NEW MAPLEWOOD LEAFLET IS OUT

The Maplewood Leaflet is out for the summer, with lots of stuff,
including this write up of the Post Office redevelopment plan.

  Redevelopment of the Maplewood Post Office Site

In the late 1950's, Ricalton School was torn down to construct a new post office in our downtown. The cycle will continue next year when the post office is demolished and the site redeveloped with new retail space and up to 25 residential units. One possibility that has been discussed is for Kings Supermarket to move across the street and expand it selling space by about fifty percent.

Township representatives have discussed moving the post office since 1997, when a first class stamps was just 32 cents. The thinking, then and now, is that the mail sorting function of the post office is no longer suitable for a downtown area, particularly one next to the train station. The Township owns the land under the post office building and leases the property to a private company which in turn has a lease with the post office. All leases expire in November 2013 and the Township has notified the parties that it will not renew the lease.

As per state redevelopment laws, last year the Township Committee declared the site as an Area in Need of Rehabilitation. This designation gives the Township the ability to negotiate the sale of the property and control the type of development to be built. As part of the process, the Township Committee must adopt a Redevelopment Plan, essentially zoning regulations, prior to the search for a suitable developer.

In 2012, there were two community workshops to gather input for the Redevelopment Plan. Another community workshop was held this year and there have been public meetings by the Township Committee and Planning Board to solicit ideas and suggestions for the Redevelopment Plan.

The Township Committee is now prepared to move the Redevelopment Plan forward. On Tuesday, July 2nd it will introduce the Redevelopment Plan through an ordinance. The Planning Board will review the Redevelopment Plan on Tuesday, July 9th. The Township Committee will give final consideration to the ordinance and Redevelopment Plan on Tuesday, July 16th. At each of these meetings, the public will be given an opportunity to make comments.

After the Redevelopment Plan is adopted, the Township will issue a Request for Qualifications - Statement of Interest for redeveloping the site. It is expected that the fall will be used to evaluate the qualifications and proposals submitted by developers. The hope is to designate one preferred developer by the end of 2013.

Once a developer is selected, a site plan will be submitted to the Planning Board and the public will have amble opportunity to comment on the actual plans of the developer. It will be sometime in 2015 for the building to be completed and occupied.

See it all HERE.