BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — Members of the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 at Borough Hall to inform residents about a proposal for an ordinance that would protect the town’s historic properties.
The main point committee members want to get across to residents is that the ordinance, if it is eventually adopted by the Borough Council, will not affect the average homeowner in town. The law would not prevent residents from making changes to their home.
The proposed ordinance recommends that the council establish a historic preservation district in the B-1 and B-2 business zones, the downtown business district and the corridor that leads into it.
The demolition of the Bartleson mansion on South Street this summer was the impetus that moved members of the committee to quickly attempt to get something on the books that would prevent a similar situation from ever happening again. Members of the committee have said they want the council to enact a law that would prevent any more historic structures from being demolished.
The Historic Preservation Advisory Committee is recommending the following steps:
• That a historic preservation district be established comprising the B-2 zone and the contiguous B-1 zone and that an ordinance be enacted to govern the rehabilitation and maintenance of existing structures within that district as well as the design of any new construction within it.
• That the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment and construction office would remain the venues for all applications within the district, but that these bodies would be bound by the historic preservation ordinance and guided by the advisory opinions of the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee.
• That a set of design guidelines be adopted to ensure the integrity of the historic district, and to guide property owners in the maintenance and renovation of existing structures, and the construction of new ones.