Yesterday I reposted this Belleville Times article about the proposed development of the Jacobs/River Run property on Washington Avenue on our Facebook page. This proposal is on the table to be discussed at the next public meeting of the Planning Board. The meeting will be held at 7 PM tomorrow (Oct 9th) in Council Chambers at Town Hall.
Please read the BT coverage first to see what is being proposed, then proceed with the rest of this article.
Residential, retail uses proposed for Belleville site
Not surprisingly, once residents actually tuned into the article and saw what was being proposed, many were not pleased to hear that one of the ideas up for consideration is to build multiple residential highrises on the property, up to 50 stories tall.
Yes, you heard that right….50-story highrises in Belleville, along Washington Ave.
It also didn’t help matters much that the developer apparently envisions Belleville as a subsidiary of New York City, or that he thinks this area of Belleville is ripe for being developed into a bustling downtown similar to Hoboken. Even Newark was offered as an analogy.
Based on everything offered, the developer has made it abundantly clear that he is interested in turning Belleville into, in his words, “an urban setting”.
And just out of curiosity, where do all the children of these conceivably 4,500 new families coming to Belleville go to school? Not long ago, some Belleville students didn’t even have desks of their own, and were sitting on crates in class. They’re literally sharing outdated textbooks. But let’s not get me started on the current state of the school district.
While I’m looking at this with only a layman’s eyes, I think that the 10% projected increase in the student population is wishful thinking, at best. So then logically, we’re to expect only 1 out of every 10 of these new families (the math actually works out that way) is going to have a child in the school district? Please pardon my complete and utter disbelief at a projection like that.
That’s the wonderful thing about projections; nobody is able to hold you accountable if you end up being wrong, and it’s already a done deal anyway.
If these families only had one child each, you have now doubled the entire student population of the township. Impact studies, anyone?
I’m with the people who have already stated that some of these proposals are ludicrous, and cannot happen to Belleville. The prevailing opinion seems to be that this development can’t possibly be sustained by the township, its services, or its school district. Others simply don’t want it, viable or not.
Can you imagine the “Beautiful Village”, with its already maxed out infrastructure, turned into a smaller version of Newark, snarled in even more traffic every day?
Well, to quote another Belleville resident I spoke with earlier today….”Skyscrapers in Belleville? Over my dead body!”.
Another Belleville resident, Frank Fleischman III, was kind enough to share with us a very insightful letter he wrote regarding the proposed development being discussed at tomorrow’s meeting.
The following letter from Mr. Fleischman was sent to Mayor Kimble and the Town Council, as well as the Planning Board:
Dear Mayor Kimble, Councilmembers and Members of the Planning Board,
I am writing you concerning the impending Planning Board meeting on Thursday, concerning redevelopment proposals for the Jacobs/River Run property on Washington Avenue, and possibly the Finkelstein property off of Main Street. I am unable to attend that meeting due to another pressing commitment, but I felt it necessary to voice my opinions about these proposals.
I believe it would be a mistake for the Planning Board to approve any of the three proposals that Maser Consulting has presented. They are heavy on residential units, but light on retail. More residential units – especially the ones being proposed for this development – would add students to our schools and put more stress on our township’s infrastructure. These proposals would also increase traffic and further aggravate parking problems, which are legion in Belleville.
It is certainly commendable that a property owner wishes to build something viable on their property; Belleville should welcome such initiative. However, there are a lot of variables to consider. Will a new development increase the need for municipal services, and how will that increase be covered financially? How much additional traffic would be on our streets? Will this add more students to our schools? Does the proposed development fit in with Belleville’s local and historical character?
While planner John Madden and Maser Consulting project only a 10 percent increase in the student population in any of the three proposals presented, it is only a projection. It could be more, and that would most likely require more classroom space, possibly in the form of an addition to existing schools or construction of a new school. In light of the multi-million dollar deficit the school district is currently running, I don’t think Belleville taxpayers would take kindly to a tax increase or approve a bond issue for more school construction.
We also have to consider the town’s infrastructure. The water and sewage systems in our township are old, and the addition of a large residential development – and the subsequent increase in water usage and sewage removal, not to mention the influx of cars owned by the residents of this new development – would stress and strain those pipes even more, possibly resulting in more leaks and interruptions in service.
I think the best proposal so far for this land is the preliminary one from several years ago, which called for 135 residential units and 25,000 square feet for retail. Such a proposal would have a lighter residential impact, yet offer new retail space for businesses.
I think any reasonable Belleville resident would agree that our township has taken many “hits” economically in the past 20 to 30 years. In the 1980s and 1990s, America lost a significant part of its industrial and manufacturing base as it moved toward a service economy. Belleville – once boasting a vibrant local economy due to industrial and manufacturing business, as well as from many small businesses – was not immune to these economic changes. The American economy has changed and, to paraphrase Mr. Madden, industrial jobs are not coming back.
Indeed, Belleville needs to attract new ventures and businesses to the township. Those businesses create jobs and pay taxes, which help subsidize the cost of municipal services. We can also hope that, in finding Belleville a profitable place to do business, they give back to the community in the form of charitable contributions to our athletics teams and civic activities.
The Township’s approval of any development proposal should be contingent on providing adequate space for parking. The residential proposals, which allow for one parking space per unit is inadequate, especially when it appears that many or most families own at least two cars. That would mean that any additional cars would most likely wind up parked on the streets, worsening our township’s parking situation and impeding street cleaning.
Before considering the approval of new developments, the Township needs to look at existing issues – derelict properties, lack of parking and high taxes on both residential and commercial properties. These are among the quality of life and economic issues Belleville currently faces, and the real work begins there, in finding creative and efficient solutions to those issues.
It is my sincere hope that the members of the Planning Board – and you, whom Belleville residents elected to represent the best interests of our town – will carefully consider the impact on Belleville’s infrastructure, services, taxation and local character of any development proposal that may come before you.
Sincerely,
Frank Fleischman III
This Planning Board meeting is tomorrow night, Oct 9, at 7 PM in the Council Chambers of Town Hall.
If you want to have a say in this potentially transformative development of Belleville, or anything similar, this next meeting may be your only opportunity to sound off about it.
Once again, it’s time to get engaged, Belleville. This is the very heart and soul of your beloved town being decided, right here, right now.
It’s time mobilize, yet again, to save Belleville from another unwelcome fate.
Update: Here is more coverage about the issue on NorthJersey.com:
Belleville planners hear more about project’s potential impacts
Update (11/20):
Belleville board approves multi-building plan for Washington Ave
And now we wait to see what the Council does with the plan.
Move it forward, or lob it back to the Planning Board?
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