WESTFIELD, NJ — A home named on Westfield's historic landmark list will have its designation removed.
On Tuesday, the Westfield Town Council approved an ordinance removing the local historic landmark designation from 18 Stoneleigh Park and modifying the zoning map to reflect the change.
General Ordinance No. 2026-15 passed on second reading by an 8-1 vote after a public hearing.
According to the ordinance, the home was designated a Historic Preservation Designated Landmark in May 2023.
The ordinance says the designation request was made by then-property owners Donald R. Furrer and Katherine A. Spikes, who consented to the nomination and designation.
On April 3, Furrer asked that the mayor and council remove the local historic designation.
The ordinance also states that less than five years have passed since the 2023 designation and that at least one of the then-property owners is the same as the current owner.
"Because local historic designation is voluntary, we also believe it is important to respect the rights of property owners while ensuring that the de-designation does not become a routine path for future purchasers or developers," said Mayor Jeremy Berman at the meeting.
Jennifer Jaruzelski, speaking on behalf of the Westfield Historic Preservation Commission, told the council the commission "voted unanimously at its July 27th meeting to recommend against passage of this ordinance."
She also said, "The planning board also voted unanimously at its August 3rd meeting that the proposed ordinance is inconsistent with the master plan."
Jaruzelski said Stoneleigh Park "is listed on the state and national register of historic places and is Westfield's only nationally recognized neighborhood."
She told the council, "This proposed ordinance tonight threatens to undermine the integrity of the preservation process with far-reaching consequences."
"Obviously one of our big things is keeping the historic nature of Westfield. You have to balance that with homeowners' rights," said Councilman Michael Armento. "I think that there are special circumstances as was presented to us in this situation in terms of life circumstances. And I think that's important."
He added that, "I don't think anyone on this council would vote yes if somebody sold a historic house to a developer and then de-designated."
Councilman Drew Pecker said, "As people mentioned, this has been unprecedented and in the code, we didn't really have any good way of reviewing it within the existing systems. So here we thought long and hard and had discussions about how we thought best to accommodate something like this without setting a precedent that anytime a new builder comes in they can knock down a historic home. That's certainly, I think, something that nobody here would support. So in that spirit, that's how this ordinance was created to again not create that kind of precedent."
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