Jersey City, NJ Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

The zoning code's definitions section defines a LANDMARK as any building, object, site, structure or landscape feature at least 50 years old that has special historic or aesthetic value 'as part of the development, heritage or cultural characteristics of the city, state or nation' and has been formally designated under the chapter, the code's functional equivalent of a cultural monument. S. a, covering association with significant historic events or persons, distinctive construction type or the work of a master, or the likelihood of yielding important archaeological information, plus integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association.

Once a property is nominated, owners get certified-mail notice at least ten days before the Commission hearing, the Commission votes, and an approved nomination proceeds to the Planning Board and then City Council to amend the chapter. A, once a landmark is designated, no permit may issue and no construction, alteration, minor alteration, ordinary repair or demolition may begin, even where no construction permit would otherwise be required, until the Commission issues a Certificate of Appropriateness or Certificate of No Effect. A denied Certificate of Appropriateness may be appealed to the Board of Adjustment within 20 days, and an approved certificate is valid for one year unless the Commission grants an extension by five affirmative votes.