Hackettstown Revitalization Committee

June 18, 2008 at 2:11 pm

During the April 28th Town Council Meeting an ordinance was passed to create the Hackettstown Revitalization Committee, which is a committee established by the Hackettstown Business Improvement District (BID) and the Town of Hackettstown.

The Committee is made up of seven members appointed by Mayor and Council. They include: Mayor Michael Lavery, William Kuster (Town Clerk/Administrator), Christine LaBadie (President of the BID Baord) , Nancy Paffendorf (Centenary College), Thomas Marshall (Economic Development Commission), William Conforti (Planning Board), and Donna Brock (Member of the Public / Hackettstown Historical Society).

The formation of this committee will allow revitalization efforts to move forward expeditiously, as all necessary parties would participate and extend their approval for the tasks that will be performed. For example, the Planning Board will understand what the Council and the merchants require in terms of commercial building design standards, and Centenary College will be at the table as plans for integration of the college into the downtown are considered.

Since the Committee was formed, there have been three meeting and already outlines of the top initiatives have been developed. The top initiatives out of a list of twenty four include: "Establishing Redevelopment Opportunities with Centenary College along Main Street" and "Revisiting and Creating Design Standards along with Enforcing Existing Zoning Codes." Other top initiatives are: "Recruiting More Retail Businesses and Restaurants/Eateries" and Creating Late Night Shopping Initiatives."

"Of all of the work that we plan to do--including recruiting new stores, making our downtown more walkable, and helping existing merchants to do better--we all agreed that our top priority should be to make Centenary College more of a presence on Main Street," stated Thomas Marshall, Hackettstown Economic Development Committee member.

"The charm of downtown Hackettstown has been hampered by uninteresting display windows, peeling paint, and deferred maintenance. We will re-examine our regulations to create a new enforceable standard for our commercial buildings that is harmonious with our historic appeal," said Donna Brock, member of the Hackettstown Historical Society.

"The Town and Centenary College agree that it is in their mutual best interests to convert Hackettstown into a true college town, and I'm excited to work towards creating that environment," said Nancy Paffendorf, Dean for Academic Affairs at Centenary College.

"Another key priority for our committee was to devise a plan to recruit new stores and restaurants: we want to make shopping in Hackettstown a fun experience with lots of choices," explains Christine LaBadie, President of the Hackettstown BID Board.

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