South Avenue Plans in Progress

It's still a couple of weeks until the next City Council meeting and both the Board of Adjustment and Planning Board meetings scheduled for next week have been canceled. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on a major South Avenue development, with a 90-day window for a "Redevelopment Agreement" expiring in July.

It was about a year ago in July when merchants were told of JMF Properties' concept for for a large development on South Avenue.Several steps in the redevelopment process have been accomplished. The original scope was altered to exclude two existing apartment complexes, an "In Need of Redevelopment" study was performed and approved by the City Council. In February, the Planning Board adopted a resolution forwarding a report to the council on the proposed "South Avenue Gateway Redevelopment Plan."

An ordinance adopting the plan was adopted on first reading in March and on second reading in April. The developer, now known as Sleepy Hollow Developers, LLC, agreed to deposit $25,000 in an escrow account to cover expenses related to negotiating the redevelopment agreement.

Among expenses to be covered by the fund are the following services:

- Redevelopment Counsel: McManimon & Scotland, at the "blended rate" of $325 per hour along with other expenses such as photocopying, travel, mail and messenger service.

- Redevelopment Planner: H2M Associates, at the "blended rate" of $125 per hour, plus expenses as above.

- Engineer: Remington, Vernick & Arango: at the "blended rate" of $140 per hour, plus expenses.

The city will also require a fee of $1,000 for each special meeting held on the proposed project.

So all this is going on while many of us are relaxing with summer fun and travel or just keeping up with the garden and yard work. Redevelopment is a long process and now that several projects are in motion, the city's Planning and Economic Development staff is very busy. Plainfield is changing. Stay tuned!

--Bernice