Community Engagement & Public Outreach

The Township of Scotch Plains has engaged in a number of public outreach efforts since the beginning of the downtown redevelopment effort in order to create an open and transparent process. During the preparation of the Redevelopment Study for Tier 1, Phase 1, these efforts included: the creation of the Scotch Plains Downtown Redevelopment Committee (“SPDRC”) with regularly held monthly open and public meetings; a series of two (2) public outreach meetings held at the local high school; information sessions with property owners in the Study Area; social media engagement efforts; and surveys made publicly available online and at various Township events. The SPDRC is made up of appointed members, which include a mix of residents, business stakeholders, Township officials, Township professionals and consultants all with the purpose of providing a full array of perspectives and input. A number of subcommittees and study groups were developed by the SPDRC in order to create focus areas and investigate topics such as infrastructure, public transportation, traffic, interaction with business owners and residents, public properties, and others.

The Township has demonstrated that they intend for committee meetings to be public and open, rather than limited to the committee members. Public meetings for the SPDRC are generally held on the second Wednesdays of the a month at Town Hall at 7:00pm (unless otherwise noted) and are announced in Township e-messengers. All meetings are streamed and recorded on the Township’s Facebook page and website. The agendas and minutes for each meeting are posted on the Township website.

To evaluate the nexus between the Township’s long-standing efforts to redevelop the Downtown and the Township-wide affordable housing obligations, a series of two (2) town hall meetings were hosted by the SPDRC on July 19, 2017 and October 4, 2017 at the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School auditorium. While the legal requirements for notice to property owners is prior to the public Planning Board meeting for the Redevelopment Study, the Township understood the magnitude of this undertaking and took a proactive stance to inform property owners and tenants within the Study Area of these larger public meetings. Physical letters were mailed to all of the property owners and current tenants of the sixty-three (63) properties within the Study Area prior to the meetings, and many notices were provided in person by Township staff. The meetings served to provide an understanding of the process, answers to any questions, and notice that site visits for professional evaluation of the properties would be ongoing from there on after. While these meetings were targeted to those property owners and tenants who were within the Study Area, the meetings were open to anyone and served as an opportunity for the Township to explain what redevelopment is, why the Township is exploring redevelopment, and what the implications are for the Township.

In addition to public meetings, the Township has employed several public outreach strategies in order to reach the residents of Scotch Plains through more informal means that rely on community events, technology and social media, and surveys. The Township website includes a dedicated webpage on downtown redevelopment. Community events allowed SPDRC members to set up tables and engage with the community, where “What You Need to Know About Scotch Plains Downtown Redevelopment” flyers, maps of the seven (7) study phase areas, email sign-up sheets, surveys, and lists of upcoming SPDRC meetings were handed out. These tabling events were held at the Scotch Plains Farmers’ Market on September 9 and October 21, 2017; the Scotch Plains “Cruisin’ Car Show” on Park Avenue on September 14, 2017; the “Harvest Homecoming” on September 23, 2017; and Scotch Plains Day on October 1, 2017.

Finally, the SPDRC developed two (2) surveys and questionnaires available from September 20, 2017 through October 20, 2017, and November 3, 2017 through December 4, 2017. Both surveys were created on SurveyMonkey and made available through the Township Website, Township Facebook page, Township Twitter account, weekly E-newsletters distributed on Fridays, hard copies available in Township Municipal Building and Scotch Plains Library, and handed out at Township Events. These surveys had a total of 1,290 and 773 respondents, respectively.

In order to evaluate the public outreach efforts and the feedback garnered from the meetings held between April 12, 2017 and December 31, 2017, the Township created a summary report entitled “Summary Report on the Findings, Recommendations, and Research of the Scotch Plains Downtown Redevelopment Committee” which was presented to the Mayor and Township Council during their public January 16, 2018 Business Meeting. Overall, the survey found that 86% of respondents believe that Scotch Plains downtown needs redevelopment in some way, and 82% either strongly agree or agree that redevelopment of Scotch Plains downtown should be a high planning priority for the Township of Scotch Plains. Finally, 82% of respondents also strongly agree or agree that the Township should encourage redevelopment with a mix of retail, residential, and offices downtown in order to revitalize the downtown.

