Bloomfield’s Planning Board, which will meet tomorrow night (Tuesday, June 14), is expected to give final approval to the site plan for Bloomfield’s downtown redevelopment — the first step in getting the long-contested project, called Glenwood Village, to actual bricks-and-mortar stage.
But Cary Heller, a real estate developer who owns property in Bloomfield Center, thinks the plan is deeply flawed — and will create major congestion in the area. And he may appeal the plan in court if it is approved Tuesday.
Heller’s main issue is that the developer, Bloomfield Center Urban Renewal, is widening Lot 228 (the triangular block that is now filled with massive craters) into the street, narrowing both Lackawanna Place and Washington Street. He believes there’ll be major stack-up of cars going in and out of the development, and that trucks — especially tractor-trailers — will have a difficult time getting into the site.
Heller, who owns property in the area and has his own redevelopment plans for another site, has paid traffic engineers for an alternate plan (left), which would create a round-about at the intersection of Farrand, Washington and Lackawanna. The developer’s plan calls for a “jog” intersection, requiring cars and trucks to make two turns to get through. But pushing Block 228 out into the street, to expand the project, makes the roundabout idea impossible, Heller says.
The block of Washington Street where Garden State Yoga and Anthony’s Cheesecake now sit would become one-way, heading west, under the new plan.
“Don’t push out into the street and there’s no issue,” says Heller. “We will appeal if we believe we will be successful in making this a development that is beneficial to everyone — not just the developer.”
“I want people to ask questions,” he says.
Joseph Staigar, the engineer who did the traffic impact analysis for the proposed redevelopment, disputed Heller. “The congestion on the street that he’s claiming is not going to happen,” he said. He also said the plan does facilitate trucks, even tractor-trailers.
Although the town will lose the convenience of some street parking, Staigar says it will be made up for by the spaces in the garage and “a much better project.”
But Heller believes there aren’t even enough spaces to in the garage to handle the 224 new apartments, 10,000 square feet of new restaurant space and 60,000 square feet of new retail space. A study done by traffic engineer Hal Simoff, and paid for by Heller, says the flaw was using an “urban” designation to calculate 265 parking spaces needed for the 224 apartments.
“Bloomfield is not an urban environment that would attract residents that will not own cars,” the report says.
Mayor Raymond McCarthy, reached around 1:30 p.m. today, said he stands by the planning board’s initial decision. “I heard his [Heller's] traffic expert at the planning board and myself and four other people saw no validity in it at all. He made no sense.”
Watch the video for a tour of the proposed redevelopment site.
Is this proposed roundabout the same type as the one near Home depot in Clifton? If it is it’s a bad idea as no one in NJ seems to know how to drive in them.
I do agree that the need for parking for the 224 apartments has been greatly underestimated.
A roundabout? Those are awful.
Seems like this new plan would hurt his plan. And will his new traffic pattern that he wants benefit HIS development?
Also, were folks all thrilled with his redevelopment plans? I’m sure some folks spoke up. Hell what about the traffic nightmare at the Panera Bread (though I call it the Smashburger) plaza?
I’ve almost been rear-ended going in, and sideswiped going out.
So forgive me if I think his vested interest has more to do with what’s best for HIM than any real concern for “traffic.”
No plan will be perfect. Just get going already. There’s a lot of room for new parking lots in the area. If parking becomes a problem, we’ll deal with it later. It’ll be years before this is built and longer than that before all the apartment units are filled if ever.
Here is what I do not understand. In talking to town officials on this project I was told 2/3rds of the apartments have been spoken for, so actual people we should be able to gather data from such as train or car to work…how many anticipated cars …. how many kids….?
yet no one seems to have any such info and all these plans are based on generic studies and doesn’t seem to be concerned with the 2/3rds and their actual needs.
I’m not a town planner but does that seem off to anyone else?
All these projects look like Mini Me clones of Battery Park City,
often made even worse by some gratuitous clock tower on the corner.
