Paterson Restoration Corporation (PRC)

Mission

Supporting local businesses with financing, technical assistance, and development tools to help them grow and thrive.

Members of the Board

Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ)

Planning & Zoning

• Administering and providing staff support to the Planning Board (PB) and the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZB);
• Processing, reviewing and commenting on development applications to the PB and ZB.
• Evaluating Master Plan and Land Development ordinances.
• Soliciting community input for development plans.
• Providing information to the public and to regional planning agencies.
• Enforcing decisions made by the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment.
• Reviewing construction plans, permit applications and certificate of occupancy applications for zoning compliance.

Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment Site Plan and Subdivision Application

City of Paterson Zoning Map

Zoning Application

Zoning & Land Use Ordinance

Zoning Letter Request Form

Signage Schedule

Bulk Schedule

Residential Use Schedule

Non-Residential Use Schedule

Street Classification

For more information about the Division of Planning and Zoning, please consult our Fact Sheet.

Paterson Planning Board

City Of Paterson

PLANNING BOARD

PLANNING BOARD MEETING CALENDAR JUL 2023-JUNE 2024

Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment Site Plan and Subdivision Application

City of Paterson Zoning Map

For more Information call

Paterson Zoning Board of Adjustment

City of Paterson

ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT

BOARD CALENDAR JUL 2023-JUNE 2024

Historic Preservation

Who We Are

The Commission is a municipal statutory body of seven regular members and two alternate members with diverse qualifications/experience related to historic architecture, building design, construction and materials, as well as history. At least two are professional members who practice architecture, engineering, architectural history, or historic architecture. Other members may also have academic accomplishments and experiences in these fields, and have demonstrated a knowledge or an interest in the history and heritage of Paterson. Most members are Paterson residents, but not all are required to be. Qualification standards and residency requirements of commissioners are stipulated by NJ zoning law.  All members serve as volunteers and are appointed by the Mayor, serving four-year (regulars) or two-year (alternates) terms.

• The Commission is charged with evaluating, promoting, and preserving the City's historic environment. This is accomplished through a variety of programs, such as historic landmark designation, seasonal educational tours, events, and the annual Historic Preservation Awards.

• The Commission is empowered with a specific role in municipal land use and building permits with respect to applications for proposed alterations to the exterior of structures within any municipally-designated historic district, or on any municipally-designated individual landmark or site. To carry this out, the Commission advises the Division of Planning and Zoning, the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment on zoning applications for development, and also reviews all building permit applications presented through the Division of Community Improvements. Applicants can download design standards, design guidelines and application forms from the Document Center link on this page. All posted historic preservation related documents and forms begin with the identifier "HPC." The application forms are PDF files that can be filled out directly on your computer through Adobe Acrobat Reader v9.0 or higher.

• The Commission meets on the third or fourth Monday of each month in a public session to conduct its business. A schedule of regular meeting dates is published annually, and agendas for the each meeting are posted in advance at the Office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 3rd Floor. Meetings are held at Paterson City Hall, 3rd Floor Council Chambers, 155 Market St., Paterson, NJ 07505, convening at 6:30PM. All are invited to attend.

HPC Meeting Dates - August 2024 through July 2025

HPC Application Deadlines - August 2024 through July 2025

The Historic Preservation Commission is now on Facebook! Please Like & Share our page!

Members of the Historic Preservation Commission

Joyce A. Corbo, Chair

Kenneth A. Simpson, Vice Chair

Mohammed Ahmed, William Moses,

 Nakima Redmon, Will Tate, Richard Walter,

Maribel Garcia-Leon, Alternate, Frank Fillipelli, Alternate

 Staff of the Historic Preservation Commission

Gianfranco Archimede, Executive Director

Banessa Ramirez, Historic Preservation Specialist

Ben-David Seligman Esq., Counsel

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Historic Preservation Review Process

Step 1: Research the Property Address.

Is the property registered as historic, or in a registered historic district?

Check it out to see if it appears on the following list/register.

