Submitted by the Lakewood UEZ.
Dear Lakewood businesses:
As you know, last year in August the governor’s office signed into legislation the revamping of the UEZ program.
As part of the new life given to the program, the state has initiated a UEZ Zone Map Restructuring process. It’s been more than a decade since the UEZ program was in full effect and the 32 UEZ municipalities have experienced dynamic changes to their respective business and industrial sectors… especially Lakewood!
Business areas have changed, new ones have developed, and some others have changed with some converting to residential developments and the like. Therefore, there is a need to modify the map.
We would love to get input from our Lakewood business community specifically regarding areas that currently are not located in the Lakewood UEZ zone map, with their suggestions for what should be included in the new map. You can access online the current zone map here:https://njdca.maps.arcgis.com/apps/InformationLookup/index.html?appid=0db472ac220a419d938e9060574d2f21. Your input will help us during this process to identify all eligible areas to be included.
Important things to remember:
- Businesses must be registered with the state of New Jersey.
- Businesses must operate out of a store front, office, factory, or warehouse.
- Information on eligibility and program details can be found here: https://www.nj.gov/dca/affiliates/uez/
Please email your suggestions to: [email protected].
When sending your suggestions, please indicate “Zone Map Modification” in the subject line. In the body of the email please include:
- Name of the business
- Street address of business and cross streets.
- Names of other businesses within a 2 square block radius (if you can).
Thank you in advance for your participation in this process!
David Klein
Executive Director
Lakewood Development Corporation
Lakewood UEZ Coordinator
I walked into a New Jersey store the other day and wanted to know if the store was part of the Urban Enterprise Zone, and whether it had a 3 1/2% sales tax.
“UEZ?” I asked the guy behind the counter.
“Am I easy?” he said, “I certainly wouldn’t call myself uneasy. Why do you ask?”
“That’s not what I meant,” I said.
“Oh, you want to know if I’m Izzy,” he said. “No, I’m not him, but Izzy will be here very shortly.”
He then issued an apology to me.
“I’m sorry that I misunderstood you,” he said. “but you foreigners pronounce the letter ‘i’ with an ‘EE’ sound.”
“By the way,” he added, “this store is part of the Urban Enterprise Zone, so you only have to pay 3 1/2% sales tax.”
I bought a few items from the store and thanked him for his help.
After I left the store, I heard him call out to Izzy, who just arrived at the store, “Hey Izzy, some guy with a foreign accent was looking for you.”
“Sank you berry much,” Izzy replied to him, “eet vas probably mine brother, he just arrived een America tzooday.”