By Amy Batista, Special Writer
HIGHTSTOWN — The Planning Board adopted a Master Plan Amendment and Re-Examination Report during its meeting on Sept. 8.
Borough Planner Tamara Lee said it "charts a new course for the Borough."
"It includes a comprehensive set of new planning policies to transform Hightstown into a vibrant destination, filled with specialty stores and restaurants, coffee shops and eateries, nightlife and public art," said Ms. Lee in a press release.
She said that the "new direction, outlined in the Re-Examination Report, proposes to develop the Borough of Hightstown as a destination, where people from outside the borough will want to visit."
"While this may re-introduce some new traffic to downtown, it’s a different kind of traffic," she said in an email on Sept. 16. "Big trucks and daily commuters of the past simply came through town, creating mainly problems for the borough. In contrast, visitor traffic, controlled with traffic calming techniques, will support local businesses and help re-energize the commercial district. This new effort, to establish Hightstown as a destination, is the major change articulated in the Planning Board’s new Master Plan Amendment."
Ms. Lee said that the Planning Board has been working on the Master Plan project for a few years.
"Board members really began working earnestly in the summer of 2013," Ms. Lee said. "State law, the Municipal Land Use Law, requires municipalities to re-examine their planning policies every 10 years. The last time the borough conducted a re-exam was in 2005 so we needed to complete the process by 2015. That was the impetus for the development of the recent Master Plan Amendment and Re-Examination Report."
The Planning Board in the past was required by law to perform a re-examination every six years, said Planning Board Member Richard Pratt in an email on Sept. 15.
He said that it changed recently to every 10 years.
Ms. Lee said that it has been a "long standing policy, which dates back to 1998, to revitalize the downtown."
"This would improve the quality of life for residents in the borough and help stabilize the local tax base," she said. "Initial efforts sought to reduce truck and commuter traffic through town, with the assumption that traffic was adversely impacting the central business district."
Since those initial efforts began, Route 133 was constructed and opened and substantial investments have been made to downtown streetscape improvement projects, she added.
"While the traffic conditions in the center of town have improved and the downtown is more appealing, the revitalization of the business district has so far fallen short of the borough’s hopes and expectations," she said. "Therefore, the Planning Board decided that a new direction is required to spur economic revitalization."
Mr. Pratt said that they will be "using form-based ordinances to rezone and expand the downtown business district."
"The board envisions a diverse and interesting collection of retail and service uses," he said. "Along with public amenities, the revitalized commercial core will attract out-of-town visitors who will spend the day or even a weekend enjoying the borough’s quaint historic charm and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes."
Mr. Pratt said the "reason is to review how the zoning and planning has worked since the last re-examination and to address those topics which need to be revised."
He said that "nothing has officially been rezoned."
"The board has discussed zones that should be combined, expanded, and removed," he said. "The rezoning is a document which will require revisions to present ordinances and public participation."
This will likely be one of the next significant undertakings of the Planning Board, he added.
Ms. Lee said that the Master Plan Amendment and Re-Examination Report is the "first step of a multi-step process."
"It simply describes the new planning policies," she said. "Form-based zoning and rezoning the downtown are part of a set of the new policies adopted by the Planning Board. Now that the policies have been presented at a public hearing and adopted, those policies have become the official planning policies of the borough."
She said the board’s next task is to "establish priorities among all the policies that they just adopted and start working to implement those policies, collaborating with the council and other local boards and commissions when necessary and appropriate."
The board thought it would be easier to promote Hightstown as a destination if the list of uses permitted in the downtown was changed to include more pedestrian oriented, retail and specialty commercial uses, she said.
"Also, form based ordinance will help the borough focus more on the character of the community, how it looks, rather than quantitative standards such as specific setbacks," she said. "In an effort to improve the appearance and increase the interest in the downtown, the board believes it’s more important to look at things such as the scale of the buildings, the relationship of buildings to the streetscape and the proportions of building facades instead of fairly generic numeric standards like minimum building setback distances."
According to the press release, the plan includes updated policies for other areas of town too. The redevelopment of the Rug Mill should continue, but under the direction of an independent Redevelopment Authority. Municipal services should be decentralized and the former municipal building abandoned. And the objectives outlined in the Route 33 Corridor study should be pursued but tailored to the best interests of Hightstown.
"The independent redevelopment authority was discussed by Tamara Lee at the public presentation," he said. This is a goal and this authority has not been created, nor have members been discussed or appointed. The board adopted the Route 33 corridor study as an amendment to the Master Plan several months ago."
Ms. Lee said that an independent Redevelopment Authority would need to be created by ordinance, assuming the council agrees with this proposal.
"It would replace the current Redevelopment Authority, which has been constituted as the governing body," she said. "The makeup of the new authority is unknown at this point and would be discussed and determined during the development of the ordinance."
The board feels the Redevelopment Authority would be more successful and make more progress if the membership of the authority was more constant and not subject to change with local elections, she added.
Ms. Lee said that this is "a plan that can make a difference."
The ideas in the borough’s new Master Plan are "creative and exciting," she added.
"Hightstown’s new Master Plan holds real promise for a brighter future for this historic community," she said.
She said that a "stronger Historic Preservation Commission will protect and enhance the borough’s historic assets."
"The new Hightstown Cultural Arts Commission will bring visual and performing art to vibrant public spaces," she said. "Local businesses will be asked to collaborate to promote not just their own individual establishments but the business community as a whole through the Main Street New Jersey program and a Business Improvement District. The Environmental Commission will develop green technology initiatives that protect and improve the borough’s built and natural environment. Anticipating the success of these new policies, the Master Plan also encourages the development of bed and breakfast inns to accommodate visitors and restore some of the larger, historic local homes."
Mr. Pratt said that Hightstown wants to become a "Preserve America Community as well."
A Cultural Arts Commission has been established and members appointed, he said.
"Art has been a catalyst for several towns in New Jersey and elsewhere towards bringing in tourists, businesses and residents," he said. "Hightstown is poised with a great group of commissioners to bring in notable art, cultural events, shows, etc. Form based zoning, place-making and design guidelines are all planning tools to help Hightstown become a destination, rather than a pass-through."
Mr. Pratt said the future for Hightstown is "bright, and a large part of the road ahead includes public input."