JMF Properties Is Showing Proposed Plan For Post Office Site Tonight
nohero said:
icdart said:
Where does anyone get the idea that 'the people have spoken"? The VA has spoken..not the people ..a group chosen by the TC .
What we heard was the VA speaking affirmatively ..not one resident did .
I may be wrong, but I don't think that the Township Committee dictates the membership of the Maplewood Village Alliance.
As for who spoke "for" and "against" - in retrospect, people such as myself should have just said, "Thank you for your work in reviewing this proposal. You obviously have brought experience and knowledge to your deliberations. I trust in your decision."
I did not, probably should have.
People with that type of sentiment rarely if ever do. It's why the VK claim to represent the majority of residents has always been dubious. No one puts up a sign to say "I'm waiting to see the outcome of the PO planning process." Not pithy enough for a sign. And too nuanced as a slogan.
The members of the village alliance are all either local residents or business people. And, Members of the Village Alliance like John James and Alison Zeifert are smart , carefull, thoughtful people , with expertise in this area and who I deeply respect. They most certainly are capable of making up their own minds and would not be swayed by those on the township committee.
It does seem totally inexcusable that it's now 1:45 the following afternoon and there is still no way for the general public to view these new renderings. It's 2015. Those images should have been available online immediately.
Am I to understand a VA member stated that after 5 no restaurants are frequented in the Village. How was this confused person allowed to be a member of the Village Alliance.
I live in the heart of the Village. Yes there are slow restaurant nights...........like early in the week. But tell me why as the week progresses there is practically standing room only at so many of our fine restaurants.
Some one walk this person down to Arturo's almost any night of the week. Wait for a seat at Coda or St James Gate..........or that little sleeper of a restaurant Cactus Charley.
Tratoria seems to do much business and Roman Gourmet is a corner stone of the Village. Can't speak for Aprill Cocina but they are being reviewed well.
The Japanese Restaurant in my building .........Village Coffee building ...always has customers
And of course our super to go restaurant Bill and Harry's is open to 9
That has to be one of the most our of touch with reality comments that I have ever heard.
author said:
Am I to understand a VA member stated that after 5 no restaurants are frequented in the Village. How was this confused person allowed to be a member of the Village Alliance.
I live in the heart of the Village. Yes there are slow restaurant nights...........like early in the week. But tell me why as the week progresses there is practically standing room only at so many of our fine restaurants.
Some one walk this person down to Arturo's almost any night of the week. Wait for a seat at Coda or St James Gate..........or that little sleeper of a restaurant Cactus Charley.
Tratoria seems to do much business and Roman Gourmet is a corner stone of the Village. Can't speak for Aprill Cocina but they are being reviewed well.
The Japanese Restaurant in my building .........Village Coffee building ...always has customers
And of course our super to go restaurant Bill and Harry's is open to 9
That has to be one of the most our of touch with reality comments that I have ever heard.
I don't think anyone said that.
That member said that the Ricalton Square end of town is a "dead zone" at night, not that the entirety of Maplewood Avenue is dead. This is a true statement. All the lively night time activity is down between Baker and Mt. Fuji. You have some active restaurant anchors with nice retail shops in between that sometimes stay open late. Up the hill you have a take out restaurant, so no one stays to hang out, and you have two restaurants that arguably cater primarily to kids and teens (pizza and yogurt) who are mostly home by 8pm, with no consumer shopping in between except Freeman's (closes early) and Kings (open late, but it's not a destination retailer).
So basically what was thought this MVA member said wasn't at all what they said, and what they did say was accurate and represented valuable input. OK then
Clearly someone IS quite "confused".
consumer shopping? like what that I can't already get on the internet? Altho, it would be nice to have a UPS or fedex store. wouldn't that be ironic 
ArchBroad said:
with no consumer shopping in between except Freeman's (closes early) and Kings (open late, but it's not a destination retailer).
I assume there is a missing sarcasm emoticon there.
People shop in the Village all the time. Even Amazon Prime isn't fast enough for some of my last minute gift shopping.
I'm not particularly sure why the retail mix was discussed last night. Presumably any of the ideas out there - the current proposal, reworking the current proposal into a smaller scale, and repurposing the existing building - all have similar capacity for retail on street level and to make that particular stretch more active at night.
