Speedwell Redevelopment Plan: A Primer (Again)

Are you planning on attending the next Speedwell Avenue Redevelopment Meeting, set for 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 18 (rescheduled from July), at Town Hall? If past meetings are any indication, it's sure to be a hum-dinger.

Before you go, though, let Morristown Patch get you up to speed on the veteran project.

1. You Need to Know About Numbers: Specifically, 20, 10 and 5–the numbers of "affordable housing" components that have been discussed as being included in the plan. Several years ago, as part of the plan, developer Trammel Crow said 20 percent of housing would be deemed "affordable," with the remainder earmarked as "market rate." . This has been a major sticking point with several council members, specifically Ward 2 councilwoman Raline Smith-Reid and Ward 3 councilman James Smith, whose representative areas are most affected by the redevelopment. Last month, an amended plan called for something of a compromise–10 percent "affordable housing." The plan has since been amended again. See the PDF for the amended plan, as well as a note addressing changes, in this story.
2. You Need to Know About Architect Dean Marchetto: His plans for the Speedwell Redevelopment have been formed, according to the architect, on various historic elements found throughout the town. The buildings Marchetto said would incorporate stylistic cues from older Morristown buildings his firm had studied while trying to "overlay a more modern language." To see some of his work in the flesh, one only has to visit Jersey City and several of that municipality's recent downtown building projects.
3. You Need to Know Much About History: While the latest iterations of the Speedwell Redevelopment Plan came relatively recently, discussions about that section of Morristown have been floating around for many, many years. . More recently, plans have sought to make the project more pedestrian-friendly.
4. You Need to Know About the Morristown Historic Preservation Commission: Count them among the groups that are not quite satisfied with how plans have shaped up thus far, at least when the plans were supposed to be presented in July. In a letter to the town, they state, "the Commission strongly believes the area can be redeveloped, renovated, restored without destroying what it is and has been. Rather, it can be leveraged into a key neighborhood within Morristown, celebrating diversity, economic growth and livability." Read their recently-issued letter (as well as the newly-amended redevelopment plan) in the PDF in this story for the full story.
5. You Need to Know Not Everyone Has Been Sour on Redevelopment: Several business owners in the area, including Tom Rago of and owner Marty Epstein, have publicly stated redevelopment is good and needed in the area. However, Epstein had also previously stated Speedwell Avenue should not be gentrified. "We want to keep this neighborhood affordable," he said in October 2010. "They can't all be million-dollar upscale-plus neighborhoods." Carolle Huber, of Grow it Green Morristown, which maintains the Early Street Community Gardens, said at the same meeting that Speedwell Avenue is "a little bit gritty, but I think that's part of Speedwell Avenue."