapter 105 Building Demolition of the City Code. Please find the Demolition Permit application here.