Lincroft Task Force to open talks tonight Group, headed by committeewoman, to focus on Route 520 strip

Lincroft Task Force to open talks tonight
Group, headed by
committeewoman, to
focus on Route 520 strip

MIDDLETOWN — Lincroft residents and business owners will be brainstorming tonight as the newly formed Lincroft Village Task Force hosts an open public forum to discuss improvements to the area.

Residents from throughout the area are invited to attend the meeting at 7 p.m. at the Lincroft Fire House, which will mark the first time the 13-member group asks for public input in the planning stages of its project.

Township Committeewoman Joan Smith is heading the task force and is eager to see what types of ideas the forum will present.

"I look forward to meeting many people who live and work in Lincroft," she said. "I’m very interested in hearing their ideas on making Lincroft Village an even better place to live, work and shop."

The task force, which was established by resolution in May, will focus on the strip of Newman Springs Road (Route 520) from Brookdale Community College to Garden State Parkway Interchange 109. The group is being asked to recommend ways to further beautify and enhance the community’s quality of life, while improving the traffic flow and aesthetic qualities of the surrounding areas.

The project is following a successful pattern of neighborhood revitalization in Campbell’s Junction and North Middletown. Those projects involved the work of Brookdale Community College architecture students who developed a series of design plans for those areas.

At this point it has not been determined if Brookdale Community College students will again be asked to provide plans, although Smith has expressed her desire to involve them in the process.

While working closely with the township’s assistant planner, Christine Spiegel, the task force has already started examining ways to increase pedestrian safety and accessibility.

Any improvements recommended by the task force and approved by the Township Committee will likely be funded with state grant money secured by state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos and assemblymen Joseph Azzolina and Samuel Thompson (all R-13) last fall. This is the third grant the legislative delegation has secured to further township efforts to revitalize neighborhood commercial districts.

Efforts to revitalize neighborhood commercial districts began in 1995 when the Campbell’s Junction task force, formed by then-Mayor Smith, recommended various road improvements, landscaping and decorative lighting for the area.

Using Campbell’s Junction as a model, the North Middletown task force was formed in 1996 by then-Mayor Raymond O’Grady. A new parking lot, road improvements and increased recreation opportunities are some of the noticeable changes that came about as a result of that project.

The Lincroft Village task force will likely use both of those groups as models in furthering its review of the area.

The group includes local business owners, residents and township officials. The committee appointed Patty Blazer, from Brookdale College; Toop Plaza owner George Toop; Paul Molzon, who operates Molzon’s nursery; and residents Karen Reeman, Angelo Grigoli, Roger J. Foss, Margaret Actipis-Bowden, Carol Baker, Mary Ellen Tyndale-Hintz, Winifred Scuteri and Carol Jansson.