Official Update - No Status

After being away and returning to the tormented state of ambiguity, here is a little bit more official ambiguity. Essentially this all means that the project is in severe question, to be delayed for months, even years. Yet somehow the town feels okay preventing local owners from developing their own properties in the meantime. If this isn't an intentional slaughter I don't know what is.

I've contacted a lawyer friend to help me and local merchants "left behind" to find out our rights - I sit here with a slaughtered business (the numbers can prove this) and a letter from the town's legal reps explaining that I am due certain relocation assistance. I am suffering and have seen none of this - do I have any right?

Bloomfield loses speed in condemnation appeal. This just in, from a press release, issued by attorneys Carlin & Ward of Florham Park:

Judge Barbara Byrd Wecker of the Appellate Division signed an order denying two motions filed by the Bloomfield in Township of Bloomfield v. 110 Washington Street Association. The order was filed on October 24 with the Superior Court of New Jersey. The township asked the court to accelerate their appeal of an earlier decision made by Essex County Assignment Judge Patricia Costello, who threw out Bloomfield’s condemnation complaint against 110 Washington Street in August. In a second motion, Bloomfield asked to supplement the record with additional letters and affidavits that were not submitted earlier to Judge Costello. Both requests were denied.

The appeal will proceed in accordance with the original scheduling order set by the court which stipulates that all briefs and replies must be filed by December 5, 2005. This will set back any implementation of Bloomfield’s redevelopment project for at least a year while the case goes through the appeal process. Bloomfield has refused to move forward on any other cases involving eminent domain or relocation while the appeal is pending.

In another action, the township denied property owner Alessandro Lardieri the building permits required to finish approximately 3000 square feet of his building at 622 Bloomfield Avenue. The township rejected Lardieri’s application, premised on its redevelopment plan and agreement with Forest City Ratner, which gives the redeveloper all redevelopment rights over properties within the redevelopment area.

Ticketing To Death

As if the structural harassment that has occurred for so long in this area has not been enough, the town is now actively trying to ticket the community into surrender.

Customers fear the reaper (meter maid) and run in and out of the store, worried that their meters expired or they ran out of quarters to feed them with. I am at a constant low of quarters, if I even have them, trying to help people feed the overprice meters to avoid the ticketing folks, who while just doing their job, are doing it in such a way that no one can really be here at their leisure.

In Montclair, two towns over, a center of commercial development and traffic, a similar problem used to occur. Parking was sparce, meters were expensive, and ticketers were out in full force, even to the point of waiting for meters to expire or pre-writing tickets to be ready at anytime. The highly populated, highly commercial area was up in arms - and finally this past summer, Montclair officially announced they would provide people with a grace period, so that drivers could not be ticketed until their meter was expired for a certain amount of time. This is a wonderful solution to encourage shopping, parking, and exploration of the community.

Instead, we have tickets here in Bloomfield being written by the dozen - what a cash crop that must be! Some tickets are written minutes after the meter expired, if that. One source went to court to try and contest it for this reason, and reports that only certain demographics of people were getting the tickets cancelled. Very interesting way to maintain a commercial district if I do say so myself.

Meters in place are a good idea to avoid commuters parking there for long periods of time. Bloomfield is even gracious enough to have 12 hour meters available for those commuters who need them. Then suddenly meters started vanishing inexplicably. With no word whatsoever, meters in the parking lot behind my storefront were gutted and turned into permit parking only. Suddenly half the spaces have been removed for patrons, and no one knows why.

This is all, from an ubran design perspective, a very intelligent way to create a community of shoppers and people who really want to be in the Bloomfield Center district. Note the biting sarcasm. Without an attempt to foster a community, it will simply die. It becomes more and more evident daily that death of this community is really what makes the town officials all warm and tingly inside. Too bad there are people living here and trying to make a living here.

Redevelopment Stall Article

So there's another article. Sadly not everyone is represented again, but at least this time it sounds like the writer actually visited the area. She represented the voices of a building owner next door who lost all of his tenants and owes taxes on a building that provides him with no income at this point.

It is terrible and insane. There is a salon two doors down from me that moved when we were first strong armed in the Spring. They are $10,000 in debt from the move and have received none of it, as promised. It makes me wonder if moving then would have been a blessing or not. I'm stuck here. Maria (the tailor) and I discuss how terrible business is. How no cars come by. How residents stop in to discuss how depressing it is. That state of mind is really not the best for customers.

