One Westfield Place Project Public Hearing Set For Tuesday

WESTFIELD, NJ — Residents will have a chance to voice their opinions on an ordinance proposing to reduce the size and scope of the controversial One Westfield Place project.

A public hearing will be held during the Tuesday night Council meeting prior to a vote to adopt the amendment.

The ordinance was introduced on Oct. 22 which brought upon a split vote from the Council across party lines. Read More: One Westfield Place Project Could Be Reduced By 25 Percent

Reductions

Mayor Shelley 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 said at the Oct. 22 meeting 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 council members, some residents continued to voice their concerns at the Oct. 22 meeting.

"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 the 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

The next steps before approving the amended ordinance include:

• 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.

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