And, if they don’t have at least 2 dedicated parking spaces for each and every apartment, (3 or 4 if they plan on households with teenagers) it’s gonna be a nightmare.
Methinks Mr. Heller may have an agenda of his own here. Sour grapes perhaps? I just hope it doesn’t hold up the redevelopment YET AGAIN. I agree with Bebopgun. Just get going already!
Perhaps the town officials were prevaricating, hrh. Rumor has it that they sometimes do.
Pat, the official Massachusetts Guide to Driving, “Wild in the Streets,” says this about Rotaries / Roundabouts / Traffic Circles: “He or She with the most nerve has the right of way. Do not make eye contact with any other driver in the rotary and they will let you through.” Having your insurance company on speed dial helps.
I don’t agree with the ‘get going already’ mentality. That’s always been the problem in this town. Just do it and get it over with, with no foresight or thought of the future. After all these years of false starts and lawsuits, how about taking the time to do it properly for once? We all know that once something is in place problems are never addressed. Why spend extra time/money/aggravation to fix something when it’s possible to make it right before you start?
It’s true, no plan will be perfect. But if you spend any time driving around Bloomfield center now or trying to park on the street you’ll understand where Heller is coming from and he’s not all wrong.
Spiro, the idea is that these will not be for families. There was a concern that if you had 200+ families with kids it would overload the elementary school–Watsessing. Responding to this a very wise planner said it’s been his experience that you’ll get singles or married w/o children people and that if they opt to stay in the area they’ll then move to a house in the area.
Lots of assumptions.
LOL Conan!! Rotaries should be outlawed! No matter how many stripes and signs they put on that monstrosity in Clifton, it is a complete free-for-all! We recently encountered a couple in Philly and if it weren’t that we were following someone on the way out, we’d still be there!
p.s. is it me, or does that rendering look a lot like the Sienna?
Conan,
What you say is true. And if you’ve been up to rotary by the Home Depot you’ll find that they have had to put in a wild mess of yield signs that make no sense. Most of us will drive miles out of our way in order to avoid this accident waiting to happoen.
I use that rotary at least two or three times a week to get to Home Depot or down to Stew Leonard’s. But being that I had my graduate education in driving in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts (my undergrad driving degree is from the Sreets of New York City) I don’t really fear much — I am wary of other drivers entering the rotary, though, because unpredictability is a key factor of Jersey driving. Go Bruins!
“Responding to this a very wise planner said it’s been his experience that you’ll get singles or married w/o children people and that if they opt to stay in the area they’ll then move to a house in the area.”
Interesting, bebop: when I was attending the Zoning Board meetings for the apartment building on Broad Street in Brookdale (across from Friendly’s) a couple of years back, either the attorney or the planner for the developer said a similar thing — and the majority of these apartments are two-bedroom units. As it has played out, it appears that very few children are living in the building which seems to be about fully occupied.
But the point is also well-taken that introducing traffic circles / rotaries in New Jersey is kind of like opening a Russian Roulette parlor.
@bebop – Staying in starter apartments even as families grow is pretty common, as you probably know) . It will likely be the case here as well. They’d need some tough restrictions to keep growing kids out of the development, or to evict families if the kids hit driving age.
@Kay, It sure does look like the Siena. And the Siena looks like Battery Park City after it’s been in the dryer too long. ( Not even a grove of redbuds can hide that problem ).
Mr. Heller most likely has a self-motivated basis on this matter. My guess is that he would have loved to be the sole developer for the entire area – not just the section around the property that he already owns on Farrand St. But, Mr. Colgan – the developer of block 228 – beat him to that section by buying up whatever he could over the past 10 years. Isn’t it great when two ego driven individuals are sparring with each other? There are no limits to greed – which is what this is completely about. Don’t kid yourself about parking, traffic, etc. – its all about greed and money. Always has been with this development and always will be. Mr. Heller’s development on Blmfld Ave – with Panera Bread, Smashburger,etc. has plenty of traffic and parking issues – but that’s fully rented now and making money for him – so now its time to turn to Bloomfield Center. Heller and Colgan are made for each other. I wonder which side the proud mayor of Bloomfield is on with this one? hmmm, hmmm
Spiro, now I must look up Battery Park City on Google satellite. Never been there!
