Chairman LaQuaglia hears testimony at last night's Planning Board meeting.

Last night the Bloomfield Planning Board unanimously approved an amended site plan and subdivision for the previously approved Bloomfield Center redevelopment at Lackawanna Place (also known as Block 228, Lot 1). The approved plan was modified from the original application to exclude additional retail/restaurant space.

The amended plan application originally submitted by Bloomfield Center Urban Renewal, LLC (the applicant) and the Bloomfield Parking Authority (the property owner) called for a reconfiguration of the apartments to include three-bedroom units (a total of 46 additional bedrooms) and an additional 20,000 square feet of space to be used for restaurants or retail establishments on a second floor mezzanine area.

At the beginning of the meeting, which was continued from May 8, the Planning Board’s traffic consultant, Joseph Staigar, P.E., testified that the additional 20,000 square feet of retail space would cause traffic problems at the intersection of Lackawanna Place, Conger Street and Glenwood Avenue. He stated that the additional trips generated, particularly if the space were occupied by restaurants, would cause backups as cars exited the garage at Lackawanna Place, or when cars made left turns from Conger Street onto Glenwood Avenue during peak traffic times. Staigar’s recommendation was to reduce the additional square feet of retail space by half to 10,000 square feet to mitigate the potential problems. Continue Reading