The board’s meeting highlighted the adoption of updated master plan elements that emphasize redevelopment initiatives. A principal planner presented changes to the land use and community facilities elements, incorporating feedback from SERA. This collaboration aimed to enhance the borough’s redevelopment strategies, focusing particularly on the revitalization of downtown areas and the integration of environmentally sustainable practices. The updates include recommendations for overlay zones and eco-industrial park overlays to encourage resource sharing and environmentally sound practices in industrial areas.

Additionally, SERA recommended several areas for potential redevelopment studies, including the expansion of the Hercules redevelopment area, Mini Mall Drive, intersections at Main and Crossman Avenue, and the Morgan and Melrose commercial areas along Route 35. These sites are identified based on underutilization, poor circulation, and other factors that might qualify them as areas in need of redevelopment. The board’s acceptance of these recommendations lays the groundwork for future council decisions on pursuing redevelopment in these areas.

In alignment with these updates, the planning board also resolved to conduct a preliminary investigation to determine if a specified property meets the criteria for non-condemnation redevelopment status. This process involves a detailed study to assess the area’s qualifications, with the eventual goal of facilitating redevelopment initiatives that are consistent with the newly adopted master plan elements.