Sadly – anything they plant in front of the development will likely be in those cement enclosed tree-coffins, which will lead to blighted growth and early demise. I just noticed what looks like an old-growth stand in the rendering, in a courtyard behind the shops with the awnings. HAH! Are they really gonna plan 25-foot trees? my right eyeball!
p.s. I have been in that Smashburger mall once… and that was enough. Too many shops, not enough egress. Too bad, because I love slurpees, and the other knock-offs just don’t cut it. and with gas being what it is, a slurpee is not worth driving over the hill!
The round-about/rotary/big-round-thingy-in-the-road in Clifton is child’s play. It’s so small that it forces drivers to slow down to the point where they actually keep all four tires on the road as they go around. I mean, it even has stripes and yield signs and everything!
For white-knuckle road terror nothing matches the circular demolition derby once known as the old Eatontown traffic circle down in Monmouth County, right by the Monmouth Mall. I cut my driving teeth in that circle, and had my very first accident there, too. With cars, trucks, and buses whipping around the curves at near-warp speed, it was a no-man’s land devoid of any signage, leaving it to the testicular (or ovarian, as the case may have been) fortitude of each individual driver to determine who had the right away at any point in time and space.
Many a driver received an unwelcome lesson in physics there back in the day.
here’s a preview, Kay
http://img.streeteasy.com/nyc/image/70/15755370.jpg
White knee socks and hat, red elsewhere
Hat height varies.
Well OK, I have been to Battery Park City, just never knew it… walked up the Hudson River Greenway last summer from Battery Park, past the WTC, and then across to the subway. I think I like BPC better than the Siena…
HA Spiro, that’s a great way of explaining it!
IMO, traffic circles should go the way of the uncontrolled residential intersections that I grew up with in SoCal. Imagine, four convergances with nary a stop sign. This isn’t Mayberry, for heaven’s sake!
Kay, one thing for sure, the buildings are pretty bad at BPC, but the waterfront parks are really great.
Bloomfield won a smart growth award for the plans for the redevelopment. Does anyone know if this Vision Plan is actually being followed?
http://www.njfuture.org/smart-growth-101/stories/2009-award/bloomfield/
“What emerged from this inclusive process was a “Vision Plan” describing the key characteristics and core elements of Bloomfield’s redevelopment: a historic urban center, a New Jersey urban lifestyle, a transit village, a “green” downtown and an accessible downtown. The plan invokes a comprehensive set of principles for economic, social and environmental sustainability, emphasizing the critical importance of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In support of these principles, the plan proposes enhancements and development densities that will capitalize on the existing infrastructure to create a downtown that maximizes accessibility through an integrated set of transportation modes including walking, bicycling, cars, bus and train. The Vision Plan was ultimately adopted as the Bloomfield Center Redevelopment Plan – Phase 1 by the governing body in December 2008.”
@Karen, I think that actually there has been a lot of forethought put into this plan. The downtown redevelopment plan that was done before the developer was picked used residents’ input to come up with the final plan. @Pat Gilleran, I believe this plan is the plan that the developer is following. The developer’s lawyer said they meet all of the requirements of the plan. There are roof gardens and other features that I think contribute to the “green” part of the plan, as I recall.
I think it will be pretty attractive when it is done – and yes, sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good. We can’t let this get tied up once again while someone tries to hold it up for their own personal reasons. Maybe there will be traffic problems, maybe there won’t. But a roundabout is certainly no solution in my humble opinion. I agree with the others, they are a nightmare. And if Smashburger plaza is any example of what Heller thinks is a good traffic pattern then I wouldn’t go by his advice.