Statements, press releases, and plain-English explainers from the front lines of Plainfield preservation.
Filed in Superior Court: the redevelopment designation of 930 Putnam Avenue does not meet the legal standard — and the process that produced it shut the public out.
Save the Queen City has filed suit in New Jersey Superior Court, Union County (Docket No. UNN-L-003581-26), challenging the City of Plainfield’s designation of the historic Dudley House at 930 Putnam Avenue as an “area in need of redevelopment” (Resolution 274-26).
The Dudley House is a contributing historic building inside a designated historic district, and it housed veterans in transitional housing until February 2026. An independent licensed planner retained by STQC concluded that the property does not meet the legal criteria for a redevelopment designation. The complaint alleges that the Planning Board declined to accept his written report into evidence before voting, and that the City Council later approved the designation without reviewing the hearing record.
STQC is not opposed to responsible redevelopment. This suit asks the court to invalidate Resolution 274-26 and require a lawful, fair, and transparent process before public, historic property is placed into redevelopment.
The city has been served and the case is proceeding. The complaint is a public document — follow the case on Documents and track the property on the Watchlist.
Our attorney cross-examined the city's planner; our own licensed planner testified that the statutory standards were not met. The Planning Board granted a continuance.
Save the Queen City has formally challenged the City Hall redevelopment study before the Plainfield Planning Board. At the hearing, STQC's attorney cross-examined the city's planner, and a licensed planner retained by STQC testified that the study does not meet the statutory standards for designating an “area in need of redevelopment.” The Planning Board granted a continuance.
Separately, a court has denied the city's motion to dismiss STQC's challenge, allowing the case to proceed. City Hall and the Salvation Army properties remain under the proposed designation.
Follow the hearings on Documents.
A city-owned house inside a designated historic district, headed to redevelopment without Historic Preservation Commission review.
The Dudley House at 930 Putnam Avenue is owned by the City of Plainfield and sits within a designated historic district. It is headed to redevelopment without review by the Historic Preservation Commission.
STQC's position is simple: a city that requires historic review of its residents cannot exempt itself from the same review. We call on the city to bring the Dudley House before the HPC before any further redevelopment step is taken.
Track this property on the Watchlist.
Update: STQC has since filed suit challenging the designation — see the press release above.
Three steps — a rule change, a redevelopment designation, an exemption — and a protected building is no longer protected.
How does a protected building lose its protection without anyone voting to remove it? In three steps.
1. A rule change. Municipal code amendments recommended by the administration narrow what triggers historic review.
2. A redevelopment designation. Declaring an “area in need of redevelopment” shifts control away from preservation review and into the redevelopment process.
3. An exemption. City-owned properties proceed without Historic Preservation Commission review at all.
Protection for historic places ultimately rests with the local municipality — which is why citizen involvement is the whole ballgame.
The fastest way to keep up with hearings and filings is our Facebook group, where we post updates as they happen. Members also receive planner and counsel reports and the full document record.