New CVS on Valley at Columbia HS is and odious affront to public space

Rivoli, yes, I think that that the Vision Plan has it right...what is missing (so far) is private developers interested in doing any of the work and development described there. I don't think anything has been done that goes against the plan, because I don't think there has been any substantial work of any sort done in South Orange past the new Third and Valley development.

We have the plan available to help guide thought whenever changes begin to be made, but private interest has to be there. Hopefully it eventually will be.

I don't know whether Maplewood has a similar analysis, but am not sure that South Orange needs to redo our share of the thinking.

Memorial Park is creepy! It was a cemetery. I live very close to it but always get a little shiver walking past. Maybe it's because I remember when it was just dead bodies, but I always get that Poltergeis feeling from it.

Rivoli said:
Most of the worst elements of Valley (except for right around CHS) are in South Orange, and in 2009, SO invested in a development plan that proposed what to me seem like pretty reasonable solutions.
http://southorange.org/vision/files/SODowntownVisionPlan-Nov2009(low-res).pdf
(See beginning page 51)

The proposals still seem appropriate: move the auto repair businesses to Lackawanna Place; make better use of Memorial Park (who ever uses this nice space?); keep the street pedestrian friendly by widening the sidewalks. Etc. etc. etc.
But the proposals don't seem to influence decisions that get made. Do they even get referred to? Is there any design review/enforcement other than for zoning and building codes? (Honest questions - I'm not trying to be snarky.)

We were there yesterday. It is plain, but not bad. A good place for a couple of 9 year olds to blow off steam. The only problem is getting cars to stop for the crosswalk.

@marylago my son enjoyed going there daily from Village Babies when he was in preschool, so at least the local schools are using it.

I was driving by CVS this morning and noticed that it has a drive-thru pharmacy. I wonder if that might be part of the reason for the setback, so cars don't back up onto Valley at any point. Not that there's a huge line at the pharmacy usually but I suppose there could be.

Susan makes a lot of excellent points, particularly vis a vis recruitment of developers and their wallets. As to the other practical realities of it, I would also agree that SO has far less to do up front to begin mutual discussions given there is at least something on paper already, assuming there is a desire (or even need) to sync the two. I'm not sure I see Maplewood's focus veering from SA to Valley, but would support at least a prelim analysis given the low cost. How the area gets designated by the the towns to spur development, and the willingness of each to push for or forego PILOTs remains the big unknown, and a factor in how "mutual" any development could end up being