Portion of Montclair Master Plan Released

Montclair officials have released their vision of what direction development should take during the next three decades.

The draft of the Land Use and Circulation Element of Montclair's Master Plan is now available. The 179-page draft can be found by clicking here. 

The Montclair Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the adoption of the land use and circulation element draft on Wednesday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal building, located at 205 Claremont Ave.

The adoption process is expected to take multiple meetings. 

What is the Land Use and Circulation Element of the Master Plan?

The land use and circulation element of the Master Plan is a 30-year vision for how best to use Montcliar's land and housing resources. Members of the community are encouraged to attend.

In February, Montclair Planning and Community Development Director Janice Talley gave an overview of the land use element of the Master Plan. 

Unlike traditional land use plans, the township included a never-before used circulation element, which will take into account the different sorts of transportation in town. 

“What the township is preparing is not a typical land use plan,” said Talley. “This is really a land use and mobility plan [which will be] tying together transportation ... policies and land-use policies.” 

Recommendations

Recommendations for the unified land use and circulation element will focus on the town’s “transit rich assets,” said Talley at the February meeting, such as the six train station hubs and countless bus stops throughout town, in addition to its roadways, sidewalks, pedestrian connections and bicycle routes. 

These suggestions included two- to six-story buildings around the Upper Montclair, Walnut Street and Watchung Plaza train stations.

In addition, improvements to pedestrian and bicycle transportation were suggested, as well as adjusting parking regulations.  

In Montclair Center along Bloomfield Avenue, seven- to 10-story buildings were recommended to be constructed around Lackawanna Plaza, Bay Street train station and Church Street. A new jitney shuttle, improvements to walkways and bicycle paths, and adjusting public parking were also recommended in this area of town. 

Building around these transit areas will allow Montclair to bear the increased grow expected in the coming three decades, estimated to be more than 3,500 units.