By Jacqueline Durett
Correspondent
SOUTH AMBOY — Could the City of South Amboy be a healthier place?
A team of Master of City Planning candidates from the Edward J. Bloustein School at Rutgers University believe so, and presented their findings last week to city officials.
The work was done under the oversight of Heyer, Gruel & Associates, the planning firm the city has hired to update its master plan. The team looked at categories such as transportation and walkability, access to health care and healthy food, increasing physical activity, improving air quality, maximizing land use, and then made recommendations to improve each.
For instance, in regards to access to healthy food, team member Spach Trahan talked about the lack of a supermarket in the city; the group recommended a new one, but pointed to the city’s Dieker’s Farm as a strong option for fruits and vegetables.
She also said the team found the school district’s food program “is in the right direction,” in terms of healthy options.
Recommendations also included leveraging the city’s food-themed events, such as the annual barbecue festival, to promote healthy eating.
Meanwhile, while discussing land use recommendations, team member Leigh Fleming pointed out that the city has a number of waterfront redevelopment areas, but no designated rehabilitation areas. She said the team recommended making the balance of the city—everywhere not a redevelopment area—a rehabilitation area, which could make improvements eligible for tax incentives.
She also said that if the former Cardinal McCarrick High School building becomes available, the city should look into potential uses for it, such as a space for artists, given its central location in the city.
Other recommendations included sidewalk improvements; adding wayfinding signs, bicycle lanes and a bicycle rental program; as well as installing consistent park signage and expanding the waterfront walkway.
The team acknowledged that parking is an issue in the city, and recommended shortening larger spaces instead of eliminating them.
The team also recommended specific grants the city may be eligible for if it pursued some of these initiatives.
“A lot of our recommendations were taken from what other towns are doing,” Anthony Mattingly said.
City Business Administrator Camille Tooker said after the meeting that the team had identified many of the same concerns officials have, so the recommendations aligned nicely with their priorities.
“It’s going to help us,” she said of their work.
She had high praise for the team, and said the city worked closely with the team on its presentation and report.
As for next steps, she said, “The city will review plan recommendations and decide what will be advanced.”