Since the adoption of the Redevelopment Study, the Township has led outreach efforts, in conjunction with the SPDRC, to seek out public input for the Redevelopment Plan. The Township  has made community involvement a top priority for the development of the Plan. Additional tabling events were held at the Scotch Plains Earth Day on April 21, 2018; the Scotch Plains Farmers’ Market on May 12, 2018; and the Patrick’s Downtown Race to Summer 5K on June 27, 2018.

A written survey entitled “Downtown Needs Assessment Questionnaire” was hand delivered to property owners in the Downtown on May 10, 2018, mailed on May 10, 2018, and released online on May 7, 2018. This survey was aimed to better understand the priorities of people who live and work in Scotch Plains by assessing the current and existing services, issues, and positives in the Downtown, as well as what the community hoped to see in the Downtown to make it inclusive and accessible. The results of this survey were collected by May 17, 2018. In addition, in the spirit of inclusiveness, late responses were accepted and incorporated into the results with the understanding that many business owners needed extra time to complete questionnaires.

A “Visual Preference Survey” (“VPS”) was released to the SPDRC for feedback at their meeting on May 9, 2018, online through SurveyMonkey, and posted on the Township Facebook and Twitter and open from June 4, 2018 to June 18, 2018. Visual preference surveys consist of a series of images that participants must score according to their preference. The images used in the survey were both conceptual and generic, in that they provided visual/graphic representations of conceptual design options and some of the images depicted elements of other communities. The images were not intended to assess the height and size of the buildings depicted, and the VPS only sought a preference on overarching architectural themes and styles. The survey was also administered through a poster version of the survey that was available at the Scotch Plains Public Library. Both paper ballots and markings on the poster were counted in the survey results. The poster version of the survey was also available to the public at the June 13, 2018 SPDRC monthly public meeting, and at the Scotch Plains Farmers’ Market on June 16, 2018 from 9am to 12pm.

The Township and its professionals created a draft of the Tier 1, Phase 1 Redevelopment Plan which incorporated the requirements of the Settlement Agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center, input, comments, and concerns raised during Scotch Plains Downtown Redevelopment Committee meetings, input from the Redevelopment Plan Subcommittee, and responses to the Visual Preference Survey. On September 5, 2018 the Scotch Plains Downtown Redevelopment Committee held a special public meeting to present the draft redevelopment plan and seek additional comment from property owners, business owners, and residents about the plan. In advance of the meeting the Township sent letters on August 23, 2018 to property owners and business owners in the Tier 1, Phase 1 Redevelopment Area to inform and invite them to the September 5, 2018 special public meeting. In order to continue its public outreach efforts, the Scotch Plains Downtown Redevelopment Committee had a table at the Mayor’s 0.5K Race in downtown Scotch Plains on September 7, 2018 to answer questions and gain additional feedback from residents about the plan.

Since the Township Council’s endorsement of the redevelopment plan on September 25, 2018, the Township has continued its public outreach and transparency efforts while it has worked towards perfecting and formally adopting the redevelopment plan. The community stakeholders that comprise the SPDRC are deeply involved in reviewing any edits and comments to the redevelopment plan and most suggestions made are being reflected in the final document. While discussing and refining the provisions outlined in this redevelopment plan, the SPDRC has continued to hold public meetings to seek additional public input and keep residents and business owners informed of the process to the best extent possible. The SPDRC held public meetings on October 10, 2018 and December 12, 2018, and the following dates in 2019:  January 9, February 13, March 13, May 8, August 14, September 11, October 23, November 13, and December 11. The following public meetings were held in 2020: January 8, March 11, September 9, October 15, and a public update video was posted on December 9 in lieu of a meeting. Fewer meetings were held in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, the SPDRC held meetings on February 10, April 14, and June 9.

In addition to the above public meetings, the Township continues to employ several public outreach strategies with continuous updates on the Township website and social media. Members of the Township Council and the SPDRC had a presence at various Township events in 2018, 2019, and 2020 in order to keep the public informed of updates on downtown redevelopment and seek additional public input. These events include: the Cruisin’ Car Show on September 30, 2018; Scotch Plains Day on October 7, 2018; the Party for the Planet/Earth Day on April 27, 2019; the Patrick’s Downtown Race to Summer on June 13, 2019; Scotch Plains Day on October 6, 2019; and Scotch Plains Day on October 4, 2020.