Redevelopment Moves Ahead in Middle

COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Committee introduced two ordinances that establish redevelopment plans for districts in the municipality. The moves are part of an effort to designate commercial areas of the township for economic development by using state statutes that can provide the governing body with authorities and powers it would otherwise not possess.
Jim Maley, the township’s special counsel for redevelopment, was present at the work session March 20 to explain the process.
According to Maley, the township had begun the process in 2016 when the committee asked the Planning Board to consider some township areas as potential rehabilitation or redevelopment sites. The Planning Board had the responsibility of determining if the suggested sites met the statutory requirements for redevelopment zones.
After receiving a positive response from the board, the governing body is sending plans back to the Planning Board for its concurrence. “Since the plans do not change any zoning regulations,” Maley noted, “you can expect that the Planning Board will concur.”
One ordinance designated for redevelopment is the area often referred to as “the old concrete factory,” land off of Route 47 North near the railway tracks in Rio Grande.
The second ordinance designates wide areas in the township for rehabilitation with maps showing the inclusion of parcels all along Route 9 in Court House, adding in commercial areas immediately east of Route 9.
The maps also show designations along the north side of Stone Harbor Boulevard east of the Parkway and along the retail areas where Dennisville Road and Route 9 meet, including the shopping areas that host the Acme and Big Lots stores.
Also included is land in Rio Grande North along Route 9 and in Rio Grande South running from Route 9 to Fulling Mill Road.
This broad rehabilitation plan continues with properties in Burleigh around the former Lamonica clam processing plant, land along Wildwood Boulevard, and finally a series of designated lots along Indian Trail Road between Route 9 and Shunpike Road.
The attachments to this second ordinance state that the goals of the effort include “stimulation of private investment in the Rehabilitation Area by assembling sites and assisting as necessary and appropriate to support such rehabilitation and redevelopment.”
The ordinance, combined with the state statutes it relies on, allows the governing body to potentially utilize “a range of benefits and inducements” including “federal, state, county and local government funding.” This could include tax abatements.
This attempt at redevelopment across wide areas of the municipality’s commercial corridor demonstrates the township’s belief that the best path to revitalization lies in public-private sponsorships.
Business Administrator Elizabeth Terenik said almost all real development going on in municipalities today is due to the use of redevelopment and rehabilitation statutes.
“If you see development anywhere, it is probably because of this type of process,” she said.
In an attempt to avoid public opposition to the effort that might be based on stereotypes of earlier decades of urban renewal, the township has held public meetings intent on explaining its actions, bringing together members of the Economic Development Commission, the Planning Board, the Township Committee and municipal officials charged with development.
The township has also been careful to keep the focus of the effort on commercial properties. The plans referred back to the Planning Board in these two ordinances also propose no changes to land-use zoning for the sites designated.
The sheer scope of the designated areas demonstrates the township’s commitment to wide-ranging economic development of its commercial districts.
Since all of these areas also meet the state requirements for being designated as in need of redevelopment and rehabilitation, the effort also shows the current deterioration of many areas that the township believes have commercial potential.
A hearing on each of these ordinances will be held April 16. The public will be able to see maps of the designated areas and offer opinions on the process at that time.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.