Downtown Beautification Committee

The Downtown Beautification Committee’s mission is to enhance downtown Berkeley Heights to amplify its charm, vibrancy and to contribute to a complete, close-knit living experience.  We encourage high-quality design, attention to detail, and adherence to Berkeley Heights streetscape standards to improve the visual appeal of downtown.  We also collaborate to develop and present community events and services that attract visitors and businesses to downtown Berkeley Heights.   

Please LIKE the committee’s Experience Facebook page to get regular updates @ExperienceBerkeleyHeights.

Meetings

1st Tuesday of every month; 7:30 p.m. via Zoom

No action is taken until brainstormed ideas are vetted through the Committee and presented to Town Council and by extension, residents.

Agendas & Minutes

Agendas are available prior to the meetings.
Minutes are available following approval.

View Most Recent Agendas and Minutes

Members

• Jeanne Kingsley, Council Member
• Manuel Couto, Council Member
• Julie Lloyd
  Term expires: December 31, 2024
• Gennaro Raimo
  Term expires: December 31, 2023
• Gail Nelson
  Term expires: December 31, 2023
• Kimberly Garcia
  Term expires: December 31, 2025
• Eve Stewart
• Term expires:  December 31, 2025
• Christine Miller
• Term expires: December 31, 2024
• TBA
• Term expires:  December 31, 2022

Apply to Become a Committee Volunteer

Submit an application to become a volunteer on the Downtown Beautification Committee.

The Township welcomes and encourages residents who have specific experience applicable to each Committee, Board and Commission to apply for available positions. Please note that there are only a few volunteer opportunities available each year as there are staggered terms for members of each Committee, Board and Commission. However, some committees are always in need of extra volunteers for various events throughout the year.

Volunteer Application

Our Projects

Community Connections

• Restaurant Week
• Beauty & Wellness Weeks
• BH Walks
• Meet the Owners
• Bright Nights in Berkeley Heights

Beautifying Downtown

• Design Standards
• Fill-a-Basket
• Historic Banners
• Banners and Flags

Downtown Fundraisers

• Peppertown Park Clock
• Ornament Design Contest
• 1809 Wood Signs

Restaurant Week

With the general goal of becoming New Jersey’s next "it" town dining destination, the DBC partnered with Downtown restaurateurs and the Suburban Chamber of Commerce to launch Berkeley Heights Restaurant Week in 2017. The event drew crowds to our great restaurants, easily accessed by highway and rail transportation. This popular event returned in September 2018 - bigger and better than ever. Learn more.

Beauty & Wellness Weeks

Our residents want to patronize a lively downtown and these days, many service businesses are generating feel-good vibes. More than 30 quality businesses offered specials and discounts during Berkeley Heights Beauty and Wellness Weeks, launched in 2018 by the DBC in partnership with the Suburban Chamber of Commerce. Many people seized the chance to indulge in massages, manicures, haircuts, workout at an array of fitness businesses, try cool sculpting, and get chiropractic help. Learn more here.

BH Walks

A simple goal of cleaner and safer walkways led the DBC to create BH Walks. These monthly events connect residents of all ages who walk together for an hour in and near Downtown. They meet their neighbors while picking up litter and reporting any issues that could impact pedestrian and student safety. (It also supports our pursuit of a ’Safe Routes to School’ status and associated grants.)

Everyone is invited to this healthy lifestyle, feel-good event. You’ll be given a garbage bag and gloves provided by the DBC to collect litter along the routes. Routes vary from month to month. Visit to see the BH Walks meet-up spots and schedule.

Meet the Owners

The Downtown Beautification Committee is excited to help connect the community to local business owners. Focusing on owners personal stories—why they do what they do in Berkeley Heights—this campaign is open to all brick-and-mortar store fronts in Town. It helps enhance our community spirit and helping consumers to consider shopping local as their first choice. Making the personal connection between business and resident is an important piece of the community puzzle—helping our Towns businesses to flourish and our residents and visitors to enjoy Experiencing Berkeley Heights.

Bright Nights in Berkeley Heights

During the 2018 Holiday Season the DBC invited the downtown community to help us create ’Bright Nights in Berkeley Heights’ to light up our streets and warm up our community. Given our strong history of a festive downtown, we wanted to further encourage store fronts to decorate in a coordinated way, using warm white lights and/or large, red bows. The goal was to boost Town’s commercial traffic during the dark afternoons, enhance the festive feel of town and showcase our inviting community. Continuing the spirit of the season, members of the DBC made donation to a hyper local non-profit in the names of the businesses who choose to participate. These businesses helped to create ’Bright Nights in Berkeley Heights’ in 2018 and we look forward to an even brighter future in 2019. 

Design Standards

A vibrant, pedestrian-friendly streetscape. Buildings that look like they belong side by side in the same town. That’s the vision for Berkeley Heights. With so much new development slated for Downtown, the DBD suggested updates to the Downtown Design Specifications. We researched and made suggestions for the types of building materials and signage to use and identify which benches, sidewalks, street lamps, and building signs to install. In 2016, Town Council voted to adopt the DBC recommendations and will improve the cohesiveness and visual appeal of our downtown as new developments are built. Read more here.

