LYNDHURST (June 27, 2008) — The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission will take part in a Community Design Workshop on Saturday, June 28 to assist Kearny in creating transit-oriented development around the planned future site of an NJ Transit rail station. The discussion, which is open to the public, is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Kearny Public Library, 318 Kearny Ave.

“This workshop allows Kearny residents to have a voice in the future development of their town,” said Robert Ceberio, executive director of the NJMC. “The Commission is excited to lend its professional planning expertise to the process and we thank Mayor Santos for inviting us to the table.”

The workshop is the first step in a long-term “visioning process” with the goal of developing a community-based plan for the passenger rail station and the surrounding Schuyler Avenue redevelopment area. The NJMC has a seat on Mayor Alberto Santos’ Advisory Committee for the project, which is being run by the non-profit Regional Planning Association and funded by NJ Transit.

The rail station would open in conjunction with a planned new tunnel under the Hudson River and offer passenger service connections to Manhattan and other destinations.

The station would be located where Bergen Avenue crosses the Hudson-Kingsland Line, in the heart of the redevelopment area.  Residents will be asked for their input on how the area around the new station should be developed to best advance the town’s goals.

In keeping with its commitment to improving the quality of life in the Meadowlands District, the NJMC offers it professional expertise free of charge to District municipalities through several programs. These include the Commission’s Sustainable Communities Planning Service, through which NJMC planners can assist towns with the preparation of  their affordable housing and downtown revitilization plans, and the Municipal Solar Assistance Program, in which Commission staff and consultants assist towns with the development of solar facilities.