One Westfield Place Project Could Be Reduced By 25 Percent

WESTFIELD, NJ — The One Westfield Place redevelopment plan (RDP) may be reduced by 25 percent.

The Town Council barely passed an introduction of an ordinance to reduce the size and scope of the controversial project on Tuesday night.

The vote fell across party lines with Mayor Shelley Brindle, Councilpeople Linda Habgood, David Contract, Michael Dardia, and James Hely voting in favor of the introduction. Councilmen Todd Saunders, Michael Armento, Michael Domogala, and David Kiefer voted against it.

"I think this is an incredible win-win," said Brindle at the meeting. "The is reality about reducing the size and scope of what many of the folks in this room objected to."

Reductions

Brindle noted that the amended ordinance proposes the following reductions:

• Reducing gross square footage (GSF) by 178K (from 661K to 483K)
• Eliminating one office building on the south side (90K GSF)
• Reducing south side traffic impact by 36-40 percent during peak hours
• Lowering most building heights, by 15 to 30 feet, in both the Lord & Taylor and south side parcels
• Delivering public benefits including traffic improvements at ten intersections, pedestrian plazas on north and south sides of the train station, bike/pedestrian infrastructure, and north/south side garages
• Fully replacing commuter parking; adding 364 public parking spaces on nights/weekends from the south office garage
• Proactively advancing our fourth round of Affordable Housing obligations while protecting the Town from higher density residential development

Westfield's Redevelopment Counsel Steve Mlenak noted that when Streetworks was speaking with potential tenants, specifically anchor tenants, they learned things needed to be adjusted and came to the Town who wanted to also incorporate concerns coming from the public.

"It became an opportunity for our team… to make this a better plan before presenting it to you and we believe that is now the state it is in. We have a smaller project yet a financially more secure project that is going to achieve all of the goals that you as a council set out to do when this was adopted last year," said Mlenak.

Residents' Concerns

While the proposed reduced plan was welcomed by some councilmembers, some residents continued to voice their concerns.

"Since its inception two years ago, Westfield Advocates has clearly and consistently said that this One Westfield Place project is too big, too much for this town," said Carla Bonacci, who is a member of the group Westfield Advocates.

A lawsuit was filed by the Westfield Advocates for Responsible Development in March 2023 to challenge the project. However, a judge dismissed the lawsuit in February. Read more: One Westfield Place Lawsuit Dismissed By Judge

Resident Susan Goodman expressed her disappointment in what she felt was a lack of communication about the revision of the project with residents prior to the Tuesday meeting.

"This has been in works for months and we the property owners, the taxpayers, that pay the town's bills behind the scenes with our money - we are disregarded, we are considered. You decided what you’re going to want for our Town and we have no choice to say anything. Most of us don’t want it or we wouldn’t have flipped four seats. This is hocus pocus, its Halloween," said Goodman referring to last year's election where four new Republicans (Domogala, Saunders, Armento, and Kiefer) were elected.

Resident Carrie Murphy also expressed that she felt the changes and ordinance was being rushed.

"I don’t think it should be. I think you owe us more. I think you know you’ve got a great town, people are really supportive for the most part of you and just, you know, show us the same respect that people are showing you, it would be nice," said Murphy.

Resident Drew Kellerman countered objectors' comments.

"The Westfield Advocates wanted a smaller project. Well here you go. Here’s the smaller project. Exactly what you wanted so I'm a little confused as to why this is no good either. That doesn’t really make sense to me, but instead of being appreciative, they’d rather play politics and seemly keep the larger project because frankly, that is what is going to happen if this is not voted in," said Kellerman, referring to the fact that if the amended ordinance is not passed the original plan would move forward.

Ordinance Process

Brindle reiterated how the ordinance process works and the weeks in between where public comment will be collected prior to a final vote.

The next steps before approving the amended ordinance include:

• Nov.4: The Planning Board will review the amended plan to ensure consistency with the Master Plan.
• Nov. 12: Contingent on the Planning Board findings, the Town Council will vote on the amended RDP ordinance, as well as the corresponding amended Redevelopment Agreement (RDA), PILOT, and financial documents for introduction and/or adoption.
• Dec. 3: The Town Council will vote on ordinances to adopt amended financial agreements.
• Once these documents have been adopted and approved, Streetworks will then present their site plan application to the Planning Board for approval next year.

Council Feedback

Domogala said he actually liked most of the changes with the project. However, "the part that bothered me tonight and only tonight is the threat that if you don’t do it there’s something bigger. And I can't use the word I would like to use but I’m ticked off about that. I think that’s what bothers me the most."

Dardia responded to Domogala saying he didn't see it as a threat.

"I see that as a fact. It's just reality. And so I liked the old plan, I did. I thought it was just fine and great for this town. But I like the new plan too," said Dardia.

Habgood said she felt "the requested changes reflect everything that we’ve been hearing from the residents in terms of scaling back and I am very comfortable taking this next step to vote in favor of introducing this ordinance."

Contract noted that "this project stemmed from one of the reasons why we were all voted into office seven years ago, which is people were really worried about our downtown. Because that is one of the crown jewels of this town and it's one of the reasons many of moved here... Our downtown really distinguishes this town from others and I know that was one of the big concerns when we first ran."

Armento countered Contract's assertions about why he was elected.

"Well you know what we were voted in because bipartisan votes for us. Because people were not happy with what you did. It was not because they didn’t want redevelopment. They didn’t want this redevelopment," said Armento.

Saunders said the amended ordinance gave him "heartburn."

"Three weeks is not enough time to talk to residents," said Saunders. "I don’t see the downside of waiting three to six months to give us ample time with all of our busy schedules to get a little bit more feedback from residents. That’s the minimum I could ask."

Brindle's Sentiments

Brindle concluded that she has "always acted with the best interest and intention of this town. 100 percent."

"I'm very disappointed that this may go down on partisan lines. We tried really, really hard to actually get to a place that this is something that everybody can rally around," said Brindle. "I don’t know what more we can do to get the support."

Residents can view the public presentation slides from the meeting, as well as the updated FAQs and a redlined version of the proposed RDP amendments, on Westfield's website.

"I recognize a project of this scale takes time, and I thank you for your continued patience and support as we continue to prioritize the best outcome for current and future generations of Westfield," said Brindle in her Facebook post.

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