Paterson Register of Historic Places

Historic Property Listing

You can also refer to our HISTORIC DISTRICT MAPS
Great Falls Historic District
Downtown Commercial Historic District
Eastside Park Historic District
Court House Historic District

Step 2: Does your project follow the DESIGN GUIDELINES

of the historic district where your property is located?
Great Falls Historic District Design Guidelines, 1996

Downtown Commercial Historic District Design Guidelines, 2014
Eastside Park Historic District Design Guidelines, 2015

Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Treatment of Historic Properties (link NPS website)

Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines, 2017 (18MB PDF download from NPS website)

Step 3: File an APPLICATION to the HPC

Application for Design Review (Construction, Exterior Changes)

Application for Signage Review (New Business, Change of Location, etc.)

Application for Historic Review Prior to Demolition Permit

Application for Planning Review (New Construction, Reuse, etc.)

Application for Historic Review Prior to Storage Tank Removal

Application for Historic Markers

Application for Historic Landmarks (Nominate/Designate a site and/or building)

(PLEASE NOTE: ALL demolitions within the City of Paterson require approval from HPC, regardless of location)

**FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS**

(regarding HPC Reviews & Applications)

OTHER MATERIALS & INFORMATION

PATERSON MILL SURVEY 2012

DUBLIN NEIGHBORHOOD SURVEY 2015
HISTORIC PRESERVATION ELEMENT 2014 Master Plan
 Historic Preservation Ordinance, Amended 2016

Directions to the Division of Historic Preservation & Commission Office

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For further information on the Historic Preservation Commission: please contact the HPC Staff at 973.321.1220 or visit their website.

Downtown Guidelines

 The City of Paterson Downtown Commercial Historic District Design Guidelines (Guidelines) are intended to act as a tool to help manage, change and protect the city’s architectural and historic resources. The Guidelines provide information, guidance and regulations to assist property owners, retail tenants, design professionals, contractors, City Staff and the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) with regard to making changes to historic resources in the City’s Downtown Commercial Historic District (DCHD). They are intended as a supplement to, rather than as a substitute for, consultation with architects, contractors and the HPC and its professional staff.

The Guidelines are based upon The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. It is recommended that applicants review the information in the relevant Guidelines sections and consult with the HPC office during the early stages of planning a project.

The DCHD Design Guidelines can be reviewed in PDF format. Click on the sections provided below:

Introduction

Signs and Awnings

Storefronts

Architectural Metals

Masonry, Stucco & Concrete

Roofing

Windows

Glossary

Paterson Mill Survey

Project Description and Scope of Work

 

This report presents the results of an intensive-level architectural survey of 30 historic mills in the City of Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey. These 30 mills were recognized by Mayor Jeffery Jones, the Paterson Historic Preservation Commission's staff and by industrial historians as representing a highly significant but largely under appreciated cultural resource directly associated with the expansion of Paterson when it was known worldwide as "The Silk City" during the half century dating from roughly 1875 to 1925.

The "30 mills" survey was initiated by the City of Paterson with the expressed goal of identifying and surveying historic large-scale mills located in parts of the city outside of the Great Falls district. The project was funded by a Certified Local Government Grant-in-Aid from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Historic Preservation Office (NJHPO). This came in recognition by Mayor Jeffery Jones that these buildings should play an important role in future development plans and that they are an important cultural assets scattered throughout much of the city. In many instances, these large buildings anchor the mixed-use neighborhoods in which they are located. The overarching goal of this survey was to provide data that could be used to guide and promote historic preservation by increasing awareness of these buildings and encouraging their appropriate treatment as historic resources.

This report presents a historic summary placing the mills in historic contexts of industrial architecture and the development of specific industrial sectors including silk, silk dyeing and finishing, machine works, locomotives and aeronautics, which made Paterson known nationally and, in some instance, internationally, for the skill and productivity of its businesses and workers. It also recognizes the mills for the potential significance they may have in association with industrial archaeology and the social history of labor, immigration and ethnicity. The report makes the recommendation that several of these themes are worthy of further exploration and research to answer questions about the degree of direct historic associations with the mills in the survey.

