2002 Master Plan

23-page 2002 Master Plan posted here: 2002 Master Plan

Couple of points stand out. There’s no table of contents and no page numbers in the document, so there’s no way to prove that sections weren’t added or removed after the Planning Board vote on the Master Plan.

Assuming that the Planning Board at the time had access to the full document as on file in the Borough Clerk’s office, however, the most ironic fact is this:

Nothing about the 2002 Master Plan in any way conflicts with what Borough residents have been publicly clamoring for over the last five years, since long, long before NPCCR was even imagined: a public-private partnership between the Borough, county and state historic and open space funding sources, and private investors to convert the existing historic structures to senior housing while leaving the surrounding open space and woodland totally intact.

Such a win-win solution absolutely can be crafted here, and if it is created and put into action, it will mesh beautifully with all the local, regional and state planning goals articulated in the Master Plan document currently in force in the Borough of North Plainfield: open space and historic preservation, flood control, senior housing and so on.

There are numerous other studies and reports mentioned in the 2002 Master Plan, and tracking them down is now part of the ever-growing NPCCR to-do list. (If you file an OPRA for one and get a copy, please forward a copy to me for posting.) 

For now, it’s just good to know beyond all doubt that the vision of sustainable, history- and open-space preserving land use on the Villa Maria parcel, as expressed by critics of the Allen Administration’s high-density condo plan, has always been well within the realm of political and practical feasibility, and continues to be.

Making that vision a reality demands strong, courageous political leadership that will advocate for the Borough’s best interests, even and especially when our community’s interests differ from the best interests of any particular landowning corporation or land development corporation. They do have rights, but their rights are not more important and more worthy of Borough protection than our community rights, Borough actions in the past and present notwithstanding.

Strong political leadership that advocates for our community, instead of fighting against our community, is possible here.

It’s up to all of us to build it.