Gabby Molina from Westfield has been named to St. Lawrence University's Dean's List for ...
Letters to the Editor
By RICH HOPEN
March 8, 2023
At the February 28, 2023 Westfield Town Council meeting, there were votes on two resolutions and the introduction of three ordinances about the One Westfield Place project. The Council approved the redevelopment agreement with Streetworks and the Streetworks’ application for paying reduced property ...
“Build It, They Will Come and They Will Spend” appears to be what is driving Mayor Brindle and the Council to include new office construction in the One Westfield Plan for the Lord & Taylor and South Avenue sites. The question is what will be the costs to achieve this, and do the benefits ...
The development proposed under One Westfield Place is significant in scope and well beyond our established Land Use Ordinance limits for building heights, coverage and density. Of course the Lord & Taylor building and parcel requires redevelopment, but 75 foot structures and shoehorning in ...
After the Town Council approved controversial zoning changes for the Lord & Taylor/Train Station Redevelopment Plan last week, Mayor Brindle wrote that “specific details will be ironed out when the plan is submitted for site plan approval with the Planning Board later this year, and that there ...
I've listened closely to the debate around the One Westfield Place project, read through available material, viewed online presentations and visited the preview office. I've also heard the pleas and concerns about preserving the charm and character that makes Westfield "special." As a long-time ...
We ask Mayor Shelley Brindle and the Town Council members to vote to place a stay on the proposed One Westfield Redevelopment Plan. The citizens of Westfield have overwhelmingly shown their support in pausing and readapting this current proposal. The released TAPinto survey on redevelopment, as ...
Let me start by saying that I love Westfield. I grew up here, and even as a kid, I always knew that I wanted to move back to my hometown to raise a family of my own. The two biggest draws to me have always been the athletic programs in our town, and our lively downtown. Both have always been a ...
On Tuesday, the Westfield mayor and town council will vote on the controversial redevelopment plan known as One Westfield Place. As our town is deeply divided as to approve or disapprove this enormous project, the mayor, many of the town council members and town attorney Tom Jardim continue to ...
Greenwashing is everywhere. Corporations will add a few recycling bins and offset some of their carbon footprint and call themselves “green.” But what does it mean to be truly sustainable? To incorporate it in the fibers of your design and honor your commitment to this core value? Sustainability ...
I am writing today about the proposed One Westfield Place project. I attended a special Streetworks event recently to learn about the sustainability design concepts that are planned as part of the One Westfield Place project. I was very impressed by the many design features of the new buildings.
To the Editor: My wife and I have lived in Westfield for more than 50 years. Our children are graduates of Westfield High School and I served the community for 36 years as senior rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, president of the Westfield Foundation and Westfield Ministerium, and in numerous other ...
I am writing in regard to the One Westfield Place proposal. And to be clear, while on the Town Council I voted to designate the areas being considered for the current proposal as Areas in Need of Redevelopment. I was, and continue to be, a supporter of Smart Growth. My view of Smart Growth however ...
With thanks for inspiration to Joe Salemme who addressed the issue of PILOTs and School Funding last week. As he pointed out, the project's own numbers show that the Southside parking lots will generate $780,752 in Land Tax Revenue over 30 years ("North/South Zone" in their table), or an average of ...
Groups of Westfield residents have been trying for months to analyze the important financial assumptions to the One Westfield Place project and determine risks and hidden costs. Based on the limited financial information being made available, these are among the major financial concerns so ...
I’d like to share an experience of mine that I’m hoping might add some useful information to the discussion of the One Westfield Place project. I only recently learned that Dan Biederman will be working with HBC | Streetworks and the Downtown Westfield Corporation to help design the project’s ...
The GWACC Chamber of Commerce has been monitoring the discussions of One Westfield Place development proposal and as a professional business organization, we fully support the idea of bringing additional businesses into Westfield and to have sufficient people in town to support those new businesses ...
On 1/21/23, in response to a resident’s question on the Mayor’s Facebook page asking how PILOT payments could impact taxpayers and the school budget, Mayor Brindle stated: “I agree with you 100% that great schools are key to maintaining property values. That’s why schools are always paid first ...
As someone who has a keen interest in the future of our downtown, I have been closely following the debate about Streetworks' redevelopment proposal. A group of residents calling themselves Westfield Advocates has started a petition, while others are calling for a referendum on the redevelopment ...
I’m no stranger to Westfield. As an 8-year resident of Maplewood, I’ve had the pleasure of making Westfield a regular haunt to visit friends and enjoy your shops and delicious restaurants. It’s fair to say, it often eased my reluctant-suburbanite angst after leaving the city. Westfield’s ...
The Town Council has been working on this "plan" for at least 3 years behind closed doors and was just recently launched in December to the public. Initially, I was a supporter of improving the downtown business district, but my excitement turned to dismay when the Town Council finally disseminated ...
On Jan. 5, 2023, I wrote a letter to the editor explaining my view that a non-binding referendum on Westfield’s proposed redevelopment plan is legal under controlling statutes and caselaw. My position is primarily based on the fact that the two statutes cited by the town council (the Municipal Land ...
The Westfield Food Pantry thanks the Westfield Optimist Club and Rotary Club for their commitment to community service by providing holiday food cards to The Westfield Food Pantry for distribution to local families. The clubs' holiday food distribution program has been an annual community ...
Dear Editor, Catholic Schools Week this year takes place Jan. 29 to Feb. 3. Holy Trinity School will host an open house on Jan. 29, 2023, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for grades PreK-2 through Grade 8. In 2019, Governor Murphy declared, during his signing of a proclamation honoring this ...
I am writing this letter in the hope that it will cause residents to consider the following points and ask the Mayor to slow the approval process, so we can more fully explore all the project’s ramifications. Much of the published information regarding the One Westfield Place project by ...
The recent fentanyl overdose of a New Jersey high school teacher has brought substance use disorder to the forefront and it is vital that we understand its root cause – prescription opioids. Opioid dependency can begin in just five days and the best method to combat substance misuse from ...
Westfield taxpayers should pay close attention to the Mayor and Council’s real estate development financing proposals, in particular, the proposed use of Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) and ask whether these are a fair deal for the taxpayer. Taxpayers lose because: 1) The developer gets a ...
Mayor Brindle has repeatedly stated that residents need to learn the facts about the One Westfield Place proposal before coming to a final conclusion. But at the same time she is accelerating the public review and approval process and rejecting calls for a non-binding referendum. As many ...
To the Editor: A number of people have suggested that the One Westfield Place redevelopment project be put to a referendum. Doing so would violate New Jersey law. Here’s why. Westfield adopted an ordinance for development of One Westfield Place under New Jersey’s Local Redevelopment and ...
Our mayor and town council have taken the position that they will not put the issue of whether to enter into the Redevelopment Agreement for the One Westfield Place project to a non-binding referendum. To be clear, this decision is within their discretion. What I find unacceptable, however, is ...
As a 30-year resident of Westfield, former downtown property owner, and a former Chairman and Board member of the Downtown Westfield Corporation, I have watched downtown Westfield change from its peak in 2004 after being named a Great American Main Street to today. Mainstreets in NJ and around ...