Fill-a-Basket

Drive or walk through Downtown, and you’ll see 14 flower baskets mounted on street lamps. These were installed and planted on Springfield Avenue under the Fill-a-Basket pilot program launched in 2018 and expanded in 2019. The DBC, Department of Public Works (DPW), and area businesses worked together to bring and maintain these bright blooms in our Downtown. 

The DBC paid for the baskets, Hall’s Garden Center & Florist installed the baskets and flowers, and the DPW waters them. These thirteen generous businesses sponsored the purchase of the spring and winter plants for 2019: Berkeley Hardware & Paint; Berkeley Development (Mea Family); Defabio Chiropractic; DiMaio’s Cucina; Giovanni’s Bistro, Bar and Catering; Goodman’s Deli & Restaurant; Investors Bank; Peak Medical; Primrose School of Berkeley Heights; RE/MAX Achievers (Summit, NJ); Rotary Club of Berkeley Heights; Smith Chiropractic Family Care & Sports Injury Center; and Sublime Salon & Day Spa.

Adopt-a-Sign Program

Launched in Spring of 2019 as a joint effort of the Downtown Beautification and Environmental Commission, the Adopt-a-Sign program provides opportunities for volunteers to contribute to the greening and beautification of Berkeley Heights. Community groups, businesses, and families take hands-on responsibility for planting and maintaining flowers at the base of one of the Town’s branded welcome or park signs.  The "adopter" will keep the planting bed watered, weed-free and the sign clean. The program runs from May through the first frost.  For more information or to sign up, please email dbc@bhtwp.com.

The DBC and Environmental Commission thank the following families, community groups and businesses who have already adopted a sign: 

• Bartholomew Family 
• Chaleff Family 
• Cruz Family 
• Facey Family 
• Girl Scout Troop 42065 
• Girl Scout Troop 40254 
• Girl Scout Troop 40178
• Hagen Family 
• JL Franchino Masonry 
• Lawrence-DiLullo Family 
• Manieri Family 
• Ortega Family 
• Scorzafava Family 
• Thayer Family
• The Connell Company
• Varnerin Family 

Historic Banners

Do you know how many inventions were dreamed up here in Berkeley Heights? Almost too many to count, thanks to the Bell Labs Murray Hill facility located here since the 1940s and now owned and operated by Nokia. For the first time in 2018, we flew historic banners depicting these inventions, along with landmarks and special traditions born here in Berkeley Heights.
Banners lined on Springfield Avenue and part of Snyder Avenue are changed a number of times each year. In rotation are four more sets of banners purchased and designed by the DBC over the years: Experience Berkeley Heights banners, holiday banners, Township seal banners, and American flags.

Banners and Flags

Banners line Springfield and part of Snyder Avenue are changed a number of times each year. In rotation are four more sets of banners purchased and designed by DBC over the years: Experience Berkeley Heights banners; Holiday banners; Township Seal banners; and American flags.

Traffic Signal Wraps

Until mid-2018, the main intersections in Berkeley Heights at Plainfield and Springfield avenues and Snyder and Springfield avenues were the home to eyesores: traffic signal - l cabinets with peeling and missing paint. We researched and alternative and came up with a solution: graffiti resistant traffic cabinets in a single color that won't fade over time. The DBC purchased these wraps using monies from its fundraising activities.

Peppertown Park Clock

When you look at the gorgeous Peppertown Park Clock, you’re looking at more than a Downtown landmark. This clock was the Downtown Beautification Committee’s first fundraiser in 2014 and provided the funds used for many subsequent improvements, including banners, benches, and trash and recycling receptacles.

This graceful ornamental clock stands tall in Peppertown Park at the corner of Plainfield and Sherman Avenues. This project united generations of Berkeley Heights residents who generously donated time and money. The business community offered substantial financial support. The main four faces of the clocks were donated by The Connell Company, Dean’s Gre ens Garden, Nursery, and Floral Center, Berkeley Development Company, and Summit Medical Group.

Ornament Design Contest

You don’t have to look too far to find talented people in Berkeley Heights. Case in point: every other year, the DBC holds an ornament design contest. We invite artists of all ages to submit a depiction of a selected community icon. The winning design is portrayed on a commemorative ornament. The ornaments are sold at town events. All proceeds from the sale of the ornaments support the DBC’s work.

Previous ornaments were based on artwork from: 

Kerry Blasch - BH Train Station (2016).

Lucinda Hayes - Municipal Complex (2017)

Below are the depictions of the Municipal Building from our resident artists who participated in the contest:

Beth Ferris Sale - Photograph

Abby Ha - Colored Pencil

Taylor Leong - Crayon

Olivia Hayes - Markers

Neil Chowdhury - Pencil and Colored Pencil