Please comment below to offer your insights, answers and to add new items and questions to the list. List compiled from our conversations with residents.
TO DO LIST / CONCERNS
Safe bicycle paths for our kids to and from schools
Idling trucks in Indian Village
Lawn care services cannot use Round Up.
Mohawk playground needs gravel parking replaced in front to avoid street everybody parking
Bike racks downtown please.
Students at Walnut Ave. School have 3 school changes before high school!
Trees falling on Raritan rd. Is it county or towns domain?
Leaf blower noise
STOP signs on Lexington Ave.
Free trash pickup/ recycling every week
What will developments look like in 10-15 years?
Speeding not enforced on Walnut
Sex ed curriculum in schools. Parent choice.
Traffic calming measures on Walnut by Hartz development.
NO Hartz development driveway across from residential streets!
Plant more trees, cut down less..
Have police walk around more (get to know public)
Birchwood drainage/ holding pond not functioning
Flood warning response
AC in schools
School overcrowding.
Raise dikes dredge the Rahway river
Water retention holding tank in chestnut development?
Freeze senior taxes - tax freeze program currently available see https://www.cranfordnj.org/tax-collector
Lower taxes make Cranford affordable for young families
Bring make town handyman
Splash Pad not staffed but Pickleball stadium on centennial hiring full time manager and staff
Possible large rodents from Conservation Center from compost onto Cranford Ave
PILOT for developers why no taxes?
Over 55 housing
Town purchasing land for future self determined use
Speeding
Traffic
Dangerous driving by parents at school pick up and drop off
No enforcement of lawn care
Curb and street repairs
Flooding
Special needs program in schools
Sewer bills so high
Affordable summer child care options.
Raised homes fairness in selection process
Full day Kindergarten
Trash pickup
Get rid of parking meters
DPW needs more help
Political effect on in town hiring
Playground for kids, leveling of streets to avoid water pooling, and more storm drains needed on Carpenter Pl.
Old schools crumbling
Police used to patrol town and be a deterrent for speeding, and now residents say they are rarely if ever seen and speeding is worse than ever
QUESTIONS??
Flood Ideas? https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/27/archives/cranford-attacking-problem-of-floods-185000-is-budgeted.html
How much was Topology paid for the report and resident survey regarding North Ave. redevelopment preferences?
Was Hyatt Hills Golf complex remediated for soil contamination from the old GM Plant and designated an area not safe for residential development? Did the contamination from GM spread down to the bedrock and over to the current 750 Walnut lot?
Is the NJ Dept. of Education's mandate for Family Life Education Curriculum to Grade 2 and above students similar to a government mandating a religious curriculum? Is the curriculum essentially a new State religion in disguise?
Do PILOT agreements with developers result in an average payout to the town of @25% of what would be paid if the development were to be taxed normally?
Is 750 Walnut contaminated with Chromium? Was it previously?
Can the township use the $1.8 million slated for the Southside Stormwater Improvement project elsewhere in town if the Chestnut Development does not happen?
Could putting a gate on the dam at / by Big Bend Pond and Raritan Rd. help the river drain town faster and more efficiently if opened before storms or left permanently open?
What about new gateway developments on North Ave have first floor commercial and all above apartments affordable units only to meet our quota and stop Hartz project?
How many affordable housing credits do we still need to build?
Why are developers being offered PILOTS (Payments in Lieu of Taxes)? Hartz is multibillion dollar company, perhaps they can afford the taxes.
Who will enforce the developer PILOT agreement? Who would enforce developer payment of regular taxes? Who would be the better enforcer in insure the town receives our payments?
Can we eliminate "closed session" meetings where all the important negotiations are made. The residents might want to see what actually went down, especially with development deals which impact the whole town.
Will Hartz be allowed to contract with and pay their own subsidiaries for services rendered and thus lower the total profits reported and hence lower their PILOT payment to the town which is based on a percentage of profits?
If Hartz sells Walnut Ave development to another owner or to their own subsidiaries will the new owners be responsible to abide by the current PILOT agreement? (same question for all other developers and developments in town)
What happened to original planned townhouses on Walnut development site? Why was that plan abandoned for apartment buildings? And why was the public not informed?
What will Walnut development look like in 10 years? If not maintained could become costly and PILOT payments may be in declining with falling rents. All the more reason to require Hartz to pay TILOC (Taxes in lieu of Cash)
Non resident students attending Cranford schools?
Filming on Elizabeth Ave recently involved Cranford Police to work 24/7 shifts on site with road closures etc.. Are film permits free? If so should they be? And how is/was the town reimbursed by the production for our officers time?
Shouldn't our first spending priority be on our infrastructure instead of less necessary improvements?
Why letting developers build instead of the town building our own low income housing or allowing non profit to build all together?
Why building pickle ball stadium and hiring full time manager and staff when we are under staffed at splash pad which closes at 5pm and cost 350k?
Why not enforcing Birchwood to comply with flood retention basin which floods Wadsworth and dumps into the flume on Casino?
Are funds from PILOT agreements used for school funding? With all the students added by the developments why would the developers be allowed to avoid paying taxes to the schools through a PILOT?
Why not dredging river? Why not taking fight public! What is flood prevention plan for Cranford homes?
Why was the principal at Orange Ave school retired?
What is the DMC? How are they appointed and what is their mission?
Does the township realize most of the residents are against the developments? If so why was their wish not fought harder for? Why were residents not included in the negotiation of development deals and PILOTS?
Why were residents not made aware or given other options to fulfill affordable housing requirements other than large scale 85/15 developments?
Why is there a DMC? And why do they get to hire a planning manager? Is there a neighborhood management committee and planner?
Who is our affordable housing attorney??
Does Cranford really have a Cannabis Working Group?
I am concerned that Cranford has not been replacing the trees that they cut down. When I moved to Cranford, our block had 3 trees at the curb and now has none.
ReplyDeleteI second that!
DeleteAcross the U.S., hundreds of cities and counties have passed laws restricting or banning the use of leaf blowers. I would like to see Cranford restrict leaf blowers to the season when there are leaves to blow.
ReplyDeletehttps://hdsupplysolutions.com/s/leaf_blower_noise_regulation
Hear! Hear! Totally agree.. Township please help!
DeleteOh please! Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Definitely ban leaf blowers that are used year-round unnecessarily. I really enjoy hearing obnoxious neighbors and their obnoxious leaf blowers Sunday mornings at 7AM, and really confused if they’re being used while it’s raining. What’s up with that? I’d really rather hear birds singing in the morning then leaf blowers.
ReplyDeletedefinetely
Delete