Newark, NJ Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Chapter 41:10, adopted November 1, 2023 by Ordinance No. 6PSF-E, governs Newark's historic landmarks and districts. Section 41:10-3-1 borrows its designation criteria directly from the National Register: a property or district qualifies if it possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association, and is associated with a historically significant event, is associated with a historically significant person, embodies distinctive architectural or construction characteristics or the work of a master, or has yielded or may yield important archaeological information. Section 41:10-3-2 ordinarily excludes cemeteries, religious properties, moved or reconstructed buildings, and anything achieving significance in the last 50 years, unless it independently meets one of seven listed exceptions, such as a religious property of outstanding architectural distinction or a cemetery tied to persons of transcendent historical importance.

Designation runs through three bodies in sequence, the Historic Preservation Commission, the Central Planning Board, and finally the City Council, under § 41:10-4-2, and anything already on the National or State Register as of May 30, 2007 is automatically designated a local landmark under § 41:10-4-3. Once designated, § 41:10-5-3 bars any use requiring demolition, relocation, or exterior alteration that would adversely affect the property's character except in compliance with the chapter, and religious buildings in use for 25 years or more face added transfer-approval conditions before a sale changes their use.