Read the latest news on the Lincoln Boulevard Revitalization Plan

Sunday, January 28, 2007

BY DIANE C. WALSH

Star-Ledger Staff

When a small town like Middlesex Borough starts a multimillion-dollar revitalization program, it's going to need help. Mayor Gerald D'Angelo said he turned to the Middlesex County Improvement Authority.

"They're more experienced in applying for grants," D'Angelo said. "They have more resources and they have more experience working directly with the county, the state and the federal governments."

Middlesex Borough is the latest in a growing number of towns tapping the improvement authority for that kind of assistance in complex projects. Already Highland Park, Sayreville and South Amboy have relied on the independent county agency.

Richard Pucci, executive director of the improvement authority, said it makes sense to help the towns because it adds to the financial well-being of the entire county.

"A lot of towns aren't in the position or they don't know how to make the first steps, we can help them do that," he said.

While the improvement authority was primarily established in 1990 to take advantage of broad financing powers provided by the state Legislature, the county freeholders also designated the agency to run the county's nursing home, three golf courses and the recycling program. In recent years the authority's staff was expanded to develop an expertise in economic development.

Middlesex Borough and the county agency signed an agreement last month outlining their new relationship. One of the most attractive parts for Middlesex Borough is that the county's help is free. Denise Nichol, an urban planner who has experience as a manager of economic development projects in Jersey City and Plainfield, was assigned by the authority to work with the borough officials.

She said her first assignment would be putting together a funding strategy for the borough's plan to reinvent Lincoln Boulevard, which had once been the hub of the 3.5-square-mile community. The boulevard is the core of the redevelopment project.

Over the past two years, borough leaders and local residents worked on a vision for the 190 acres along the boulevard within the redevelopment area. Lincoln Boulevard stretches along the southeastern border of the borough, separating it from Piscataway. The borough planner estimated that if the entire stretch is redeveloped according to proposed plan, it could bring $500 million in new taxable property to Middlesex Borough, the mayor said.

The plan would divide the boulevard into three sections: Town Center, near the intersection of Lincoln Boulevard and Mountain Avenue; West Market around the Pathmark shopping area; and Gateway, which is closer to the Bound Brook border.

For the Town Center portion, borough officials envisioned a transit hub around the Lincoln monument, which is already a focal point in Middlesex Borough. D'Angelo said years ago there was a train stop, which they hope to revive. Borough officials said they would rehabilitate the park surrounding the monument to create a plaza with three- and four-story mixed-use buildings.

Local officials hope the West Market section would be a major retail area with Pathmark as its anchor, according to the proposed redevelopment plan. The borough wants to create a streetscape in this section that would attract pedestrian traffic.

In the redevelopment plan, the Gateway section would serve as the entry to the Lincoln Boulevard corridor and remain a predominantly residential area.

D'Angelo gave an overview of the plan to residents recently at a public hearing on the proposal. About 60 people filled the local library to hear the details of the plan. The mayor said he was pleased by the initial response and no one voiced any objections. The only questions raised were concerns about traffic congestion and road expansion.

D'Angelo acknowledged the plan is ambitious and it could be years before it's realized since his administration will not use the power of condemnation to seize any of the properties.

"It's a market-driven plan," the mayor said, explaining the borough hopes to provide incentives, grants and any other financial stimulus available to encourage property owners.

Providing funding is where the improvement authority steps in. Nichol said she is trying to determine whether any of the older industrial sites on the tract would be eligible for petroleum cleanup grants. She said the improvement authority secured petroleum grants from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, but the state Department of Environmental Protection must determine eligibility before the money can be released.

As the project progresses, Pucci expects Nichol would deal with other state and federal agencies, especially transit officials as the borough tries to build a train station. D'Angelo said the borough would be relying on Nichol and the improvement authority to navigate the bureaucratic maze to make the project happen.

"That's what makes them (the authority) so attractive to us," the mayor said.