Allentown seeks village center status

Village center status would give Allentown priority in state funding and allow it to become a focal point of regional planning.

By: Mark Moffa
   ALLENTOWN — The borough hopes this year to achieve something it began seeking more than a decade ago — recognition as a village center.
   Village center status, created under the state’s Development and Redevelopment Plan, would give the borough priority in state funding and allow it to become a focal point of regional planning.
   Borough Councilwoman Margaret Armanente said she attended a meeting last month with Councilman Art West and officials from Monmouth County and the state. At that meeting, the state requested additional information from the borough to complete Allentown’s application to become a village center.
   Borough Clerk Lorene Wright said officials wanted demographic information, population projections, geographic data and census numbers. The requested statistics have been provided, she said.
   Ms. Armanente said the state likely will take at least four months before deciding whether to grant Allentown village center status.
   Earlier this year a group called Preservation New Jersey listed the "Vanishing Villages of Rural New Jersey" as one of the "10 Most Endangered Historic Sites in New Jersey." Allentown was mentioned as an example of one of state’s threatened historic villages.
   Another place mentioned by the group, Kingston village, was given village center status earlier this year by the state. Kingston, a 325-year-old historic village, is part of South Brunswick and Franklin townships.
   Preservation New Jersey wants to raise awareness of the "fragility" of villages. The group says "their disappearances will drastically alter the state’s historical character."
   "We have to protect our borders," Mr. West said, referring to encroaching development from Upper Freehold and Washington townships.
   He said the borough needs to preserve its historic character and charm. Allentown was settled almost 300 years ago, and boasts Revolutionary War-era history.
   "We’re going to have to come up with some unique ideas in working with surrounding municipalities," Mr. West said.
   He said preserving the quaint nature of the borough and obtaining village center status will help to give Allentown identity and personality other towns can only hope for.
   "People are going to seek out these areas that have this kind of personality," he said. "Those looking for industry or other things would know not to come."
   Mr. West cited Washington’s construction of a Town Center as an example of a neighboring municipality seeking to build a community like Allentown.
   "You can rebuild to be like rustic but you can never be rustic," he said of Town Center.
   Perhaps most important, the village center designation would give the borough priority in obtaining state grants.
   These are badly needed in a community like Allentown, Mr. West said, because the borough has a tax base that is unable to expand to counter the growing costs of operating a town.