Designating Your Property

What does designation mean to owners?

Owners of designated properties, or of properties within a designated historic district, are required to act as responsible stewards of our community’s irreplaceable cultural heritage. To accomplish this, owners are required to obtain prior approval from the Town of New Paltz Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) before making exterior alterations or major landscape changes to ensure that the changes do not negatively affect the historic character of the property or district. However, the designation does not freeze a property or district in time. Alterations and new construction can continue, but a review and approval by the HPC is required to protect the historic integrity of the property or district. 

What are the steps required to designate a property as “historic”?

The designation process is really quite simple..

1. A property owner can submit a nomination form to the Commission via postal mail or e-mail.

2. The Commission invites the property owner to one of our monthly meetings to learn first-hand about what makes their property special. The property owner may be asked to supply additional materials such as photos and letters that they possess or that can be obtained from the Elting Memorial Library. The Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection at the library is considered the best genealogical and local history collection in the Mid-Hudson Valley. It’s a repository for primary source material and published works relating to the Hudson Valley with emphasis on the town and village of New Paltz.

3. This material, along with any records that may already exist as part of our database, the Interactive On-Line Map, would comprise the competed nomination to be voted on by the Commission. The approved nomination is then recorded with the County Clerk’s office. Finally, the Interactive On-Line Map database is updated to include the nomination and associated data.

What can community members do to see if their property is eligible?

To be eligible properties must possess a special character, historical significance, or provide aesthetic value to the community. The nomination form is a questionnaire that allows property owners to specify these attributes and through the Commission review process, determines if a landmark designation is warranted.