Hawthorne store owners offered $10,000 to repair storefronts and signs

HAWTHORNE — Officials are providing loans of up to $10,000 to downtown retailers and homeowners who invest in improvements to their aging facades.

The exterior work, focused on 21 storefronts on Diamond Bridge Avenue, is intended to brighten up the busy area by creating an aesthetic streetscape – one that is more appealing to potential tenants and the general public.

The loans are being provided by the city through its participation in the Neighborhood Preservation Program, an initiative of the Department of Community Affairs to revitalize commercial corridors in “endangered but viable” business districts.

Hawthorne is one of 20 New Jersey communities participating in the five-year program. Other North Jersey participants include Boonton, Garfield and Newton.

The city receives $125,000 in grants each year for its participation, and a 15-member committee budgets that money for various projects. It plans to spend more than a third of its current allocation on compensating merchants who participate in the desired upgrades.

But the improvements are not mandatory and there is no interest yet in implementing them.

Nancy Agnello, the program coordinator, said she looks forward to an upcoming breakfast with the merchants, where she plans to discuss the concept in more detail. She said they will be given examples of designs favored by the committee.

“Because it’s a pilot program,” she said Monday, “we’re trying to make it really easy for them to participate. We’re going to help them every step of the way.”

The loans are intended for improvements to facades, but also for canopies, entrances, lighting, signage and windows.

The city council, at its last meeting, approved an application process and a set of guidelines drawn up by the committee together with a professional planner to guide traders in a similar direction.

However, the guidelines are generally broad.

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They don’t mandate specific colors for awnings or that the same decorative wall lights be mounted at every door, but the committee does favor certain design elements. It favors burgundy and deep red, earthy tones — and when it comes to light fixtures, it encourages merchants to install so-called shepherd’s crook lights.

Neon signs are not permitted and all new window installations must be Energy Star certified. Sign size regulations are in the municipal code.

“We want everything to be complementary,” Agnello said.

Store owners who receive a loan must sign a grant agreement stating that they will maintain their improvements in good condition for at least 10 years.

Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email address: [email protected]

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Hawthorne store owners offered $10,000 to repair storefronts and signs

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