DMDA Gives Its Vision of a New Downtown Area Town

OF MILLBURN AND SHORT HILLS Founded in 1888 Volume 108, dum ber 48 Thursday, December 1, 1994 40 Cents B oard hears A & R l e a s i n g p r o p o s a l s Housewares, toy stores are planned Planning Board approval for the leasing of the 65,000 square foot main floor of the old Lord & Taylor building to a home furnish ings store and a multimedia chil dren’s store will be sought Wed nesday night by A&R Millburn Associates, owners of the 9-acre Millburn Avenue property. The Lord & Taylor building, which A&R has renamed Millburn Gateway Center, has been vacant since the department store closed late in 1989. A&R this spring received Planning Board approval of its plan to lease the lower level of the building to Fresh Fields, a health food supermarket. Opening of that store jgjrolanned for the autumn of Occupying the main level of the stcgef^ptfie plans submitted tb the' Planning Board for Wednesday’s Sparing afS-apWqCe^&’rff be HomePlace, feel, a firm estab- . lished early this year, which "would Staff Photo by ESSEX STREET VISION-The "vision report" of the Downtown -Millburn-. '.offer a variety of merchandise for LEADING RUSHER-^t.or-y Fernandes of Millburn Development Alliance contains this drawing of Essex Street, looking toward : bed-room, bathroom breaks,free for some of his tea|f-high 131 yards Main,Kith parking lots shielded from view by retail stores and offices. IsBpe in ^ ^ g o n basi'e.- housewares. against Madison onjmanksgmng. Fe^^raes also HH.'o'mePlace wouljaagfflpy scored the'w iping touchdown in Millbutijjs 13-10 b |5 ,,‘2pO square Let ot the buijd-' I win. Story, more ph.6tps-.on Page ^ 1 1 ing’s 65,000 s'auareBfcjp't main level. The remaining 10,000 DMDA gives its vision square feet would be occupied by Zany! Brainy, a firm.which opened Schools receive gift store'in 1.991 and has .plans stores by year’s end of a new downtown area Merchandise at Zany Brainy in Ju d e s .cfliKliS-n ’ sLeduât lonall that cannot be used The DMDA budget put before calling for- an expenditure by that A “vision” of a redeveloped organization of $7,500 to provide toSjand games, audiotapes, she said, diifonol’luw hife-dnvis hopping center for the the Township Committee called videotapes, books, arts and crafts!! JJifh e ' Millburn Boa id £>(■ Edm a- for the spending of $162,500 dur “matching funds'” to underwrite nor dicStoySMome with nipTut^W mnicipality drew vocal, but not software, related plpffl^Su^Sacceptcd don.ituV ing 1995, the same amount which the costs of a master plan for the :'oii!:kef.biMj.i.J<; inancial support from Township products. p f ^ o n m uti^fefiardware and soft was contained in :its-' 1994 budget. central business disM §® f1he w'^le^llilologyf Committee members at last week’s Thelfm tial p H y Brainy, store ware valued at $4 MiU u'tviWmi&tr '| Of the total spending plan, all but estimated ccgjlpf that master plan, in-LÊî^lîghtlfeirtyliere. _is îrst meeting of .the municipality’s gov- Ifetas.opened in Philadelphia and the I $2% 00 would be realized Sbyl DMDA representatives; to ^ the- Tshesk^d thJsOlnpukjs’ thev/h |xd ming body. firm, now has-seven stores in i n p some di.iil’bt as to ;h'ow. Valu.a'tfles assessments levied by the Committee was $75.,000, ili.e^pftK)l-’s ctmfmmS^^môuld The vision presented to the metropolitan area. Other gifts will prove to be municipality against owners of “It lookfluke jtMjjb DMDA) | ^ B f i ^ P ^ .board -were '.a .be able.to use some ofttM ^& m - ’ommittee came during the’course, PâiM S are in AtlÔT^Ga., commercial properties located KwffifejJbe-'paying' 10 p er'.cl^C of ifu-ThcJnJ-s, but onVi^-t-lfe ihlodwjfr.^ if a public hearing on the Down- iWitslinigton'i ©.C. andlrwhe-iNe.v.j gift- from Chena Software, iixV’fe l within the special improvement the master plan’s cost),” was the •arm,d at t'jre, school itJnrt,Mi(jpe own Millburn Development York nietl^m km h area '<wlh,;fufj software valued at $ district which encompasses the react lqjfgf MaycS&Villiam Uy£ another gift of hardware >aluLd. at p^Srunrealistic alliance’s proposed budget for ther East ® a s |^ ^ ® n i|a g o area town’s business-center (the $2;'500 Caveney. “What we’re t’afeng '■.''JIîull£'”: NJs Com.id sorn; ■995. A lthough the Tow nshiM coming $2 S tx rjjo m the R u'sk^ M-st-r^j mjk raised'through the tax assess- about'is half a SquiFhjtffr " t , tin u e d jfe j^ E g fe^Sffll'c we "'!