Pleasantville City Council to deliberate on Midtown Neighborhood Plan | Local News | #citycouncil

The plan is an initiative of the Pleasantville Housing & Redevelopment Corporation, in conjunction with the city, to launch revitalization projects for Pleasantville’s Midtown neighborhood. The state Department of Community Affairs would award the corporation a grant to launch the revitalization project through its Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit program.

Midtown, as defined in the plan, is bounded by the Atlantic City Expressway to the north, the West Atlantic City section of Egg Harbor Township to the east, Bayview Avenue to the south and U.S. Route 9 to the west.

Pleasantville Housing Authority Executive Director Vernon Lawrence, who is also a member of the Pleasantville Housing & Redevelopment Corporation, expressed optimism about the plan.

“We are preparing a community-based plan that will guide future investments in the City,” Lawrence said in the news release.

A neighborhood revitalization committee of business owners and residents has met several times over the last year to help design the plan. Other important entities in the community, such as AtlantiCare, the Atlantic County Improvement Authority and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority have also weighed in on the plan, offering advice and funding.

A town hall on the redevelopment plan was held in January. Residents and business owners, along with city and school district officials, discussed the possibility of using the funds to grow workforce readiness programs and to teach technological literacy. They also suggested the funds could be used to make city sidewalks and bike paths more navigable or to provide more recreational opportunities for children.

The council deliberations on the Midtown plan comes in the wake of the city’s other recent efforts to help rejuvenate local communities. The state awarded Pleasantville a Neighborhood Preservation grant last year to help to improve Main Street. City officials used the grant to enhance streetlights, paint murals, add flower pots and launch a farmers market, improvements to benefit the surrounding community.

Mayor Judy Ward said in the news release that the two projects were complementary.

“(We) are building on the success of our Downtown Neighborhood Preservation Program to improve the City of Pleasantville,” said Ward. She also credited the state for its “continued support and interest” in Pleasantville.

Under the NRTC program, established in 2010, non-profit entities execute revitalization plan on behalf of low or moderate-income neighborhoods after their revitalization plans obtains state approval. Those entities must use at least three-fifths of the tax credits they receive on housing and projects that promote “economic development,” according to the DCA website page for the program. The remainder of the funds can be spent on other revitalization measures, such as small-business assistance, and promoting integrated, mixed-income neighborhoods. The city news release specified that the funds can also be spent on crime prevent, infrastructure improvements and recreation projects.

“The NRTC Program helps turn the tide on some of New Jersey’s most distressed neighborhoods,” Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who is also DCA commissioner, said in an earlier state news release quoted by the city. “The improvements that result from this program not only transform communities, they transform lives.”

The improvements that result from this program not only transform communities, they transform lives,” A total of $15 million in NRTC funds annually and each applicant may receive up to $985,000.