Carteret Borough
Carteret
1. Overview of Carteret and Its Waterfront
1.1 Geographic Overview
The Borough of Carteret is located in Middlesex County and is bordered on the north by the
Rahway River and on the east by the Arthur Kill. The City of Linden is to the north of Carteret
on the other side of the Rahway River and Woodbridge Township surrounds the Borough to the
west and south. The NJ Turnpike runs through the Borough and Interchange 12 is located within
the Borough. In the western part of town, residents have access to Routes 1 & 9. There is no
local public transportation besides NJ Transit with bus stops in town.
1.2 Demographics of Carteret
The 2000 Census tallies Carteret’s population at 20,709. The population increased from 11, 976
to 20,502 from 1940 to 1960, reaching a high of 23, 137 in 1970. The population declined in
1980 to 20,598 and agin in 1990 to 19,025.
Source: Bonnie J. McCay, Debbie Mans, Satsuki Takahashi, and Sheri Seminski. 2005. “Public
Access and Waterfront Development in New Jersey: From the Arthur Kill to the Shrewsbury
River.” Keyport, New Jersey: NY NJ Baykeeper. http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org
1
Carteret Borough
The racial composition is 57% White, 23% Hispanic or Latino (of any race), 9.5% Black or
African American, and 8% Asian.
For the year 2000 the median household income is $47,148 and the median house value
$135,500. Of the occupied housing units, 68% is owner-occupied and 32% is renter-occupied.
The Kinder Morgan industrial facility and warehousing operations are the biggest employers in
town. There are some retail and commercial facilities to support the community needs, but a
large percentage of the residents work outside the community, mainly in Northern New Jersey
and Manhattan. This is in part due to Carteret’s proximately to Woodbridge and the Metropark
Train Station for New Jersey Transit and Amtrak lines.
1.3 Historical Overview and Traditional Waterfront Uses
Carteret and Middlesex County have been influenced by the post-WWII trend of migration from
the cities to the suburbs and the availability of major highway access. The vacant residential
areas in the Borough were rapidly developed only after the completion of the Turnpike
interchange. Carteret had available land in the 1940’s, but developers chose Edison,
Woodbridge and Linden for residential development because of better transportation access and
construction characteristics of land. Population growth in Carteret as a whole since 1950 has
been at a much faster rate than in New Jersey or the United States. Between 1950 and 1970
population in the Borough rose from 13,030 to 23,137. Additionally, the population of the
residential areas developed after 1950 did not primarily derive its livelihood from the industrial
areas along the Arthur Kill.
Historically, the Carteret waterfront property has been used for 100 years or more by industries
needing water for production and transportation purposes. One of the major employers in the
Borough was Amax Smelter, a precious metals works. Other industries along the waterfront
included a phosphorous fertilizer plant and Reicholt Chemical, which was subsequently bought
by Staflex and is now out of business.
Source: Bonnie J. McCay, Debbie Mans, Satsuki Takahashi, and Sheri Seminski. 2005. “Public
Access and Waterfront Development in New Jersey: From the Arthur Kill to the Shrewsbury
River.” Keyport, New Jersey: NY NJ Baykeeper. http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org
2
Carteret Borough
The 1973 Master Plan included a plan for the “Rahway River Industrial Planning Area,” that was
to be utilized largely by heavy fuel-oriented businesses. The Master Plan contained a
recommendation for a proposed Carteret Industrial highway which would provide access to the
large vacant marsh land areas. “It is possible that private industry would itself fill and reclaim
these marsh areas for industrial uses.”
However, in the past 20 years the waterfront in Carteret has seen a transformation. As larger
facilities went out of business, the sites have been cleaned up and largely replaced by warehouses
(e.g., Port Carteret’s trucking operations), a non-water-dependent use. Amax Smelter was the
first business to leave. Currently many of the waterfront properties are vacant and underutilized
or being utilized as parking lots, industrial use and warehousing. The Kinder-Morgan facility is
the largest taxpayer in the Borough, as well as the last remaining water-dependent facility.
2. Waterfront Use
2.1 Summary of Waterfront
There is over 4,000 feet of frontage on the Arthur Kill. However, only some small fringe areas
of the tract immediately adjacent to the water are wetlands. Most of the frontage along the
Arthur Kill is deep water. The man-made cove is shallow at low tide. Reuse of waterfront
properties generally must include site investigation for contaminants due to the historical
industrial use of the area.