••! Committee unanimously approved I S S r h e ' company i s ^ rarmmglta| ments^climes the DMDA. cemed about the pri.ce tag for tax- i^ ^ ^ d x in a .tio ^ ^ f .monitoils amd he proposed budget document, h.i\,eVmo‘fe than 40 stores injojx jaj | '“■Althoug^^^^fiHcclate the through a grant from- the Paper paver-. versus that tiof jpflâ.tei ’■ynsfol^MVA gift theos^hot)! keyboards and t ® S y l l i ^ able to hat approval did not come until tion||^|pp.end of 1995. rlMii l^BJ.ayliQU«e)V ■ - - 'ent|ra®Bjg. I gue'ss' tha;^»he system’s jireetor^)_ti'(te--hn3lp.g-y.? hardware tdffiSfjM B l >ne word, “matchingjjgS was The rent tl ot the main LydVd,' Included in the DMDA pror issue.” Julie Conrad, told board members, Monday night’s n iettin gJ^ C ^ iliminated from the financial docu- the 108,538 square toot rmdJiig | posal, however; was a line i«gj|| sentiments-weTped ’ urffoFUir?a t e 1V Jt'ufch [of jJJie l.ess-thin 41 minutes also' to HomePlace and Zany Brainy expressed bv other members of the? r"hui.dware-vimiJtlv lu^dV * | sac^p^Wmg ^ ^ m p u ters to. high Committee. leave oSy^^Jpenthouse, ” Bristol AêCs u o /i.it^ J ijio ’x-i* questmned by one “I’m 'not enamored with dne.! a -li^ 7 8 square f||«s|rea, vacant m a te iy ffi^ ^ 'comput'ers ijVwVl,ip'"re^sjdenf;, Roy KijretKof Committee honors thought® spending taxpayers’ Although no plans fo»i2cupancy ,M’s ConraiKfev.fibed asîeftig I dollars,” said Committeeman Joel of the penthouse will be before the i'‘v,ef\;W>%f-ihi'ngija,e might h.«et-| : Co'ntmuedTon Wemgarten. Planning Board Wednesday night, in our closets: ■ B p ^ n ’t conceive of a study cost a traffic report submitted by A&R Olympic candidate ing $75-,600,” said tgjgm- Tor the hearing speaks of 'tht: j mitfefwoman .Elaine Becker. owner’s intention to lease that area Residential water The quest of a township resident the Tamir' Bloom Olympic Train “Another study doesn’t excite the as office space. ■l^s-"expected,, but not certain to gain a spot on the 1996 United ing Fund,Kps Walnut Avenue, taxpayers.. Look at the past that residents of'the.pblock long States Olympic Team received the MillbulhJ It is estimated that studies,” Ms. Becker urged the offiSal. endorsement of the $20,00Q will .be needed to cover DMDA represenra&fves at the section of Myrtle Avenue abutting rates increase 7.1% the A&R properjSgMM m l at Township Committee at last his costs for equipment, travel and meeting. “Find what’s goodF-find. W ednesday’s meeting tor a reti-, Mi I'lburn p IM ^ S ^ ^ y ^ ^ a in ta in the com week’s meeting of the competition in his .bid to achieve a process that \M®j work for sion of the site plan approved by iâwmliip has gone ap*f 1 per cent pany’s water supply facilities _ ' municipality’s governing body. his Olympic dream. M.illbum.” the Planning Board at the time the as thejgjpunigl last weekjl| ' hVlp’C^''renuin- concerned Tamir Bloom of 36 Walnut Ave ' Mr. Caveneyf -iiET|?s remarks, ■Lin'response comments F re sh ^ Sjgjcfe application was Board of about keeping water as nue, who currently holds the U.:S. noted that Maplewood residents Patrick Henry ofJHje. Atlantic before.it. Public ® |itie s of a New Jersey- Ktôrda^lp as Beka ^ ftelfror our Fencing Association’s No. 1 rank had financially supported a mem G roup,'consultant to the DMDA The P l'an n i^S Board; at -the American Water IGînparfy] -rate ■! lcu,'s!!t''gTOJxi th e g ^ ^ ^ that many ing in its epee division, was cited ber of that community when he since it was established two years Fresh Fields hearing held.earlier in expenses o \» w h ich ' Neg-Jersey- in a proclamation approved by the was on the 1992 Olympic team and ago, termed it. “unfortunate” that increase Ihe year, approved A&R’s pro- Americ'an :W'ater Company has no Committee for his “ determination expressed “hopes that our residents the $75,000 cost for-the develop F’or residential customers here northernmost L'qntfc,>1-4’r.t'rnue tojjisei”■ the'water and commitment,’’ The proclama will do the same” for Mr. Bloom. ment of a master plan “had been 311(1 in lo tr o f e sexJ^^ TOS, Pas- E g f the three driveways which lead Daniel J. Kel- tion, read at the meeting by Mayor To ;that: comment, Township .raised.” saic, Somerset.and ^ i|n K o u n ty from the property’s easterly park lehei.sM ■ .....

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