Perth Amboy, NJ Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

In the City of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, § 258-14 of the City Code is the roll of locally designated historic sites and landmarks. The section deems a site a landmark because of its listing on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places or the National Register of Historic Places, its Certificate of Eligibility or SHPO Opinion, or its match with the criteria in § 258-13, and because it has been designated locally for historical, architectural, cultural, or archaeological significance.

The list runs from A through K. It names Perth Amboy City Hall and the Surveyor General's Office, both at 260 High Street; the Proprietary House at 149 Kearny Avenue (also called The Westminster and the William Franklin House); St. Peter's Episcopal Church and Graveyard at Rector and Gordon Streets; Simpson Methodist Church at High and Jefferson Streets; the Lawrence Kearny House at 63 Catalpa Avenue; the Perth Amboy Ferry Slip at the east end of Smith Street; the Perth Amboy Railroad Station east of Elm Street between Smith and Market Streets; the Perth Amboy Post Office at 205 Jefferson Street; the Raritan Copper Works Main Lab at the south end of Elm Street, the only building still standing from the original complex; and the Perth Amboy Public Library at 196 Jefferson Street, which carries a Certificate of Eligibility dated 8/11/2010. Each entry prints its register dates. The Proprietary House, for example, shows NR 2/24/1971 and SR 9/11/1970.

New landmarks come in by two routes. The City Council, Planning Board, City Historian or the Historic Preservation Commission can recommend a site that meets the National Register and New Jersey Register criteria and one or more attributes listed in § 258-13. Under § 258-12, owners of a proposed landmark can file a written protest within sixty days of receiving notice of the hearing, and a timely protest that is not resolved or withdrawn ends the designation as to that property. The Planning Board then has sixty days to report, and the City Council designates by ordinance on a favorable vote of a majority of its full authorized membership. Separately, when the state or the Keeper of the National Register lists a new site, the administrative officer notifies the Commission and causes § 258-14 to be amended.

The consequence is in § 258-16. No permit is issued and no construction, alteration or demolition starts on a landmark until an application goes to the Commission and a Certificate of Appropriateness or Certificate of No Effect issues, whether or not a construction permit is otherwise required. Demolition, relocation, exterior changes, additions and new construction all need the Certificate. Interior changes do not. Under § 258-15, the Commission has forty-five days to report on a permit referral from Code Enforcement, and silence counts as a report in favor of issuance.