By Helen Kull
Last month we considered historic registry listings, and the criteria for state and national registry.
We also considered protections for and restrictions upon registered sites and the reality that state and national designation offers little in the way of protection or restrictions.
So, where does the perception come from that historic designation results in many restrictions?
In part, it is a mistaken perception, based on partial information and mixed messages. Such misperceptions are easily perpetuated and can become inaccurate “pseudo-facts” if not countered with more accurate information.
As hinted at last month, the strongest regulations regarding registered historic sites are local ones placed on locally registered sites. Simply put, home rule rules. And where you live affects the regulations in place.
In New Jersey, municipalities are given the authority to identify, evaluate, designate and regulate historic resources from the Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL), the enabling legislation for land use planning, development and zoning. Historic preservation zoning has been a part of the MLUL since 1986.
This legislation allows municipalities to define and plan for land use and development in their towns, according to certain guidelines. Thus, each municipality prepares its own ordinances regarding development and decides how a township’s residential and commercial sites will look and feel within the township.
Historic preservation is part of that planning, which allows for indicating the location and significance of historic sites and districts, registering them, and identifying the standards for those sites. Zoning laws can then apply certain restrictions or safety considerations on the sites or districts specified in the historic preservation plan element. The regulations can be relatively loose, or very specific, depending on what has been decided by the local municipality.
Similar zoning laws exist in other states, and what results is an extremely diverse patchwork of regulations, and an extremely confused public!
Some of the laws can be rather restrictive, especially in certain historic districts, where the goal of the regulations is to keep a certain characteristic look and feel to the district and to minimize or eliminate construction or exterior improvements that are completely out of character with the desired look.
These towns may restrict the colors of paint that can be used on your historic home’s trim, or the style of replacement windows you might install, so as to keep the overall look of the district.
Other towns may have no historic districts, and few if any restrictive regulations as to historic properties. Thus, it’s easy to be confused when it comes to historic-registered properties.
Examples of this abound. Trenton has eight historic districts (Mill Hill, for example), which are regulated by the Trenton Landmarks Commission for Historic Preservation via their zoning guidelines and review processes. Yet neighboring Ewing currently has no designated historic districts, and our existing regulations are much less restrictive.
While to some that may sound desirable, it may eventually risk the future connections to Ewing’s past, by offering little or no protection to our many historic homes and sites. Many municipalities have found ways to strike a balance between providing protection to historic properties, and overly-restrictive ordinances.
As a member of the Ewing Historic Preservation Commission, my hope is that someday we can strike that balance, and preserve some of the wonderful historic treasures in our township — that is, homes and areas — through the establishment of historic districts.
