CRANFORD, NJ — During her mayoral remarks at the Cranford Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 27, Mayor Kathleen Miller Prunty discussed plans for the North Avenue Gateway Redevelopment area within the township.
“You’ve likely heard or read about the North Avenue Gateway Redevelopment area. The township decided to designate the area needed for redevelopment because it presents a tremendous opportunity to transform a really important and very visible part of Cranford and the downtown,” Prunty said. “The hope is that it will inspire and continue ongoing investment and revitalization of the business district that began more than 15 years ago. There are no quick fixes in this. The process can be long and involved, as it should be, because this is a serious matter.”
Prunty said she would be discussing the issue with the commissioners, welcomed public input and stressed the need to address misinformation.
“The document itself clearly spelled out some parameters — preserve the firehouse, preserve or expand parking, create a public space for community gatherings, create pedestrian-friendly areas, take into consideration the township’s master plan, the downtown vision plan, the strategic plans and create a mixed-used development with not more than 40 residential units,” Prunty said. “Twice, this area of North Avenue East was designated for redevelopment: in 2008 and, most recently, in 2017. Those efforts failed, but we’re back at it. I am determined that Cranford will get it right this time, and we will develop this area with sound, sustainable planning, first-rate architecture, inviting public spaces for those community events that we treasure, pedestrian amenities, appropriate parking and mixed uses that meet not just current needs but future needs.”
The mayor said the township had opted to issue a Request for Expression of Interest, an invitation to developers, architects and planners to share their ideas and concepts about how the area might be developed. This was not a request for proposals or for designation as a development. These proposals are nonbinding; the township can pick and choose elements from them or completely disregard them. This is an opportunity to benefit from how someone else sees how the area may be developed. Any discussion, reference or request for things such as a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement are premature and not relevant at this phase. These are not the final proposals, nor is the township ready to select a developer.
“First, we have to prepare and adopt a redevelopment plan. Briefly, here are some of the next steps,” Prunty said. “In May, a review team will begin to evaluate and score the proposals to determine how well they meet Cranford’s needs and Cranford’s vision. The review team will include myself, township Zoning and Planning Officer Jason Bottcher, Anthony Durante from the DMC Board and Donna Pedde from the Planning Board. Township administrator Jamie Cryan and our attorney, Ryan Cooper, will serve as support staff. After evaluations, the team will present their report to the Township Committee for discussion. Proposals and the teams report will be public.
“Next, the township’s planning consultant will begin work on a redevelopment plan and conduct public sessions to get community input,” she continued. “All of this work will be the basis for the actual redevelopment plan, which requires public hearings before the Planning Board and before adoption. Once adopted, this redevelopment plan becomes the guiding document and the framework for what happens on this site. It is this plan that will be the basis that the town will use to request for proposals from developers. That’s when developers who are vying or who want to be selected will submit proposals. Those proposals will be based on a redevelopment plan.
“We cannot lose sight of the fact that planning for our future is critical. Long-term vibrancy and success of the business district and elsewhere depends on it,” she added.
The mayor said she expected there will be differing opinions and spirited debate, but she asked everyone to take into account the facts — not rumors, not misinformation — before forming their opinion.
“I am so confident in Cranford’s ability to be a premiere community,” said Prunty. “We can develop responsibly and still embrace Cranford’s rich history and character, if we’re willing to be open to ideas and lead with confidence.”
Cooper reiterated the importance of protecting the integrity of this process.
“These are consultative and deliberative materials. As the mayor outlined, we have professionals, the zoning officer and others, who are going to review these and score these,” Copper said. “The submissions are entitled to be subject to that process, as we promised them it would be without outside parties, without politics, without others clamoring to weigh and put their fingers on the scales. That’s why these items are not yet subject to (the Open Public Records Act). They will be released and completely subject to OPRA, as all proposal bids and requests for expressions of interests are, after the review process is over and they’ve been scored. That’s the purpose.
“As the mayor outlined, the team will review them, score them consistent with the (Request for Expression of Interest) documents, and all of that will be released publicly and then discussed,” he continued. “Then that’s really the time for any other interested parties in the public to review the proposals, the review team scoring, conclusions to come out of that process. That’s the time to weigh in. But at this time, as the mayor said, to protect the integrity of the process, we will let the professionals review them without concern about their decisions being second-guessed before they’ve even begun.”
Commissioner Mary O’Connor urged residents to get their information from committee meetings, instead of social media.
“It’s more important than ever that we, your representatives, are as open as possible during every step of the process,” O’Connor said. “I think we need to set the bar, right now, and get ahead of this with our openness for our residents on these projects moving forward, because there’s a number of them. Our boards are going to be very busy, and we need to keep the public as informed as possible.
As township commissioners, she said, they may not always agree but needed to come to their decisions based on information and facts, not social media posts of opinion.
“We need to make sure that public discussion takes place in the arena that is a proper arena, which are meetings that we set, so that people get the same information,” continued O’Connor. “It’s information that is coming from the source, and it’s going to be the information that is correct.
“I know that we all like to be on social media, but this is the place where you’re going to get the right information,” she added. “So tune into these meetings, pay attention and participate. We are here for that purpose, and I’d like to see more people take advantage of that, because this is the forum where you should be getting your information. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but you need to be part of the process also. We’re going to do the best we possibly can to make that happen.”