Approximately 10-12 years ago, in the early 1990s, Carteret envisioned a new waterfront park
along the Arthur Kill that would include a fishing pier and observation deck in combination with
marina and boat ramp. The site identified for this park is an old industrial facility that utilized a
large concrete pier that used to hold rail line. Additionally, a manmade cove had previously been
created adjacent to pier. Both the concrete pier and cove were for private, commercial industrial
uses. The Borough envisioned turning the concrete pier into a timber pier and observation deck
and turning the manmade cove into a small craft harbor for community recreational use. The
Borough pursued Green Acres funding for $2 million (half grant, half loan) about 15 years ago
and was able to purchase an old industrial parking lot adjacent to pier. At this time the industrial
Source: Bonnie J. McCay, Debbie Mans, Satsuki Takahashi, and Sheri Seminski. 2005. “Public
Access and Waterfront Development in New Jersey: From the Arthur Kill to the Shrewsbury
River.” Keyport, New Jersey: NY NJ Baykeeper. http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org
3
Carteret Borough
property was being subdivided and a 17-acre parcel around there was donated to Carteret.
Construction on the $2.4 million pier project began in early 2003. The timber pier and
observation deck, along with a boat ramp and floating dock, was completed in the late summer of
2003. A waterfront park and marina will complete the project. Overall, places where people can
access the waterfront for recreational or commercial purposes are limited to the two areas
described below.
recognized
and accessible
Joseph Medwick
Rahway
Park
River
Waterfront Park
Arthur Kill
X
X
X
X
X
X
Fee
Restroom Facilities
Food Concessions
Picnic Facilities
Parking
Swimming
Birdwatching
Hand Launch
Public Marina
Private Marina
GPS
Handicapped Accessible
Location
Passiive Recreation
Address/
Trailered Launch
Common
Name/Facility
X
X
None
None
Property
Private
Others
Informally used
Publicly
Fishing
2.2 Waterfront Access Sites
Industrial and
Warehouse
Facilities
Overall, places where people can access the waterfront for recreational or commercial purposes
are limited to the two areas described below.
Source: Bonnie J. McCay, Debbie Mans, Satsuki Takahashi, and Sheri Seminski. 2005. “Public
Access and Waterfront Development in New Jersey: From the Arthur Kill to the Shrewsbury
River.” Keyport, New Jersey: NY NJ Baykeeper. http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org
4
Carteret Borough
Joseph Medwick Park: It is located adjacent to the Rahway River and receives frequent use by
the community. It includes a linear walking path, picnic area, soccer and baseball fields and tot
lot. The park has been in existence for about 40 years. All the access points in the park are
public. Middlesex County owns, operates, and maintains the park.
Waterfront Park: This is a new facility (above) on the Arthur Kill that includes a fishing pier and
observation deck, a floating dock, boat ramp, and parkland. Formerly, the site consisted of an
old concrete pier that was accessed through a commercial site by the public as an informal access
point. Currently there is some difficulty with accessing this facility as it is surrounded by
ongoing commercial uses and the public must access the site through private property (a
warehouse parking lot and access road). This is an emergency road that will eventually be
turned into a walkway. The town is currently negotiating with two companies, ADP and EI
DuPont, to become third party to their reciprocal access agreement/easement. The town is also
leasing parking lot until they are able to acquire it. In short, access to this waterfront park, which
is owned by the Borough, has been an issue. Future plans for this park include passive
recreation/boardwalk area and marina.
Source: Bonnie J. McCay, Debbie Mans, Satsuki Takahashi, and Sheri Seminski. 2005. “Public
Access and Waterfront Development in New Jersey: From the Arthur Kill to the Shrewsbury
River.” Keyport, New Jersey: NY NJ Baykeeper. http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org
5
Carteret Borough
3. Waterfront Issues and Planning Initiatives
3.1 Waterfront Issues
The Borough recognizes the lack of public access to the waterfront and is attempting to address
this concern through the development of the waterfront park along the Arthur Kill. According to
one interviewee, providing recreation opportunities for the public is the most important thing for
the town because it is seen as creating community involvement and a sense of community.
Recreation opportunities are seen as benefits to the community and therefore have community
support.
Generally, issues of public access to the waterfront have not arisen in the Borough and the
community has not really taken the approach that they are entitled to the waterfront. However,
as the waterfront begins to be redeveloped the Borough will likely assert its rights, on behalf of
the public, to the waterfront. The redevelopment of the town consists of public-private
partnerships. The private entity recognizes that the public wants access to the water and this
balances with other things that the private sector wants. It is felt that developers are smart
enough to realize that waterfront access makes the property more valuable and increases their
profits. Some developers would like to create private recreation space for the residents only, but
the Carteret governing body established that it does not want to see a gated community with
access limited to residents. The town believes that new residential development creates a burden
on the community and therefore there needs to be a giving back to the community.
The town does have problems with flooding as it is surrounded by water on three sides (Rahway
River and Arthur Kill). There is an impact on properties as this is a relatively low-lying
community, especially the western portion of town. Because stormwater and groundwater are
influenced by the tides, a combination of a high tide and heavy rain will cause local flooding of
both residential and commercial sites and street flooding.
