Letter to the Editor: FW Council Candidate Applauds Progress on Downtown Redevelopment

On Wednesday, July 21, the Fanwood Redevelopment Agency met to review the status and progress of the downtown redevelopment plan. I have heard many residents continuously ask why there seems to be so little progress with the area designated as the Station Square in Fanwood, which is to support the construction of 24 townhouses. Because the area was affected by low level contamination left behind by a previous owner, the site has had to rely on a seal of approval from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) before they could proceed to construction. It has been nine months since final testing was completed, but because of the bottleneck created by the Christie Administration in Trenton, the DEP has yet to sign-off on it's approval.

Nonetheless, I am pleased, to have heard that our Mayor, Colleen Mahr, is not resting on Trenton's inaction to continue to delay the completion of our downtown.  I applaud her tenacity to get results by insisting the deputy director of the DEP come to Fanwood, walk the redevelopment area to see where progress has been made, in other areas of the downtown, and see how this protracted delay in moving to final sign off on Station Square is not acceptable.

As a member of the Fanwood Planning Board, a municipal planning board attorney and candidate for Fanwood Borough Council I applaud the Mayor's actions! 

It is imperative that not only the mayor but all of our elected officials become advocates on behalf of Fanwood to ensure that Fanwood's future and the sustainability of our downtown and our community is realized. 

I hope that by joining the Mahr team that I can bring renewed energy and talent to ensuring that Fanwood remains a great place for young families like mine to live, work and play, while doing so in a cost effective manner.  The completion of our downtown is critical to providing both a great place to live and generating new tax revenue to relieve some of the burden from our homeowners.

Kevin Boris

Fanwood Democratic Council Candidate