Park Ridge Vision Plan Committee
Members:
Bill Beattie, Director of Operations - Borough of Park Ridge
Brigette Bogart of Burgis Associates, Borough Planner
Joseph Bruno, President - Park Ridge Board of Education
, Councilman - Downtown Beautification Committee
Jim Hespe, Chairman Shade Tree Committee
Andy Hodgins, Business Owner
Terence Maguire, Planning Board Member
Barbara Martine, Historical Advisory Committee
Helene Fall, Administrator – Borough of Park Ridge
Dave Vozza, President - Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce
Jake Flaherty, Zoning Board Member
Under the direction of the Mayor and Council the Vision Plan Committee was formed in July 2007 with a mandate to prepare recommendations to revitalize and improve the downtown area. The committee identified the following goals:
• Enhance the Downtown Business District to promote a resident friendly atmosphere
• Streamline approval process and lessen strict regulations in the Borough for business to prosper
• Include the entire business district in the Redevelopment Zone to take advantage of grants or low interest loans
• Create senior and affordable housing in downtown district
• Slow traffic in the business district to enable pedestrian friendly atmosphere
• Create more parking in Downtown area
• Encourage integration of school recreation fields and Borough owned fields
• Establish a “Greenway” linking Mill Pond with the reservoir
In the summer of 2008 the Borough’s Vision Plan Committee engaged the professional services of Regional Plan Association to organize a community-wide vision process focusing on the downtown areas:
• Potential Redevelopment Sites
• Mill Pond/Pascack Greenway
• Park Avenue Streetscape
From the input collected from the stakeholders and committee discussions a final report was written and presented to the Mayor and Council. The Mayor and Council unanimously accepted this Final Report of March 2009 as presented by the Regional Plan Association and recommended it to the Planning Board for consideration during their Master Plan process and for broad distribution and posting on the Borough Web Site.
Final Report Downtown Visioning March 2009