Updated Plan For One Westfield Place Provokes Debate Among Residents

WESTFIELD, NJ — Westfield's Town Hall was packed with residents Tuesday night, eager to voice their opinions about the One Westfield Place redevelopment that is posed for the old Lord & Taylor site and surrounding area.

Members of HBC Streetworks made a formal presentation to the public about the changes they made to the redevelopment proposal based on public feedback. This includes reducing the 34 apartments that were planned for North Avenue and Clark Street to 16 townhomes, as well as including additional on-street parking spaces.

The developer is also removing one floor from two office buildings planned for South Avenue, as an attempt to reduce the project's density. A community garden, dog park and a footbridge over Route 28 are also among the new changes.

Read more: Developer Revises Housing, Parking Plans For One Westfield Place

While some residents have expressed excitement about the project, arguing that it will help revitalize the downtown, others are still dissatisfied — even with the revisions that have been made.

Carla Bonacci, one of the officers of Westfield Advocates for Responsible Redevelopment, told Patch that the changes introduced by Streetworks are "marginal at best."

"These are only baby steps and much more needs to be done," Bonacci said. "These changes do not address the major issues raised in our petition, that the project is still too big for the Town of Westfield."

"There are still bulk buildings of five and six stories tall, and the overall project massing still exceeds current allowable zoning by two to threefold. The inclusion of sizable office and retail uses in this development do not solve — and may even exacerbate —existing vacancies in Town," she added.

Councilman David Contract said a lot of Ward 3 residents want to know why there is a need for office buildings on South Avenue.

Doug Adams of Streetworks said a lot of companies are reducing their city offices and moving offices to the suburbs where many of their employees live.

But Adams said over 85 percent of office space in New Jersey are over 30 years old and are "functionally obsolete." He also said the office space is a big park of the economic driver for the PILOT program in the project, which will help pay for the public improvements that have been proposed.

Councilman Mark LoGrippo expressed concerns about a lack of commuter parking, as well as increased traffic at the Central Avenue corridor and on South Avenue with the new on-street parking spots that are now proposed there.

LoGrippo made a motion to table the vote on the project, but no other council members seconded the motion.

A public hearing and vote on the adoption of One Westfield Place is currently set for Feb. 14 if the Planning Board affirms consistency with the Master Plan, according to a prior announcement from Mayor Shelley Brindle.

Some residents are the meeting were seen holding signs that read, "We deserve a referendum."

Town attorney Thomas Jardim spoke at the end of the meeting about the legality of a non-binding referendum.

"We are crystal clear that holding a non-binding referendum would run afoul of existing law," Jardim said. "... It's absolutely clear the New Jersey redevelopment law absolutely prohibits referenda in relation to a redevelopment project. That law makes absolutely no distinction whatsoever on whether that referendum is a binding or non-binding referendum."

Response From Residents

Resident Steven Goodman argued that "this project is massive and has huge costs" and that not all initial discussions between the mayor and the planners of the project were made public or advertised.

He said he didn't understand the true scale of the project until it was presented in September.

"I ask that we place a pause on this plan ... because all the questions have not been answered," Goodman said. "As we traverse Westfield and the surrounding towns of Clark, Mountainside, Garwood, these massive apartment structures are going to change the quality of our life. Has anyone seen the massive structure just put up on Central Ave? It eclipses all the buildings in that area."

"As these [developments] become built, you will realize that what we are doing is not revitalization or redevelopment. We are turning our towns into a Hoboken and Jersey City," Goodman said.

Related: Residents Launch Petition To 'Rethink' One Westfield Place Development

Resident Bill Fitzpatrick echoed Goodman in his desire to pause the process.

"In my view, the council's approval timeline is moving much too fast to allow for public understanding, review and discussion of this very complex project," he said.

However, several residents expressed that they are in favor of this project.

Burim Regjaj, the owner of Outta Hand Pizza in Westfield, said he thinks the PILOT funds will help diversify the tax base and could bring more foot traffic to his business on South Avenue.

"South side lacks foot traffic," Regjaj said. "There’s no flagship store or point of interest and no transition between the north and south sides. The transition is so stark, so brutal, that one would think they are two different towns."

Resident Drew Kellerman said there is a lack of housing available for people over the age of 55, and she supports the age-restricted housing that One Westfield Place would offer.

"I know so many people in my age range that have left Westfield because there are not housing options," she said.

You can watch the entire Town Council meeting on Westfield's Facebook page.

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