BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer
KEYPORT — Hindsight is always 20/20. For Keyport, so is the future.
“Keyport 2020: A Sustainable Community Initiative (SCI),” which outlines the future of the borough by the year 2020, was presented to the Environmental Commission last week by resident Andy Willner.
“It’s your future, by design or default,” Willner wrote in the opening lines of the plan. “You can have a future you like, rather than the one you’re likely to get.”
A member of the Unified Planning Board, Willner is also the full-time executive director of the NY/NJ Baykeeper with an office on West Front Street.
Willner hopes the plan will foster the growth of several committees that will aid the mayor and Borough Council in sustaining Keyport’s environmental, economic and social future.
“The Environmental Commission is going to have a public meeting in December to open it up to the community and to see who wants to serve on the committees,” said Willner.
The SCI is an ambitious plan that covers everything from installing benches made from recycled materials to readjusting the property tax system.
Environmentally speaking, Willner’s plan proposes that various public buildings in town such as the police station and senior citizen center, be converted to become energy- and water-efficient.
How will the plan be implemented?
“At this point it’s a plan,” said Willner. “Funding can come from a variety of sources, but first you need a consensus and a buy-in from public officials.”
“Taking back the waterfront” is one of the major goals of the SCI.
Part of that goal may be realized through “taking back a parking lot,” an effort that involves using green plantings, trees and shrubs as an alternative to asphalt in parking lots throughout the borough, especially along the waterfront.
The SCI also promotes bicycling and walking and the possibility of an alternative-energy shuttle for commuters who use the Aberdeen-Matawan and Hazlet train stations.
According to Willner, his plan is not as all-encompassing as it may seem at first glance.
“This in not something new,” Willner said. “Austin, Texas, and Highland Park, New Jersey, have already adopted a lot of these concepts. All the talk about Smart Growth and the new urbanism are concepts that are quite simple, incorporating small-town values and walkable neighborhoods. The interesting thing about Keyport is that we already have a lot of those things.”
Economically, “Keyport 2020” proposes that a Blue Ribbon Committee review the local property tax system and school finance formula as well as the ratio of commercial to residential ratables.
“This portion of SCI will seek to establish a redevelopment agency to drive revitalization efforts,” Willner wrote. “Rounding out the economic sustainability will be the continued re-evaluation of borough programs and services to assess viability and effectiveness, including but not limited to the Keyport Business Alliance.”
Socially, the project is just as ambitious.
“Keyport Community Study Circles will bring together diverse members of the community to discuss issues of race and ethnicity,” according to the plan.
Programs for at-risk youth, improved recreational opportunities, the creation of a Mexican-American Festival and the promotion of the arts overall are just a small part of the SCI proposal.
“It’s been something I’ve been working on with my own work at Baykeeper,” Willner said when asked how he came up with the plan. “I’ve been thinking about how unique Keyport really is, with its downtown and the interest and knowledge of its citizens.”
Additionally, Willner hopes the SCI will create an inventory of areas in need of improvement, including handicap accessibility to public buildings and improved community-police relations.
“If this is a town where I’m going to live and work for the next several years, I’d like to see its future considered,” said Willner. “We have interested people and a lot of excitement about redevelopment. The citizens have really become involved in the process. It’s time to take advantage of that energy.”