By Dennis Pierce

On Wednesday May 26th, Preserving the Wildwoods presented at the biweekly City of Wildwood commissioners meeting. The presentation was done in conjunction with Preservation New Jersey, the leading statewide historic preservation non-profit. Three speakers covered ways that historic preservation and sustainable development can help Wildwood prepare for a successful future.

First up was Matt Pisarski, Department Head of Cumberland County’s Department of Planning, Tourism & Community Affairs. Matt gave an overview of new regulations that the State of New Jersey will be enacting to address climate change. The upcoming regulations will impact new development so it will be important for Wildwood to start planning ahead and avoid overdevelopment on a flood-prone island. 

After Matt was Barton Ross, the principal architect at the firm Barton Ross & Partners. Barton explained how historic commissions and districts work and he pointed out the many benefits available to communities that establish them such as access to state and federal grants and relief from strict code regulations that can make repairs easier for owners of older homes. Showing that communities all across New Jersey are already having success with historic preservation, Barton provided many examples of new projects that re-used existing historic buildings (adaptive reuse) making both developers and the community happy. 

Closing things out was author and Preserving the WIldwoods president Taylor Henry whose presentation focused on how historic preservation is relevant to Wildwood. She explained how preservation is more than just saving buildings, but is also about building a sense of community through maintenance of older buildings and remembering the legacies of the previous residents. She stressed how the variety of unique buildings gives Wildwood its unique character and it is important for new development to fit in with the existing environment. Taylor pointed out that while many of Wildwood’s residents are already informally preserving their historic homes, it is now time for the city to formally adopt historic districts and commissions to help preserve what makes Wildwood special.

Preserving the Wildwoods thanks Preservation New Jersey for donating their time and effort and also thanks the City of Wildwood for allowing us to present our ideas and for providing the recording. Please view the recording of the presentation above and share with anyone in the Wildwoods who would benefit from learning more about preservation.

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