West Amwell gets grant for design planning

The township will use the $50,000 Smart Growth award to come up with standards for development along its highway commercial zones.

By: Linda Seida
   WEST AMWELL — The township has won a $50,000 state Smart Growth grant and will use it to plan design standards for future development along its highway commercial zones.
   The highways under consideration are routes 179 and 31.
   "This is where the main ratables are going to go for the foreseeable future," Mayor Ron Shapella said when the Township Committee announced receipt of the grant June 20.
   Ratables are properties that provide tax income for the municipality.
   "Before this project gets under way, we will have to discuss it at the Planning Board and Township Committee and decide the best way to proceed," Mayor Shapella said.
   Officials expressed gratitude for the grant to the state Department of Community Affairs. The mayor also joked the grant represented something of a "world record" for timeliness. West Amwell applied to the Department of Community Affairs’ Office of Smart Growth in May for the Smart Future Planning Grant, and it was awarded in June.
   Officials said they will seek proposals for professional services from at least two local planners.
   The proposals will help West Amwell answer the question, "We have the grant, how would we approach it?" Mayor Shapella said.
   He added, "One suggestion we received from the Office of Smart Growth as part of our pursuit of plan endorsement was to create design standards for our highway commercial zones. This is something a planner has to do in consultation with the Planning Board, Township Committee and community to create a plan so that our commercial zones along routes 179 and 31 develop in a way that is consistent with the needs and desires of local residents and consistent with our Master Plan."
   According to the Office of Smart growth, the project should include a "report that includes an assessment of natural and built infrastructure capacity, trend and planned built-out and community vision. The trend will also develop implementation strategies and design guidelines for a rural center(s)."