OP-ED: "Development Project Will Undermine Public Health and Safety"

Regarding the proposed development project at 225 Belleville Avenue (Oakes Pond/National Starch):

A Planning Board Meeting will take place on Tuesday August 7, 2012 at 7pm in the Municipal Building - Council Chambers, 2nd Floor  

Written by SAVE BLOOMFIELD NOW:

Our position all along has been that the proposed scale and scope of this development will undermine the public health, safety, and general welfare of the community.

The best way to educate the Planning Board about the detrimental impact of the proposed development is for surrounding residents who would be most negatively affected to come in person and share their concerns directly with the Planning Board. We firmly believe that a strong showing of community opposition can make a difference here.  

The traffic expert hired by the Planning Board to evaluate the traffic study provided by the developer is scheduled to testify at the Planning Board meeting.  We do not yet know what the board's traffic expert will say, but we believe this will be yet another opportunity to remind the board of the current severe rush-hour congestion on Belleville Avenue and surrounding streets, and how much worse that problem will be if this proposed development -- containing 654 cars -- were to be approved.

Planning Board Engineer Anthony Marucci will address flooding concerns. The demographics expert also hired by the Planning Board (out of the developer's escrow account) may testify after that. For those of you who have not attended a meeting yet, the procedure is:

1. The Developer's expert testifies
2. The Planning Board asks direct questions about his/her testimony (developer's expert)
3. The public asks direct questions about his/her testimony (developer's expert) (no statements or testimony by the public)
4. The Planning Board's expert testifies (they are paid from the developer's escrow account)
5. The Developer and the Planning Board asks direct questions about his/her testimony (planning board's expert)
6. The public asks direct questions testimony about his/her testimony (planning board's expert) (no statements or testimony by the public)

Only after all of the experts have testified (and the Planning Board and Public have questioned their testimony) will the public get to make statements and essentially testify themselves. This will probably be at the September or October meeting.

We hope you and your neighbors will join us at the Planning Board meeting on August 7th. Please contact us if you have any questions and/or need further information.   

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Email:  savebloomfieldnow@gmail.com