Business & Tech
Designers Looking For Input From Residents On Speedwell Redevelopment
Planning Director: "We want to hear what you have to say."
It has been eight years since redevelopment along Speedwell Avenue was first proposed.
A plan was approved, in 2007. Then, the economy collapsed.
In the three years since the initial approval for developer Trammel Crow to build about 650 residential units and up to 50,000 square feet of commercial space in the area of Speedwell Avenue near Early Street, a new administration has moved into Town Hall in Morristown and new designers have taken the lead in the project.
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Those designers were on-hand Thursday, Sept. 17, in the senior center at Town Hall, for what they called the first in a series of public meetings to keep the town in the loop as the project is progressing.
"It's a new era, a new economic era as well as a new administration," said Daniel Hernandez, planning director for Jonathan Rose Companies, the investment firm handling the project. "[Since 2007] life in America is much different. It has created an opportunity for us to re-engage the developers, the council and make the plan better."
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During the nearly two-hour meeting, which brought out about 30 residents, Hernandez, as well as Dean Marchetto, of Dean Marchetto Architects of Hoboken, presented very early sketches of how the redevelopment could look. The also showed pedestrian-friendly developments throughout the world that the Morristown redevelopment might emulate.
Hernandez said that in the previous plan, a lot of focus seemed to be on car traffic vs. foot traffic. He noted a proposed realignment of Speedwell at Spring Street, which he said would have made it like "a speedway on Speedwell."
Instead of putting so much attention on cars, Hernandez said his firm, the architect and developer were interested in creating a "destination" neighborhood that would encourage people to walk or bike ride and connect the neighborhood with other parts of Morristown, including the Green.
One proposed inclusion in the plan is to have a green space on the current site of the Department of Public Works, which would connect to a new, pedestrian-only road that would connect to Speedwell Avenue. Marchetto said it would be "a common green" that would "create a neighborhood around a park."
"A place for people as opposed to a place for cars," he said. "It is becoming more and more common for cities to take back their streets."
While some of the residents said they were thankful for being included in the conversation, there were also concerns raised about the proposed redevelopment.
"The idea of having pedestrian traffic is interesting, but where are they coming from?" asked Paul Marshall, a business owner along Speedwell Avenue. "They would have to pass Headquarters Plaza–no one walks past Headquarters Plaza."
Marty Epstein, owner of Marty's Reliable Cycle, agreed. "Headquarters Plaza ... if we could knock it down, it would be awesome. What were they thinking?"
Epstein said a major concern was the desire from residents and businesses owners not to gentrify Speedwell Avenue, and destroy its unique character.
"We want to keep this neighborhood affordable," he said. "They can't all be million-dollar upscale-plus neighborhoods."
Carolle Huber, of Grow it Green Morristown, said Speedwell Avenue is "a little bit gritty, but I think that's part of Speedwell Avenue."
"It's a very lively neighborhood," said Samantha Rothman, also of Grow it Green Morristown, which maintains a community garden on Early Street. "We have a lot of vacancies in downtown. This area has no vacancies. Maybe we need to do some investment, we have something going there. I would just hate to see it removed for starting something new."
Mayor Timothy Dougherty said this initial meeting was "strictly information gathering."
"This is going to be a process," he said. "This will all be out in the open."
And it's a process that has been going on for a long time.
"We've been putting money into this for years," said Richard Murphy, the representative of Trammel Crow at the meeting. "It's become a black hole.
"If this is going to turn into a several-year process, we don't want to be part of it," he said. "I can make it happen on our side. I am hoping you can make it happen on yours."
The next redevelopment meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 14 in the courtroom at Town Hall.
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