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Dave
| | Posted on Thursday, May 9, 2002 - 8:56 am: |     |
How high is Springfield Ave. on your priority list? What do you like about what's being done and what would you like to see done differently? Does the recent defeat of KFC bode well for the Avenue's business development or are you just as happy to see it go away? |
Dave
| | Posted on Thursday, May 9, 2002 - 8:58 am: | |
Also (from NoHero): "Assume that you have been elected, and re-elected for a second term. At the end of your sixth year in office, you're walking down Springfield Avenue, which has developed along the lines you envisioned back in your 2002 campaign. What do you see? (Be as specific as possible.) " |
Artchristensen
| | Posted on Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 2:38 pm: | |
I'm glad to see it go away. I believe we have to do better.....
I get the point Nohero is making, but the question is too broad to be very specific.
For opener's, the best I can say is that the gateways to Maplewood's Miracle Two Miles would let everyone know that they have left Irvington, and or Union, and have arrived in Maplewood......
People walking, talking, shopping, standing, sitting, watching, lots of activity. A Jitney bus stop sign, (the bus, to the train, to the plane) would be on every other corner, in both directions. I would see lots of eating places, ice cream places, several food stores, clothing and shoe stores, a couple of good watering holes, more apartments over the stores.... you know, LIFE, AND HAPPY FACES! |
Fredprofeta
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 8:17 am: | |
How high is Springfield Ave. on your priority list? What do you like about what's being done and what would you like to see done differently? Does the recent defeat of KFC bode well for the Avenue's development or are you just as happy to see it go away?
Springfield Avenue has been at the top of my priority list since I was a founding trustee of the Springfield Avenue Partnership in about 1994. We need to make critical decisions about economic development on the Avenue and on the industrial sites generally to the east of it. We are at a crossroads. Unless we expand our commercial base, and take other steps to change the method of our school funding, we will have to continue to live with a crushing tax burden.
There is presently no one in charge of economic development at Town Hall. Many towns have a full-time economic planner. Some of them require this expertise in the municipal administrator's position. Maplewood has not done these things. It is absolutely essential that we invest in a person who is expert in these matters. Ms. Leventhal says "no" because a planner would be "expensive"; but all business persons know that sometimes you must invest money to make money.
Ms. Sharif-Drinkard proposes that we "conduct a study to determine which types of businesses should be recruited for the Avenue." But what is wrong with the study conducted by the Springfield Avenue Partnership several years ago? It provided a resource for the firm of Abeles, Phillips, & Shapiro, which did further market research of its own before presenting the Township Committee with its detailed report in May of 1999. No more studies! We know what we need. It is time to get on with the recruitment!
Springfield Avenue would profit enormously from a grocery store, a movie theater, other facilities devoted to the arts, sports venues, and family restaurants. The Post Office (now on an expiring lease in Maplewood Village) should be encouraged to move its back-office operations to the Avenue. Postal employees would be customers for Avenue stores. So would patrons. Senior citizen housing would also be a grand addition. Seniors bring no more children into our schools, but they do consume goods and services in their neighborhoods. This kind of economic development would have a multiplier effect wherever instituted. Business spawns more business - look at the effect that the expanded Maplewood Theater had on bustle and business in the Village during evening hours.
All of this development has been promised to the residents of the Hilton, Maplecrest, and College Hill neighborhoods for many years. But there has been no production. And this stagnation occurred during the most economically robust decade of the 20th Century. Economic development does not happen by magic. The Town must talk to developers who specialize in converting semi-urban avenues into thriving business communities.
I am in favor of the physical improvements to the Avenue first proposed by the Economic Development Commission (now disbanded) and later adopted by the Township Committee. But I do not believe in simple "build it and they will come" logic. Abeles, Phillips & Shapiro, which initially designed the improvement plans, advised in 1999 that discussions with developers should take place concurrently with the planning of roadway changes. This makes sense. A developer may have specific needs - such as zoning changes and vehicle access - which will require Maplewood to alter its roadway plans. If we spend millions to freeze the Avenue in a particular design, we may find that developers are not interested in what we have to offer. We should also consider the designation of Springfield Avenue as a "redevelopment zone", which facilitates development and removes red tape. South Orange successfully used this method in its downtown revitalization. All of these ideas may have some applicability on Irvington Avenue and in other commercial areas.
Regarding KFC, it was an inappropriate proposal for the intersection of Yale and the Avenue. Under our ordinance, it needed 53 parking spaces and was providing only 13. The excess traffic inevitably would have ended up on residential streets. Further, the proposal was always incompatible with the streetscape design already approved by the Township Committee. In the May 1999 Abeles report, the intersection in question was designated as a "pedestrian node." On page 24 of that report, it was proposed that development of these nodes should emphasize, "a concentration of neighborhood-oriented retail located in storefronts that are built up to the sidewalk, with no front yard setback." Additionally, "pedestrian use would be facilitated by reducing curb cuts and driveways." KFC needed a curb cut on Springfield Avenue. I pointed out these incompatibilities, as a Planning Board member, at our July 10, 2001 meeting. The Township Committee did not rely on these incompatibilities to suggest a withdrawal of the application until May 7, 2002. We can, and will, do better than KFC. |
Iangrodman
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 8:49 am: | |
Assume that you have been elected, and re-elected for a second term. At the end of your sixth year in office, you're walking down Springfield Avenue, which has developed along the lines you envisioned back in your 2002 campaign. What do you see? (Be as specific as possible.)
