FROM THE STAR-LEDGER
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
BY KEVIN C. DILWORTH
Star-Ledger Staff
Revised report includes focus on housing, economic development
East Orange planning director James Slaughter calls the city's proposed master plan a blueprint for development, zoning, planning and transportation issues.
"It will also serve as the base document for revisions to the city's land-use codes," Slaughter said last night as the 1 1/2-inch thick report was presented to the city council.
"It's a very good plan," said Jamie Sunyak, a professional planner with the Schoor DePalma engineering and consulting firm in Manalapan, which wrote the report. The city last updated its master plan in 1990.
Sunyak's presentation addressed a variety of conditions throughout the four-square-mile city, made a slew of zoning and land-use changes, suggested several economic development and housing strategies, called for recreational opportunities and facilities for people of all ages and abilities, and noted the need for historic preservation.
The city began updating the master plan early last year, with meetings held in each of the five wards.
The comments and suggestions of more than 250 residents, business leaders and elected officials, as well as input from surveys, all taken into consideration, Sunyak explained.
"A lot of what we heard was put into this master plan," he told the council.
Unlike the 1990 master plan, the revised plan would promote the city as a single-family bedroom community with increased home ownership and market-rate housing. It would also support the use of economic development strategies to promote redevelopment, the city's business improvement district and its Urban Enterprise Zone; and promote performing arts and cultural centers.
When it comes to land use and zoning objectives, the report urges that undersized lots be considered for off-street parking and open space/recreation; rezoning areas that lack conformity with existing and planned land uses, and revising land-use guidelines to better reflect existing conditions and changes in development objectives.
The report also urges the planning board to consider increasing the property lot sizes of new individual homes, to minimize incompatible land uses; to connect and upgrade the city's scattered commercial centers; and to incorporate the city's existing natural and historic resources in all development and revitalization strategies.
It also is important "to clearly define prohibited land uses in neighborhoods, so that you can better regulate what you don't want," Sunyak told the council.
Some of the economic development strategies call for creating entertainment and cultural opportunities, discouraging new non-ratable uses and the conversion of commercial and industrial properties into tax-exempt sites, and eliminating repetitive businesses in close proximity to each other.
As for housing, the report recommends the city encourage property owners maintain and rehabilitate their homes and apartment buildings, hold more home buyer workshops, develop design standards for all new construction, and beef up the tax rolls by continuing to auction off dilapidated and under-utilized lots.
When it comes to parking, the report recommends the city identify additional parking within neighborhoods, including evaluating the usage of undersized lots.
The plan also suggests the city improve parking safety, maintenance and attractiveness of its municipal lots, implement user-friendly signs to identify parking areas throughout the city, and improve meter revenue collections.
Regarding "community facilities and institutions," the report calls for coordinating police initiatives and planning programs, supporting anti-crime initiatives to "continue to decrease crime rates," establishing at least one police substation in each of the city's five wards, and using school buildings for community activities.
The city planning board is scheduled to hear a similar presentation next Wednesday night in City Hall. The proposal then will be the subject of a public hearing on March 22 and a final vote for adoption by the planning board.