Planning Board members generally endorsed the Arts District Redevelopment Plan with few questions before unanimously recommending the concept during its meeting tonight, held via Zoom.
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After about 30 minutes of questions and brief discussion, the Planning Board approved the concept by a 9-0 vote. Now it’s up to City Council to introduce and pass an ordinance amending the Central Business District (CBD) Redevelopment Plan before sending the matter to the Redevelopment Agency, which would ultimately approve a final concept and designate a redeveloper.
John Barree, principal planner with Heyer, Gruel, and Associates (HGA), which designed the concept, made a 10-minute presentation before comments and questions from Planning Board members. The 75-page redevelopment plan “encourages a mix of uses in the public realm that will complement” the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) and Hamilton Stage while promoting connections between those facilities and surrounding neighborhoods, downtown and the train station, he said.
“All the concepts are encouraged in the broader redevelopment plan but nothing is set in stone, it’s just lot of different things the city can think about in working toward it,” Barree said.
City Council accepted the redevelopment plan last month and forwarded it to the Planning Board for its feedback. The plan stretches from Seminary Avenue to Elizabeth Avenue between Irving and Main streets, and encompasses Central Avenue and Hamilton Street. There are 136 residential units proposed in all, including 44 units at the former St. Mark’s Church property and 16 townhouses along Gordon Place and Seminary Avenue, as well as another 76 units in what would be new buildings on the block bounded by Irving, Coach and West Main streets and Elizabeth Avenue.
The concept is more dense than what’s permitted in the former zoning but it’s not high rise development, Barree said. Townhouses proposed for Seminary Avenue meant to blend in more with housing to the west, and apartments to complement multi-family along that stretch. Other spaces along Irving and Coach streets would complement the arts, either with studio and arts space, or back-of-the-house operations, like set building, or other arts beyond visual and performing, such as culinary.
A redevelopment area and plan allows for some changes and flexibility in zoning to encourage redevelopment. A redeveloper also would have to acquire any properties for the project, first through good faith negotiation. Eminent domain is a last resort option, if necessary, and has rarely been used during Rahway’s redevelopment era over the past 25 years.
Board planner Paul Phillips of Hoboken-based Phillips Preiss endorsed the plan as being consistent with the city’s master plan, encouraging and continuing revitalization associated with the Rahway Arts District.
The concept that took up perhaps the most time during the 30-minute discussion was a proposed, landscaped roundabout at the intersection front of the UCPAC, where Central Avenue meets Hamilton, West Main Street and Irving streets. Barree described it as as a “loose concept” that could happen “down the line.”
Board member Al Shipley raised what he called a renewed love affair with roundabouts, which were popular in the 1970s. “Roundabouts now seem to be fashionable. At the five corners, it probably would be more congestive than what’s there now,” he said.
If the goal is moving cars, a roundabout may not be the best answer, Barree replied, but if the goal is to provide for pedestrian safety and traffic calming, deliberately slowing down motorists to make the aware of surroundings, they tend to be very effective. “There’s been shift in some downtowns to prioritize pedestrians and bikes, slowing traffic deliberately, even though they may seem like they’re causing congestion,” he said. “It’s a trend that some places have embraced. It may not be right for this area but it’s something to consider.”
The traffic light installed some years back helped slow things down at that intersection, rectifying problems with cars coming from four different directions, according to Shipley. “The light’s really helped after all,” he said.
Shipley also questioned whether the Dr. Holmes Memorial and the Soldier and Sailor Monument would be left intact given the concept of a roundabout. Barre replied that there’s no intention of relocating that monument. If the concept for that intersection came to pass, he said it would be possible to leave that section unaffected. “It would be something that would be have to be looked at in a very detailed design process; it’s not at that stage,” he said.
Other board members endorsed the plan, specifically citing the roundabout concept. Board member Jeff Brooks suggested when it’s time to implement the plan that there’s a tribute to Native American groups in Rahway, be it via a statue, mural or street names.
The plan otherwise is beautiful, Shipley said. The only other concern he cited was homeowners that live between Elizabeth Avenue and Irving Street, questioning how many families might be impacted. “What do you do with those families? It’s something we all should be concerned with,” he said.
Planning Board Chairman Jeff Robinson described the plan as ambitious but doable and realistic. “It’s going to take a few years but this is really the final major piece left in the redevelopment of downtown,” he said, beyond a few “odds and ends” to redevelopment.
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