I, too, would like to see stores like the Gap, Old Navy, and an ice cream parlor on Springfield Avenue. However, for the last seven years, many people have wished for the same stores. Resident organizations working on a part time basis, and township officials have not been able to make this happen. A good economic development official is likely to be more successful.
Six years from now, I see Springfield Avenue as being the center of a burgeoning arts community, with artists' spaces, small specialty shops catering to the needs of Maplewood as well as surrounding communities, and additional restaurants joining the fine ones already established there. I see senior housing on Springfield Avenue insuring that there is life on the avenue twenty-four hours a day. The township's inheritance of 1978 Springfield Avenue, to be used as a resource for artists in the community, can serve as the catalyst to make that vision happen. |
Iangrodman
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 2:50 pm: | |
How high is Springfield Ave. on your priority list? What do you like about what's being done and what would you like to see done differently? Does the recent defeat of KFC bode well for the Avenue's business development or are you just as happy to see it go away?
Springfield Avenue is a top priority. The efforts of residents creating the Springfield Avenue Partnership, raising the visibility of Springfield Avenue's problems and its potential is to be commended. The township committee must also be credited for creating the special improvement district on Springfield Avenue.
However, many of the current initiatives on Springfield Avenue are not enough. While some effort has been made to improve the appearance of the avenue, there has been little, if any, implementation of the streetscape design given to the township by Abeles Phillips and Shapiro in May of 1999. Any efforts to recruit businesses have proven to be unsuccessful.
The recent debate regarding Kentucky Fried Chicken demonstrates why a full time economic development professional is necessary to effectively develop Springfield Avenue, as well as the other commercial districts in town.
Redeveloping Springfield Avenue presents a great challenge, and with no disrespect intended, there are no members of the current township committee, or residents who can address the issues facing Springfield Avenue on a part time voluntary basis, who are qualified or have the ability to work with real estate developers to recruit the types of businesses Maplewoodians want and need. The planner can coordinate all aspects of implementing a plan, from streetscape design, to analyzing demographics, to recruiting viable businesses, to overseeing construction. One need only to look to towns like Englewood and Red Bank to see how such a planner can help to turn around a dying downtown and develop a thriving area that becomes a destination for people from all around the area.
The recent defeat of KFC is of benefit to all of us. A drive up, fast food restaurant did not, and could not, fit in with the intended pedestrian friendly area projected for that portion of Springfield Avenue, and would have had a detrimental impact on its residential neighbors. The visibility of the KFC issue has inspired additional residents to become involved in addressing important issues facing the town, and reminded people that citizens can make a difference. |
Fredprofeta
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 4:13 pm: | |
Assume that you have been elected, and re-elected for a second term. At the end of your sixth year in office, you're walking down Springfield Avenue, which has developed along the lines you envisioned back in your 2002 campaign. What do you see? (Be as specific as possible.)
My answer to this question is partially set forth in my response to question no. 6. But this question provides me with an opportunity to set forth some more of my underlying rationale. I entirely agree with Ian Grodman's vision for the future, especially the following: "I see Springfield Avenue as being the center of a burgeoning arts community, with artists' spaces." I see sports venues in the same category, because academic studies show that arts and sports are "integration friendly." That is, these activities, by their very nature, tend to attract people of different backgrounds. This would have been true, for instance, respecting the failed soccer dome, which would have constituted a marvelous addition to the Hilton neighborhood.
During my four year tenure as Chairman of the Community Coalition on Race, we spearheaded an initiative to designate the Hilton neighborhood as the "artists' district." Our detailed and energetic marketing program brought a significant number of artists to Hilton as residents. Now that initiative must extend to the commercial zone. This is the business of the Township Committee, where a new economic planner hopefully will work closely with the Community Coalition on Race and the Springfield Avenue Partnership.
I share Ms. Leventhal's vision of a "very successful commercial strip that is vibrant," and Ms. Sharif-Drinkard's dream of "luscious foliage and beautiful park benches." But both of my opponents emphasize that "The development [they foresee] has been small scale." There is nothing in their vision which produces a significant increase in commercial ratables. In fact, I see nothing in their answers to any of the MOL questions which addresses Maplewood's enormous tax burden. Economic vibrancy of any kind on the Avenue would be a plus; but how do Ms. Sharif-Drinkard and Ms. Leventhal propose to address the needs of our senior citizens and others on fixed income, who must now leave Maplewood because they cannot pay the taxes? Ian Grodman and I will not give up on these people without a fight |
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