In order to bring immediate recognition to threatened mills, it is recommended that the Paterson Historic Preservation Commission and the City of Paterson move forward with plans to designate buildings to the list of city landmarks that meet the city's Criteria and Procedures for listing. Consideration should be given to providing PHPC staff with the resources to educate owners on appropriate maintenance and preservation treatments that will preserve mills that anchor Paterson's neighborhoods and provide the city with a remarkable sense of place and heritage. Mills identified as significant by this survey should also be considered for targeted assistance through the city's Division of Economic Development and Division of Planning & Zoning. This assistance may take the form of helping owners to identify potential rehabilitation or re-use solutions.  In addition, the report recommends that 28 of the 30 mills meet the eligibility criteria of the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. It is suggested that the Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF) would be an appropriate approach to nominating the mills and recognizing their significance under the state and federal register acts. The data and context generated for this report can be used as a foundation for preparing the MPDF and reducing the cost associated with the effort. An important advantage of the MPDF approach is that mills listed or determined eligible will become qualified for federal preservation tax credits, which are an incentive for rehabilitation.

Furthermore, it is recommended that the resources identified by this survey be considered for inclusion in industrial heritage tourism, an area of tourism that is growing in the United States and Europe. This could take the form of a guided tour that links industrial sites throughout the city with the Great Falls National Historical Park and its visitor center. This tour would draw visitors into other parts of the city to explore its industrial architecture and aspects of its post-1850 industrial development beyond the waterpower. This tour could be combined with opportunities to experience sites that were associated with the Strike of 1913, as well as neighborhoods with historic and modern ethnic associations. The tour should not only have history but it should offer opportunities to experience the city's living culture, including food, music and art offered in neighborhoods with an industrial past.

 Survey Boundaries

Chapter 2: Historical Content / Overview: Paterson

Chapter 3: Data Summary / Results of Fieldwork

Chapter 4: Recommendations / Condition Assessments

Listing of Mills

 Auger & Simon Silk Dyeing Works

Aronsohn Mill

Barbour Flax Spinning Works

Barnert Mill

C. DeGrado Silk Dyeing Co.

Castle Piece Dye & Finishing

Cooke Locomotive

Eclipse Mill

Gaede Silk Dyeing

Hall Mills

Hinchliffe Brewery

International Print and Dye Works

J.S Sowerbutt Mill

John Hand Mill

Manhattan Shirt Co.

Miesch Mill Courtland Works

Miesch Mill Totowa Works

Morrison Machine

National Silk Dyeing East Main

New Standard Aircraft

Pierre Thonnerieux Silk

Riverside Silk Mill

Savory Shirt Co.

Sipp Machine Co.

Susquehanna Silk Dyeing Co.

Washington Piece Dyeing

Watson Machine

Weidman Silk Dying Mill

William Strange Mill

Wright Aeronautical 

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This study was Prepared for:
The City of Paterson
City of Paterson Historic Preservation Commission

Funded by
State of New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection
Historic Preservation Office
Historic Preservation Fund

Prepared by:
Alison Haley, M.S.
Patrick Harshbarger, M.A., M.P.A. of HUNTER RESEARCH INC.

With Contributions by:
Gianfranco Archimede, M.S.

 

South Dublin Neighborhood Survey

Project Description and Scope of Work

This report describes the results of an intensive-level historic architectural survey of the southern section of the Dublin neighborhood of the City of Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey (Figures 1.1 and 1.2). The Dublin neighborhood contains Paterson’s oldest concentration of vernacular workers’ housing and is thus an important complement to the nearby historic industrial buildings and water power raceways at the Great Falls. Quite possibly, the Dublin neighborhood represents the greatest concentration of mid-nineteenth century urban factory workers’ housing in the State of New Jersey, and it certainly represents an unusual concentration of pre-Civil War urban workers’ housing that was not company-owned or associated with the development of a single industry, as was the case with many of New Jersey’s other early industrial towns and villages. Additionally, Dublin is outstanding for its long association with the immigrant experience. In the 19th century, the neighborhood housed substantial Irish, English, German and Italian ethnic groups, as well as smaller numbers of Scots, Swiss, Italians, Spanish and French. In more recent years, Dublin has been home to Puerto Rican, Dominican, Peruvian and Serbian ethnic groups among others who have added their identities to the neighborhood’s evolving cultural heritage.

The overarching goal of this survey is to provide data and recommendations that can be used to guide and promote historic preservation of the Dublin neighborhood. This information is to be used “to inform historic preservation, cultural tourism, economic development and overall community development planning efforts in the short and long term.”1 Specifically, these goals are set within a framework of recognizing Dublin as a major gateway corridor to the Great Falls/Society for Useful Manufacturers (S.U.M.) National Historic Landmark District, listed in 1976, and the overlapping Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, established by Congress in 2009 and now administered by the National Park Service. As such this survey should be useful to thinking about this gateway area and its recommendations considered in light of other planning projects, including the Greater Spruce Street Neighborhood Plan that was put forward by the New Jersey Community Development Corporation in 2009.

