By Amy Batista, Special Writer
The Borough Council and Planning Board are holding a special joint meeting this Wednesday to discuss a new vision for the lakefront downtown.
“The concept is to basically create a waterfront village with a promenade so that we can take better advantage of our lakefront and create a destination that is unique to the region,” Councilman Charles “Lee” Stults said.
Councilman Stults has been in touch with several property owners in the downtown lakefront area and said they plan to attend the meeting. He encouraged the public to attend.
The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 30 in the banquet hall of the Hightstown Engine Co. Firehouse at 140 North Main St. Action may be taken at this meeting.
The Borough Council discussed the “Downtown Vision Study” during its June 15 meeting.
Downtown Hightstown, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the downtown experience, hosted a “Visioning Workshop for Downtown and Lakeside Improvements” workshop meeting on May 26 at the First Baptist Church. Business owners, residents, and representatives of Looney Ricks Kiss, a professional planning firm from Princeton, attended the workshop.
Jim Constantine, a principal at Looney Ricks Kiss, said his firm helped facilitate a process in which the community could express its vision for the downtown lakefront.
“At the workshop, we used a vision survey which allowed people to select images they felt were most appropriate for Hightstown’s waterfront,” said Mr. Constantine. “People were also asked to suggest ideas for uses, features and activities they would most like to see and we collected dozens of terrific suggestions.”
The input allowed Looney Ricks Kiss to design concepts for the downtown lakefront that reflect a collective vision that many people would like to see realized.
“A waterfront promenade lined with shops, restaurants and cafes, (with) an active waterfront where people can get close to the water — see it, touch it, hear it, use it (for) public activities, events and entertainment,” he said. “A vision for Hightstown is to create the most unique and attractive downtown waterfront experience in the region.”
Mr. Stults said that the concept is being slightly tweaked with input from the First Baptist Church. He also clarified some rumors that have been circulating.
“High rises were never part of the concept,” he said. “The rumors of high rises are completely false. The scale of any new building would be no larger than what already exists downtown — three stories at the maximum.”
He said a few potential developers attended the last presentation.
“I would think that they may be again at this (upcoming) meeting,” he said. “However, everyone must realize that this is still conceptual in nature. Actual developer involvement is still far away. The presentation itself should answer a lot of questions for folks.”
