WHY YOU NEED TO SIGN THIS PETITION

 

To stop inappropriate and unwanted redevelopment and continued destruction of our City of Plainfield, NJ by delaying all new redevelopment studies and projects. This includes but is not limited to stopping: 

the purchase of the YMCA. 

Grace Church being torn down, 

the redevelopment on East 9th Street,  

the West End Industrial Corridor Redevelopment, 

Redevelopment of the Park Hotel and surrounding area. 

To stop the Council and Administration from changing the important and proven valuable oversight provided by the Historic Preservation Ordinance which is allowed under the NJ Land Use Law.

 

ASK YOURSELF

Are you happy with the kind and amount of development we have in Plainfield? Are you happy with the increased level of traffic? Are you happy with the hundreds of apartments that have been built in the last several years, the hundreds that are under construction and the hundreds that are planned or being planned? Are you happy that the addition of these apartments has come without the addition of retail and grocery stores, dining, and other services that the renters of these apartments expect and need? Are you happy that very little of this development has come with owner occupied housing such as condos? Are you happy the owners of these apartment buildings are often not Plainfield residents and frequently take the money and run? Are you happy with your ability to park where you live? Are you happy that… just fill in the blank? Well, it is likely to get worse.

 

THE DETAILS

All new redevelopment studies and projects, including the purchase of the Y, need to be delayed until there is a publicly agreed to road map for how Plainfield should look in the future. The number of apartments built anywhere and everywhere is engulfing and destroying the architecture that makes this city a fabulous place to live and a magnet for those seeking what we are… an historic, attractive, quiet, and an ethnically, lifestyle and culturally diverse awesome place to live. Our historic architecture defines us. This was verified during the pandemic when many sought refuge here. New residents bought historic houses, investing money to restore them to the way they should be, just like many have done in the years since protection for our historic properties was approved in the 1980s. Many homes have been or are being restored to single family houses, reversing their conversion to multi-family apartments by outsiders prior to the creation of our historic districts and passage of ordinances to stop further destruction of our historic buildings.

 

Recently, actions taken by deeply concerned citizens have been able to at least delay two such projects (East 9th St [link], Grace Church [link]). A proposed purchase of the YMCA building [link] by the city and all proposed redevelopment studies (including but not limited to, the Park Hotel, Cooper Building and surrounding area; West End Industrial Corridor Redevelopment; the police station and municipal court redevelopment study) need to be halted until there is a publicly agreed to vision which can be used to judge the suitability of any new proposals.

 

We can no longer allow the continued overuse of redevelopment as an excuse to build. We can no longer allow more standalone apartments with architectural designs inconsistent with their surroundings and needs of their occupants. The proposed changes to the Historic Preservation Commission are aimed at removing from it the decision-making processes it is legally allowed under the New Jersey Land Use Law. That threatens the preservation of our 18 historic properties and 10 historic districts. These changes are targeted so redevelopment can be used indiscriminately for such properties as Grace Church, East 9th St, and the incorrectly named “Center of Excellence” (via a link? By definition, a “center of excellence” (COE) brings together people from different disciplines and provides shared facilities/resources. It is sometimes called a “competency center” or “capability center” in academia. In business, and especially marketing, COEs should go further, to do what Gartner describes as, “concentrating existing expertise and resources in a discipline or capability to attain and sustain world-class performance and value. These long-term groups combine learning and oversight around a specific area, driving the organization to shift across multiple disciplines together) proposal for the YMCA property (link).  

 

These changes will remove protections and allow the city to do what it wants rather than what is right for the city. More than 200 people joined the city council meeting on Monday, July 11th. All who spoke on these topics were opposed to approving these actions. The majority of the council dismissed these pleas and approved these proposals.  

 

The purchase of the YMCA property is to be made blind to any consideration of the costs to build a recreation facility in a location for which it was not envisioned and will not serve the purposes for which it was proposed. Bradley Beach, NJ did the same thing only to find, after the purchase, the costs to build the proposed community center will be more than five times the purchase precise of the property [link]. It is reasonable to assume a similar factor could apply to the YMCA. The total cost could exceed $30,000,000 for the property and construction.

 

If you agree that this madness must be stopped not only in Plainfield but elsewhere in the state, we implore you to sign this petition.