The Proper Way To Develop Westfield for its Residents
As long-time residents of Westfield, we know there are many reasons why our town is consistently ranked among the “best places in New Jersey” to live and raise a family. We enjoy the quality of life that Westfield offers with its classic suburban town atmosphere. And a large part of that enjoyment is derived from the quality of our built environment – the right mix of buildings and open spaces -- along with a good balance of activities and quiet peace surrounding us.
So when a major development project at a central location is proposed, like the one at Prospect and Ferris (aka the Sophia), whose scale and density wholly changes and overwhelms the character of its surrounding neighborhood -- Westfield residents paid attention. A petition with over 1200 signatures opposing the size of the Sophia was advanced in hopes that members of the Town Council and Planning Board would pay attention as well, and act in the best interests of Westfield residents to reconsider the size of this project.
But the Sophia was simply pushed through the Town’s public approvals process with no substantive changes to the project’s scale. There was a Town Council vote of 5-3 and a Planning Board vote, which the Mayor and her appointee sit on, of 7-0, each following what in hindsight was a veneer of public input: where concerns and questions from residents were raised at public meetings to no avail. The Town has never disclosed the public benefits that would be gained commensurate with the developer’s windfall change in zoning that was certainly not mandated by the public in the Master Plan re-examination.
And now One Westfield Place has been announced by the Town with fanfare – an even more significant project with even greater community impacts. Again the magnitude of the project expanded in scope by multiples from an original purpose and need to redevelop the Lord & Taylor area. To our knowledge, no serious planning alternatives have been offered for public review. The project expansion appears to serve the developer’s interests more than the community’s needs.
We have followed the early reviews and comments by the Mayor, Town Council candidates statements, and initial residents concerns regarding One Westfield Place – and we already have a feeling of déjà vu –that the Town’s and developer’s process for incorporating public input and effectuating project revisions will again be of vacuous form over actual substance. In business, we know that the first offer is rarely the best offer – but the Town has not seemed willing to seek alternate proposals or negotiate a better deal for Westfield’s residents.
We won’t be fooled again. So we must organize. And we must act. We have formed Westfield Advocates for Responsible Development as an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit, volunteer organization that brings residents together to amplify their voices and contribute professional development expertise to advocate for responsibly
programmed and appropriately scaled development projects in the community’s public interest. We have seen similar community groups form and exert their influence on development projects in Summit and Sparta, where those Towns have paused, reconsidered, and even looked to rescind development approvals and ordinances when
faced with significant public outcry and pressure.
We believe that the input of Westfield’s residents, with our collective business sense and technical expertise, cannot be overlooked as resources to inform or advise on major development projects having long-term impacts on our Town. We are not antidevelopment
and we are not anti-affordable housing - we would much rather be
enthusiastic supporters for development projects that will improve, or at least do no harm, to the overall quality of Westfield’s built environment. Simply put, we know there are better ways to achieve redevelopment at the Prospect & Ferris and the Lord & Taylor sites.
We look forward to becoming a recognized collaboration partner, stakeholder, and an effective voice to advocate for development projects having shared vision that serve the best interests of the public, community -- and especially the residents of Westfield.
Those who are interested in supporting our efforts to maintain and improve the existing
architecture, livability, and sense of place that has been enjoyed and celebrated as the essence of Westfield, can contribute at: https://donorbox.org/westfield-advocates-ferris-prospectlegal-fund
Respectfully, Westfield Advocates
Frank Fusaro, Carla Bonacci, Alison Carey - Founding Memebers
