Downtown Caldwell Redevelopment Plan Still Being ‘Fine-Tuned’

CALDWELL, NJ — The Caldwell Borough Council voted to advance an ordinance that would make some tweaks to the town’s redevelopment plan for its downtown area at their meeting last week.

The council unanimously voted in favor of Ordinance 1449-23 on first reading at their Nov. 21 meeting. See the meeting packet here, and watch the video here.

A public hearing and second vote will be required before the ordinance is finalized.

In 2018, the borough council designated some properties – mostly along the commercial downtown area along Bloomfield Avenue – as an “area in need of redevelopment.” Two years later, the borough approved the Downtown Caldwell Redevelopment Plan, which was later amended in 2021.

Now, the plan may be tweaked yet again.

Planning board member Richard Basta and redevelopment planner Golda Speyer offered some background information on the latest proposed amendment at last week’s meeting.

Speyer said the planning board found the redevelopment plan is consistent with the borough’s master plan, a document that lays out a blueprint for overall development in Caldwell.

“What we’re here doing is what I’m going to call ‘fine-tuning some technical items,” Speyer said, adding that they were enough to make it a prudent idea to reintroduce the ordinance, which was first introduced in September.

“I think this borough wants to get it right,” she said.

The reintroduced ordinance makes changes based on the planning board’s recent recommendations, Speyer said.

Basta said that Bloomfield Avenue – a major transportation artery in the region – is “both a blessing and a curse,” and that “50 percent of our income is from the downtown area.”

Major challenges that stem from the county road include high car traffic, limited parking, noise and narrow sidewalks, he added.

• See Related: Firm Says Caldwell's Redevelopment Plan Costs $482 Per Homeowner
• See Related: Caldwell Debates Nixing Tax Breaks For Developers, Homeowners

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch Caldwells Facebook page.