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Consultant previews city’s first historic preservation plan, schedules open house
Summary
Consultants and city staff introduced Wildwood’s first formal historic preservation plan, outlined a summer public-engagement schedule and said a draft plan aims for spring adoption tied to grant funding timelines.
Consultants working on the city’s first historic preservation plan gave a preview to the Planning Commission and invited the public to an open house and a series of focus groups this week.
The presentation explained why a stand-alone preservation plan is being developed and how it will be coordinated with the city’s master plan update. Marsha Boyle, consultant with Moore Iacofano Goltsman (MIG), told the commission the plan will document local historic resources, identify partners and recommend priorities and tools for the next 10 years. Boyle said the plan can help “elevate pieces that maybe a lot of people don't know about” and support economic development through heritage tourism and building reuse.
City planning staff and Boyle said the schedule includes rapid summer outreach — an open house at City Hall with a short presentation followed by informal stations, a Historic Preservation Commission meeting organized as a focus group, a presence at Celebrate Wildwood in September and a likely virtual open house in January or February during the draft-plan review. The consultants said the existing-conditions report is the first deliverable and that the project team had already received more than 200 survey responses and some event feedback.
Commissioners and preservation volunteers discussed non‑designated but locally valued places, trail networks and lost sites as important inputs for the plan. Diane Schoenfeld, identified in the meeting as a Historic Preservation Commissioner, described finding local historic signage and community associations that do not always appear in formal inventories.
City staff asked the commission to help identify additional partner organizations and to publicize the upcoming events. The consultants said they expect the plan to be refined through the fall and winter with adoption sought in the spring of next year to align with grant cycles.
The presentation was informational; no formal action was taken during the meeting. Staff directed the public outreach schedule and encouraged commissioners to attend the open house and focus-group events later in the week.
