Moorestown is debating how to preserve historic buildings while an owner seeks to demolish two Victorian-era homes

The potential demolition of two 19th-century houses in the heart of Moorestown, as well as the uncertain future of several other vintage structures, are energizing a grassroots debate about the township’s ongoing effort to establish a Historic Preservation Commission.

The Historical Society of Moorestown is “unequivocally opposed” to tearing down the pair of Victorian-era houses at 202 and 210 W. Main St., president Lenny Wagner said in June 26 letter to principals of the Weichert Development firm in Morris County. Both of the houses have at times been home to members of Moorestown’s founding families or otherwise noteworthy persons, he said.

Wagner urged the owners to withdraw a demolition application filed with the township and to work on finding alternative uses for the houses.

Weichert officials did not respond to voice mail or email messages; a rendering on the company website shows a three-story residential building at the corner of Church and Main Streets where the two vacant houses owned by the developer since 2006 currently stand.

“The letter is indicative of the gravity of the situation” facing historic properties in the township, Wagner said Friday outside the houses.

Public advocacy “is not our typical thing,” he said. “But people have been concerned for a long time that, unlike Haddonfield and Collingswood, we have no real protections for historic properties. And it’s become a hotly debated topic again.”

Wagner said there is a sense of heightened interest in older residential structures: “My opinion is that developers are seeing the historic preservation ordinance” becoming a reality.

Settled by English Quakers in 1682, Moorestown is a Burlington County suburb of 21,577 with a robust real estate market: The median sales price for single-family homes is $687,500, according to Realtor.com.

The 15-square-mile township has at least a half-dozen houses on national and state historic registries, including the Thomas French Jr. house on Camden Avenue, the oldest portion dating to the beginning of the 18th century. A large swath of downtown, including more than 400 buildings, was designated a state historic district in 1989 and a national historic district in 1990.

These designations alone don’t protect buildings from demolition, and after earlier attempts to set up a historic preservation commission failed, the township council in 2006 passed an ordinance to do so. That measure was thrown out after a legal challenge, township officials said.

In October, a committee led by council member Sue Mammarella began work on an ordinance to create a commission with the power to delay and review demolition applications filed by owners of historically significant properties.

Nearly 150 buildings would be included in a downtown historic district the ordinance would establish along Main Street and Chester Avenue. The effort is funded by a $200,000 state planning grant.

Statewide, about 200 municipalities have established historic preservation commissions, township officials said.

During a community workshop hosted May 29 at a town hall by Mammarella and representatives of Architectural Heritage Consultants LLC of Hoboken, some participants said a commission would help protect Moorestown’s character, and others said it would meddle in the rights of property owners and create an additional layer of bureaucracy.

As part of the committee’s work, a public survey of more than 200 Moorestown residents found at least two-thirds generally agreed with the historic preservation goals. Comments by respondents attested to skepticism and enthusiasm.

Comments from participants included:

Steven Smolyn, an architect with Heritage, reassured participants at the meeting that the commission would not dictate interior designs, paint colors, “or create burdensome requirements” for homeowners.

“The commission would not prevent additions or new construction,” he said. “It would have no purview over landscaping. It will encourage appropriate renovations ... and [township] zoning codes will remain intact.”

» READ MORE: Moorestown is trying again to establish a historic preservation district

Nevertheless, Mammarella, who described the ordinance as “98% finished, said that “developers have threatened to stop it even before we pass it.” She said she expects the council to take up the measure in September.

Said Mayor Nicole Gillespie: “We’re not trying to regulate what people do to the interiors of their homes or create museums, but we’re trying to protect the public character of beautiful buildings that for some people are why they come to Moorestown, and what residents love about Moorestown.”

Gillespie also said the township is looking into designating the district as an area in need of rehabilitation, a move that would enable it to offer five-year tax abatements on the cost of improvements owners make to their properties.

The mayor noted that the process of contemplating and crafting the ordinance began long before concerns emerged several months ago that a former funeral home on Chester Avenue was in danger of being demolished.

But it did inspire longtime historical society member Julie Maravich to establish a nonprofit, Saving Historic Moorestown, to advocate for preserving houses like it.

The group is raising money to fund a program that could compensate buyers of certain properties willing to accept a historic preservation easement to protect it from demolition.

Outside the Main Street houses on Friday, Maravich said a tentative agreement with such a buyer has been reached.

“Fingers crossed,” she said.