The National Park Service’s presence in Paterson is predicted to increase heritage tourism and promote interest in commercial development of the Dublin neighborhood, particularly along Spruce Street and the western end of Grand Street, which serve as the main approaches from Interstate 80 and N.J. Route 19 to the Great Falls Welcome Center at the corner of Spruce Street and McBride Avenue near the Great Falls of the Passaic River. The City of Paterson desires to guide development within Dublin to be compatible specifically with Paterson’s Great Falls Historic District. To that end, this report identifies potential historic buildings and streetscapes in Dublin, makes recommendations for additional survey as needed, and encourages appropriate treatment of historic resources through adoption of local planning and zoning tools and taking advantage of existing state and federal historic preservation programs.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Historical Context

Chapter 3: Data Summary

Chapter 4: Recommendations

This study was Prepared for:
The City of Paterson
Division of Historic Preservation

Funded by
State of New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection
Historic Preservation Office
Historic Preservation Fund

Prepared by:
Patrick Harshbarger, M.A., M.P.A. of HUNTER RESEARCH INC.

Paterson Vista Park

Here's the LATEST NEWS for Paterson Vista Park!

The City of Paterson in cooperation with the NJ State Park Service, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, is completing the design process for a new state park located close to the Great Falls in Paterson!

The online public input survey is period is closed, and 

the final concept plan for the new park was unveiled on June 6th, 2024!

THANK YOU TO  ALL WHO PARTICIPATED AND RESPONDED!!

Below is the final concept plan that was developed

based on the comments that were received.

We are now developing construction plans for this concept and

looking forward to getting into construction later in 2024!!

Paterson Vista State Park is a new urban state park located in the City of Paterson close to the Great Falls National Park that provides spectacular views of the Paterson area and beyond!

The 6.4-acre parkland was purchased by the State of NJ in 2016 and is now being designed in preparation for construction later this year. The park concept plan envisions numerous passive recreational amenities appropriate for all ages, and will be open to all.

BACKGROUND: In 2016, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP) Green Acres Program acquired 8.4 acres of vacant land on the cliff overlooking the City of Paterson and Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park (GFNP). This acquisition assures the use of the property as public open space in perpetuity.  It creates a continuous network of publicly-owned land along the plateau on the north side of the river, extending from the Great Falls to Ryle Avenue. The purpose of the Green Acres purchase is to permanently protect the GFNP and the Great Falls National Historic Landmark District (NHL) from negative visual impacts that private development would have. This is the largest parcel of dedicated public open space established in Paterson since the city's purchase of Eastside and Westside Parks in the 1880s!

Although the property will remain under the ownership and overall management of the NJ Division of Parks & Forestry, the City of Paterson has entered into a special use agreement to make plans and redevelop the park. The City of Paterson, the State of NJ, and the National Park Service will work in partnership on plans and redevelopment of the new park as a hilltop destination for quiet recreation in a natural setting, such as walking, jogging, scenic enjoyment, while also offering opportunities for small social gatherings and children's play, special events, exhibitions, and school educational use.

The park offers city residents and visitors an opportunity to experience dramatic views of the city, the national park, and even the Manhattan skyline.

To DOWNLOAD a summary of the Master Plan, please click here! 

Quarry Lawn

ATP Site

HPC Projects

Community Improvements

UCC Construction/Buildings

  UNIFORM CONSTRUCTION CODE (UCC)

Building, electrical, plumbing and fire inspectors enforce the UCC (Uniform Construction Code) and are licensed by the State Department of Community Affairs.  They issue permits for all construction projects large or small and follow through with the required inspections and final approvals including Certificates of Occupancy (CO) and Continued Certificate of Occupancy (CCO).  Building Use Codes are designed to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the construction and occupancy of buildings and structures.

CONSTRUCTION FORMS

The state of New Jersey has standardized forms to use for construction permit applications. These forms can be accessed on their website [https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/codes/] where you can link to forms, codes, and other helpful information.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS