reference to redevelopment is below
Hartz Adjourns Application Until February
21 Meeting
By CHRISTINA M. HINKE
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader
December 14, 2017
CRANFORD
— Hartz Mountain Industries LLC has adjourned its application before the
planning board to rezone 750 Walnut Avenue to Wednesday, February 21, 2018.
Hartz
has proposed to make the 30.5-acre parcel a residential zone where currently it
is zoned for commercial use.
Hartz
had presented redevelopment plans to the township committee for a
multi-building complex containing 905 multi-family units, including lowand
moderate-income housing, pools and a community room.
“When
would be the right time to ask for an environmental impact study?” board member
Dan Aschenbach asked. Board Attorney Mark Rothman said the board could broach
that during the hearing.
Mr.
Rothman said Hartz has already filed its application with the municipality and
it is deemed complete.
Hyatt
Hills Gold Complex located adjacent to 750 Walnut Avenue is a brownfields site
with monitoring wells on the Hyatt site to monitor the groundwater. There also
are monitoring wells at 750 Walnut Avenue, according to Mr. Aschenbach.
Mr.
Aschenbach believes an environmental impact study should be done prior to an
application being heard, he told The Westfield Leader. “But I believe the
conclusions of such a study will help in ruling this issue in or out,” he said.
During
public comment, Arlington Road resident Rita LaBrutto, also a former planning
board member, said she had concerns about the transparency of the planning
board. “The Open Public Meetings Act says your agenda should specify what you
will be voting on or discussing,” Ms. LaBrutto said.
The
planning board voted on November 21 to recommend to the township committee that
215-235 Birchwood Avenue be deemed an area in need of redevelopment, without
having the item on the agenda, she said. “It’s a big item for the town,” Ms.
LaBrutto said. “A grave disappointment for anybody who has been following this
since 2008, that the planning board failed to put it on the agenda,” she said.
“It is really shameful.”
The
board had placed on its agenda posted in the town hall on Monday that it was to
present a study on making a portion of North Avenue in the downtown a
redevelopment zone, Ms. LaBrutto said, but then was later removed. She said the
public had not been given the 10-day notice that the Act requires.
Mr.
Rothman said the board has proposed to have the study presented at its next
meeting on Wednesday, December 20. The study will not yet be made available to
the public, Mr. Rothman said, and it is not yet determined to be on the
December 20 agenda because “it is not yet final.”
“It
is something we haven’t even seen yet,” Board Vice-President Bobbi Anderson
said.
“If
a draft is made available as a draft to the board on December 20, it should be
made available to the public,” Ms. LaBrutto told Mr. Aschenbach. “I think that
is true,” Mr. Aschenbach responded.
The
Downtown Management Corporation (DMC) has held strategy meetings, she said,
where the DMC has suggested allowing a fourth story in the downtown. Ms.
LaBrutto said she is not a proponent of having a fourth story permitted in the
downtown in the zoning laws because it can add to traffic congestion, impact
parking availability and could add children to the schools.
“I
don’t see it as a permitted use on Springfield Avenue across from the municipal
building. I think it has its place, such as across from the railroad,” she
said.
“One
of the thoughts is to have additional affordable housing in the downtown, which
makes sense,” Mr. Aschenbach said