Westfield Mayor Brindle Looks At 2020 Goals, Master Plan Approval

WESTFIELD, NJ — Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindle posted a message on the township's website on Monday listing her administration's accomplishments for 2019 and setting goals for 2020. She specifically emphasized the Planning Board's recent adoption of the master plan reorganization, which sets development goals and guidelines for the future.

Also in her Dec. 30 message, Brindle also noted that the town will welcome three new council members this year, who will be sworn in at the council reorganization meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at 6:30 p.m. They are Councilman Jim Boyes, Councilman Mark Parmelee, and Councilman Scott Katz. Councilman Mark LoGrippo will start his third term.

She thanked Councilpersons Jo Ann Neylan, Frank Arena and Doug Stokes as they finished out their terms.

Throughout the course of 2019, the township held several hearings as they looked to update the town's last master plan, which was completed in 2002 and amended most recently in 2009. State law requires each town to reexamine the plan and development regulations every 10 years and release a report.

The plan reexamination, which was adopted on Dec. 19, is online, as are related documents, including a detailed survey of residents and more than 4,500 of their suggestions and comments. The comments include everything from praising Westfield as a "beautiful sleepy town" to complaints about demolition.

Now that the plan has been adopted, the town will have to apply the guidelines to future developments and projects.

"The transformational work now begins," she wrote, "as we initiate the process of implementing the Master Plan recommendations based upon your input. ...Now more than ever, continued public support will be critical to moving forward key initiatives that support new fields, parking solutions, bike lanes, historic preservation and sustainability measures, smart development and more."

Town Council meetings take place in the Municipal Building at 425 East Broad Street.

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