Eatontown

Eatontown’s Village Area has been identified as a problem for many years. Eatontown’s Master plan has referenced redesigning the area as a priority for the Borough. Efforts such as capital improvements, land acquisition, and planning initiatives to assess the feasibility of various economic development tools have all left the Borough short of achieving its goal of transforming the Village Area. The visioning and redevelopment approach currently underway, for the first time, offers real hope for a lasting change.

The community has characterized the area as ​‘unsightly,’ ​‘inhospitable,’ ​‘unsafe’ and ​‘underutilized.’ Most citizens would agree that the area is Eatontown’s downtown. It serves as a dominant feature that shapes people’s perception of Eatontown. The current appearance of the Village Area leaves the community feeling misunderstood or certainly misrepresented. Eatontown is proud of its character and history. The public consensus is that there are aspects of the downtown area worth saving. At a minimum, the community wants the Village Area to be more attractive.

Over the years, numerous documents have articulated the need to transform the Village Area into a real Downtown. The foundation for this visioning exercise was created by helping the stakeholders articulate a mission statement and associated specific goals to achieve it. These statements were validated through discussions at several of the public meetings.

This visioning effort was undertaken to continue progress and ensure that residents, businesses and landowners, and other interested people would help shape the future of the downtown Village Area of Eatontown. A Steering Committee comprised of representatives of the community helped guide the planning consultants through the challenges, opportunities and constraints of the area. This report reflects the ideas, comments and criticisms resulting from a public process comprising numerous public meetings, including evening and Saturday sessions where people were encouraged to identify concerns and share ideas or concepts about the future of their community. The core value which underpinned this entire effort was complete transparency.

This document is not a ​“redevelopment plan” – it is a concept which captures a shared community vision of how Downtown Eatontown can change. It is meant to be ambitious, but implementable. It is meant to be a long-term plan, but to clearly define the next short and intermediate term actions required.

The studies here are not confined to the official boundaries of the ​“area in need of redevelopment” as defined in the Preliminary Investigation, Eatontown Redevelopment Area Analysis, October 2003. Rather, the studies here consider a larger context so that the new Downtown can be completely integrated with its surroundings. At the community design workshop, residents consistently showed their desire to think in this comprehensive way.

In summary, the aim of this project is to reconstruct an unworkable, yet civically important, historic part of the Borough. In its final form the Village Area is envisioned to be a compact, walkable, mixed-use center with emphasis on public spaces, civic identity, and the potential for future public transportation.