So where are the voices of those of us left here hanging on? As of now, on this side of the block (the first to get "redeveloped") there are only two. Two of us. And no one has heard from us yet. Finally the people that moved and got screwed are being heard. I am glad for that. It makes me realize I am not alone in my hard place - a suffering business that may never recover. I myself have had to take on other jobs to support myself. The business had accounted for classes, for long term advertising, for lots of things that I have been unable to commit to thanks to the town's fantasies over dollar bills.

Move? What an investment. I would need help, and it is clear now that those who thought they would get help were wrong. Close? I would lose such a part of me and walk away with so much debt from these last few months - again assistance would be helpful. Stay open? I am defaulting on so many of my financial obligations I can't even afford a telephone anymore. It is near impossible to be here, but near impossible to move on.

This is supposed to be my life, my passion, my business. This is supposed to be a community of local supporters, patrons, businesses, and more that all contribute to culture. The culture now is my suffering shop and the homeless people on the street being harassed who I do everything I can to help. I understand more about displacement now and I refuse to allow people to be displaced from the only place they have left.

The town has chosen money over its own people in so many ways.

Timeline

To catch everyone up to date, here is a timeline of what I have experienced here - some experiences are similar. Some are worse and some are better - but everyone can find something to understand. Try and find something to ignite passion - and stand up to beauracrats and profiteers who don't care about people.

Timeline:

February 2005 - Frequent visits from two representatives of Philips, Press & Shapiro real estate consultants. The whole thing is very vague and frankly very harassing. The two representatives strolled in and tried to strong arm me about the move. It would be happening immediately, I should prepare to go. I should invest resources (time and money) in a search for a space, I will be reimbursed for this as per New Jersey state law.

March 2005 - Approach redevelopment consultants (or whatever it is they think they do, which is represent the interests of the financeers / town) with questions about advertising. What date will I be out? I need to know because I have a huge 1200 square foot space. 500 sf of that is used for retail - the balance was intended for use with classes and massage services. I was told to go ahead and advertise but that May was coming soon, be aware I would be out then. This prevented me from signing advertising contracts. This is the final redevelopment communication on behalf of the town / developers.

April - August 2005 - I invested money, time, energy, and resources into a search. It proved fruitless, with the investment coming up with only spaces that were not an appropriate size or were not an appropriate rent. I never received the real estate broker assistance I was promised. Additionally, I start a petition to inform people in the neighborhood about this tragedy. Most people knew, or were familiar, with this process. I received over 75 signatures in a short time I had it out on the counter. Meanwhile the courts prove to be failures in the support for the community as more and more court rulings (including the supreme court) favor developers over people. Again, money over community. Meanwhile the newspapers provide no accurate representation of the scene down here. I contact the local paper, am promised a voice, and never hear back from them again.

August 2005 - I contact the developers with a formal letter to all representatives I have the contact information for. The letter states that business has suffered greatly over the summer. All businesses have left, the parking situation has been dismantled with changes and meter increases, and my tailor neighbor and I are left to suffer with little no business. Even comparatively speaking, the affects are clear. I contact them for the assistance promised under the New Jersey state law, which I even have spelled out in a letter from the town's lawyers. I never hear back. Meanwhile a county superior court judge does not find it appropriate to condemn the first building - a vacant warehouse. This creates a major stall - if a vacant building is not justified, how will our building be justified? The judge cites things most of us already knew - there are too many vested interests (zoning officials on redevelopment boards) and a lack of support for condemning this area as "in need." The official response is still a go, but the reality is different. They have fallen off the radar.

Welcome

Welcome! (Please read this)

So here we are, trying to use the democratic voices available on the internet to salvage what is left of our business in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

I am Guido Sanchez, owner of Nagual Spirit, a gift shop in Bloomfield Center in New Jersey. For the last nine months I have been slaughtered by the spectre of redevelopment in this community.

I am not just here for my own business, though any journalists, lawyers, advocates, publishers or anyone who wants to reach out to us and help, we sure could use it. I am here to be a voice for the community. Communities around the country who are being slaughtered for profit.

I have been inspired by neighbor (who you will hear more about), the older tailor, whom has been here for years and has nothing else to move on to. I have been inspired by the people who come in with their support. And above all I have been inspired by the crap the town has put us all through - without a second thought. The idiotic, insane, illogical, and unfair practice which will shut down this town in the name of bigger bucks.