Public Shares Concerns, Ideas on Future of Morristown

The Morristown Moving Forward charrette week kicked off with a presentation and interactive community forum Monday night at the Hyatt HQ Plaza to collect public input for the town's Master Plan project. 

Morristown Town Director of Planning Daniel Hernandez led the presentation discussing everything from traffic congestion and open space to quality of life and preserving neighborhoods. 

“The Master Plan ...  it’s an immediate plan as well as a long-term vision for Morristown,” said Hernandez. “These opportunities to create a master plan are only every 6-10 years for New Jersey municipalities ... People have a desire for growth but they want to also preserve their neighborhoods. It’s a balance and sometimes it creates tension, but also can create ... opportunities to bring new workers and new types of industry and commerce.”

He discussed the baseline report, which is a factual document with data, charts and visuals. This report can be found on the Morristown Moving Forward website.

After the presentation, the public discussed with town planners their thoughts on Morristown and gave feedback by posting post-it notes or writing on blown-up maps of the town.

Morristown Moving Forward Charrette Week Schedule:

• Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., 18 N. Park Place: Design Studio Open House
• Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., 18 N. Park Place: Design Studio Open House
• Thursday, 5:30 to 8 p.m.,Hyatt HQ Plaza: Presentation of Final Designs

"I think it's a great turnout for Monday night at 6 p.m.," said Mayor Tim Dougherty. "Both of our storefronts open Tuesday and Wednesday and we're back here Thursday, so it's a full week of this whole process of getting this out to the public. I think our planners have done a terrific job. (Town Planners) Daniel Hernandez and Phil Abramson have done a great job with their team. I'm very happy that we have this type of participation from the public."

In January, Morristown Moving Forward hosted a public input meeting to start collecting ideas from the community. 

"I participated back in January for the initial input session and I was really pleased to see that they're looking for community input," said Morristown resident Cynthia Geoffrey. "I think it's great that they're checking in mid-point because if there's any tweaking that needs to be done, this is a good time to do it. The presentation was great. I thought they were so clear about their mission for this week."

She added that her concerns dealt with walkability and a balance between development and preservation. 

"I walk around town a lot so I'm concerned about places around town where there are not street crossings, people are always running across the street. You're waiting and waiting for the light to change, you can get anxious and walk across," Geoffrey said. "It's really important to me that the history of Morristown is preserved and the neighborhoods and commerce are able to survive along with the growth. There needs to be a balance."

Marty Epstein, owner of Marty’s Reliable Cycle, stopped by to check out the presentation.

“I love the idea that it’s open to the public and it’s transparent,” he said. “People can put their opinions out there and they take in those opinions and ideas and you actually see it. It’s a great thing.” 

Major Themes

The presentation also recapped major concerns and issues residents gave during the January public input meeting. 

"(We want to make sure that we are) being true to these basic premises and principals" said Hernandez.

• Good governance
• neighborhood preservation
• contextual architecture and design
• reduce the negative impact of car congestion
• pedestrian- and bike- friendly streets
• leverage our transit rich location
• quality, useable open space
• equitable development
• environment and energy designs
• economic development and jobs

Quality of Life

"It’s a regulatory document and we’ll talk about zoning and laws and all the things that we have to do, but it’s about structuring a plan that creates a quality of life that respects your ideas and (what you think the quality of life in Morristown should be),” said Hernandez. 

In the presentation, he said that they asked and address the following questions:

• What makes Morristown a livable, lovable, healthy, welcoming place?
• How do we grow, while preserving the character of Morristown neighborhoods?
• Where does it make sense to allow for growth?
• What are the major barriers to creating safe circulation routes that accommodate pedestrians, bicycles and cars?
• How do we design great streets that create economic and social vitality?
• How might we enliven and connect better to our open spaces, plazas, and waterways?
• What types of jobs and housing do we want for our town to ensure diverse welcoming communities?

Check back with Patch for a look at these topics that were also discussed: 

• Circulation Mobility
• Land Use and Urban Form
• Public Realm and Urban Design