Plainfield unveils 5-year Urban Enterprise Zone strategic plan; 30-day public comment opens

City economic-development staff on July 6 presented a five-year strategic plan for Plainfield’s Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ), outlining proposed programming, minor boundary adjustments and an administrative framework for drawing down roughly $1.5 million in annual UEZ funds.

The plan, required by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for continued UEZ funding, was prepared with outreach that included 155 surveys, in-person open houses, business outreach, and one-on-one stakeholder meetings. The plan identifies administrative priorities such as a UEZ task force, marketing campaigns, a retail-recruiter role, business workshops, workforce-development programs, and increased support for special events to promote downtown activity.

Economic-development staff said the draft also proposes minor boundary edits to remove some noncommercial parcels (for example, parks and certain school parcels) and to add areas targeted for new development. Those changes are intended to focus incentives on commercially active corridors and sites with redevelopment potential. The draft strategic plan is posted on the city’s UEZ web page and will remain open for at least 30 days of public comment before submission to DCA.

Council members asked how the plan aligns with the city’s longer-term master plan and whether there would be in-person meetings for residents. The director said the UEZ plan is a shorter, five-year implementation document that aligns with master-plan goals and that written comments may be submitted through the UEZ coordinator listed on the web page; staff also noted prior open-house sessions during plan drafting and said additional outreach will continue.

The council approved the plan for public comment as part of a block of economic-development items that proceeded later in the meeting. Staff said they will return with final changes after the public-comment period and then submit the plan to DCA.