Source: Bonnie J. McCay, Debbie Mans, Satsuki Takahashi, and Sheri Seminski. 2005. “Public
Access and Waterfront Development in New Jersey: From the Arthur Kill to the Shrewsbury
River.” Keyport, New Jersey: NY NJ Baykeeper. http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org
6
Carteret Borough
Interviews indicate that pollution of the water does not affect how people use the water. Right
now there is more passive than active use of the water. Because the residents’ main use of the
water is scenic, as long as they do not see the pollution (i.e., floatables) then that does not affect
their use of the water. But now with the new waterfront park and increased access to the water
the Borough will be researching fish advisories for the community.
3.2 Planning Initiatives
The Master Plan was reexamined in 1998 and it recognized that the planning issues facing the
community at that time were:
¾ Waterfront development for recreational purposes
¾ The need to develop a policy concerning the establishment of greenways along the
Rahway River and Arthur Kill waterfront in accordance with recommendations contained
in the Middlesex County Open Space Plan as well as to coordinate and balance the
preservation of these important watersheds with the use of the waterfront for both public
recreation and future industry and community development.
In January 2003 the Borough recommended a Planned Waterfront Development District (PWD)
for the Chrome Waterfront Area and a Request for Proposals (RFP) was circulated, asking for
residential/mixed-use and recreational use design.
In response to the RFP three companies submitted proposals for the redevelopment area: Carteret
Landing LLC, Kaplan Companies and Toll Brothers. One company proposes to create an
entirely new residential and commercial neighborhood for the Borough, calling for 2,720
housing units on 95 acres that would eventually be served by a ferry connection to Manhattan.
Another company sees the opportunity to develop various civic amenities in connection with the
waterfront marina and the pathways and sidewalks along the Arthur Kill, such as a community
activity center, an outdoor farmer’s market, restaurants and an amphitheater. This proposal calls
for the construction of approximately 2,400 housing units along with commercial and retail
space.
Source: Bonnie J. McCay, Debbie Mans, Satsuki Takahashi, and Sheri Seminski. 2005. “Public
Access and Waterfront Development in New Jersey: From the Arthur Kill to the Shrewsbury
River.” Keyport, New Jersey: NY NJ Baykeeper. http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org
7
Carteret Borough
The new waterfront park is the initial building block for redevelopment of the waterfront.
Carteret now wants to see interconnections with this new park and linear connections for
pedestrian access. As waterfront property is redeveloped the Borough wants to have open space
donated and preserved parkway and habitat.
Currently many of the properties in this redevelopment area are vacant and underutilized or
consist of parking lots, industrial use and warehousing. The town plans on cleaning up areas of
the parcel. Specific facilities in this redevelopment area include
¾ A. Duie Pyle, a trucking company that recently built a new facility in the center of the
site, right in the center of this redevelopment area.
¾ Old Dupont industrial operations which were totally demolished and leveled some
years ago.
¾ Two 400,000 square foot warehouse buildings, occupied by a number of tenants, are
located on the southern side of the site.
¾ An old small building and large tank is located on the extreme northern side of the
site.
¾ A small junkyard located between Industrial Avenue and the west side of the railroad.
4. Summary
Carteret is attempting to redefine its waterfront, moving away from water-dependent industrial
use to mixed use residential, commercial and retail. It has declared a waterfront industrial zone
as a Redevelopment Area, thereby allowoin it to request proposals from private redevelopers.
The conversion of these historic industrial areas into residential and commercial areas will have a
significant impact on the Borough. The Borough acknowledges that its residents have limited
waterfront access and is seeking to address this issue through the recently constructed pier and
boat ramp on the Arthur Kill and the redevelopment plans for the Chrome Redevelopment Area.
Source: Bonnie J. McCay, Debbie Mans, Satsuki Takahashi, and Sheri Seminski. 2005. “Public
Access and Waterfront Development in New Jersey: From the Arthur Kill to the Shrewsbury
River.” Keyport, New Jersey: NY NJ Baykeeper. http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org
8
Carteret Borough
References
Carteret: Satellite Photo by USGS
http://www.city-data.com/city/Carteret-New-Jersey.html (accessed July 12, 2004).
Carteret Master Plan (1973).
Carteret Master Plan Reexamination (June 1998).
Don Norbut, Borough of Carteret Engineer, T&M Associates, Interview (June 12, 2003).
Vincent Manetta, Assistant to Carteret Tax Collector and Mayor Daniel J. Reiman, Interview
(Jan. 12, 2004).
Source: Bonnie J. McCay, Debbie Mans, Satsuki Takahashi, and Sheri Seminski. 2005. “Public
Access and Waterfront Development in New Jersey: From the Arthur Kill to the Shrewsbury
River.” Keyport, New Jersey: NY NJ Baykeeper. http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org
9