I know there are some folks out there who want the whole thing to be a park or a parking lot or some type of mini-Lincoln Center, but I'd think most people are not seriously advocating for that at this stage.
It might be nice for that end of the Village to be a little more active than it is, but compared to the relative dead zone southwest of Baker St., it seems even now like Hong Kong. Why does it necessarily have to be more active? As long as the town gets some additional tax money (NOT every last penny it can squeeze by having a humongous, overbearing project) and the building fits in to the rest of the Village, I'm for it. What I don't like is the esthetic of the facade. It incorporates every cliche of mediocre architecture (read: every esthetic comb-over that purports to disguise the project's size and scale, but actually doesn't). It looks like the Station House, except for that project's blinding white color. The very first design, by Beyer, Blinder, Belle, was quantum levels better.
I would like to see a plot plan, to see how close it comes to the Village Coffee building, basically whether the parking on that side of the P.O. will be taken over by a structure that still goes up 4 storeys, which is too much, too close.
pastrez said:
Still looks, unfortunately, like a factory
I'm surprised no one from ohno60 has pointed out that that's a clearly fallacious drawing. the building is dwarfed by the PT Cruiser
Not at all. Just as in real life the Village Coffee Building magically grew in height to now dominate the new building. Also the space between the buildings can host professional tennis matches.
If you live long enough you will see almost anything.
Someone did bring up the issue with the perspective. And the VA replied that the PODRS had issues with that as well, which is why they requested clear elevation diagrams showing the adjacent building height comparisons, which were provided. Renderings are illustrative and must always be supplemented with technical drawings that show the facts.
And what exactly is wrong with the converted factory look? There is no discernable style to Maplewood Village. It's a hodgpodge of different building styles. Each one, taken by themselves is nothing special. The proposed building looks similarly indistinct, so it blends in with everything else that is indistinct. It's perfectly bland, just like everything else in the Village. That blandness is what gives the Village its character. I like that they picked up on a style that is only hinted at in the Village and is not prominent, so it doesn't look like they just copied some existing building. Civic and cultural buildings should be grand. Retail buildings with apartments on top, should blend in with everything else.
When all of these random styled buildings are combined together on the street, it just looks "right", but you can't determine what it is that is right, because no one building stands out. This building just continues that tradition.
Is what's posted above an actual rendering? I'm a supporter of the new building and the design looks nice, but that rendering is ridiculous. It looks like it's been shrunk to 3/4 size.
ArchBroad said:
Someone did bring up the issue with the perspective. And the VA replied that the PODRS had issues with that as well, which is why they requested clear elevation diagrams showing the adjacent building height comparisons, which were provided. Renderings are illustrative and must always be supplemented with technical drawings that show the facts.
And what exactly is wrong with the converted factory look? There is no discernable style to Maplewood Village. It's a hodgpodge of different building styles. Each one, taken by themselves is nothing special. The proposed building looks similarly indistinct, so it blends in with everything else that is indistinct. It's perfectly bland, just like everything else in the Village. That blandness is what gives the Village its character. I like that they picked up on a style that is only hinted at in the Village and is not prominent, so it doesn't look like they just copied some existing building. Civic and cultural buildings should be grand. Retail buildings with apartments on top, should blend in with everything else.
When all of these random styled buildings are combined together on the street, it just looks "right", but you can't determine what it is that is right, because no one building stands out. This building just continues that tradition.
Nicely stated.
Agreed. Those are some of the reasons the post office appeals to me.
imonlysleeping said:
Is what's posted above an actual rendering? I'm a supporter of the new building and the design looks nice, but that rendering is ridiculous. It looks like it's been shrunk to 3/4 size.
I'll bet a lot of people get fooled by perspective all the time. I used to think the Tower of Pisa was like 10 feet tall.
That is a model made of Legos. It is just outside of Williamsport Pa. Best to visit while viewing the Little League World Series.
The man in the picture is exactly five feet tall.
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I may be wrong, but I don't think that the Township Committee dictates the membership of the Maplewood Village Alliance.
As for who spoke "for" and "against" - in retrospect, people such as myself should have just said, "Thank you for your work in reviewing this proposal. You obviously have brought experience and knowledge to your deliberations. I trust in your decision."
I did not, probably should have.