New multi-purpose building on Baker Street

As I recall, when the lease ran out the Postal Service was already consolidating mail handling, from the individual town post offices. The building (or any other building) in Maplewood wasn't going to be used for that.

Neither of the factors mentioned has anything what so ever to do with the Baker Street project.  They are reasons given at the time as to why some people were opposed to replacing the post office in the manner finally proposed.   Author likely had a more nimby reason.  He didn't want a new building going up next to the building where he lived. These and other reasons may explain why the Claris project was fought more strenuously than the project on Baker Street.

As to the post office delivery issue, those who were aware of what was going on knew that the postal service wanted to consolidate mail delivery operations as a cost saving measure.  Early days, the township administration acted as if this possibility never occurred to them.  

As someone who was very active in the Clarus discussions, I don't remember anyone ever promising accessibility to the center platforms. It's a terrible oversight that they are unaccessible, but I don't remember anyone promising us that.

ridski said:

As someone who was very active in the Clarus discussions, I don't remember anyone ever promising accessibility to the center platforms. It's a terrible oversight that they are unaccessible, but I don't remember anyone promising us that.

 It was proposed in the early drawings to have a ground level   west bound platform at the rear of the old post office property.  This feature was removed from later drawings.  It would not have resolved the issue of the still inaccessible center track but would have made at least some round trips possible for those with mobility issues who were, and still are, unable to use the Maplewood Train Station because they can't handle the stairs to/from the center platform. 

joan_crystal said:

Neither of the factors mentioned has anything what so ever to do with the Baker Street project.  They are reasons given at the time as to why some people were opposed to replacing the post office in the manner finally proposed.   Author likely had a more nimby reason.  He didn't want a new building going up next to the building where he lived. These and other reasons may explain why the Claris project was fought more strenuously than the project on Baker Street.

As to the post office delivery issue, those who were aware of what was going on knew that the postal service wanted to consolidate mail delivery operations as a cost saving measure.  Early days, the township administration acted as if this possibility never occurred to them.  

I don't think anyone followed the opposition to the Clarus more closely than I did.  And I don't recall anyone mentioning platform access as an issue.  There were some complaints about moving the USPS storefront to another location, but that was very far down the list of issues for the opponents.

the big ones IIRC were that the building was going to be too big -- too tall with too much mass, and the developer was getting a tax abatement.  Next was probably those who thought the design was ugly (the "Maplewood deserves better" folks).  Then there were those who had issues around how it would affect parking in the village.

of course there were probably a dozen or more criticisms thrown at the wall to see what would stick. From the sublime (the building will cast shadows) to the ridiculous (there might be naked people in the apartments visible to pedestrians).

joan_crystal said:

ridski said:

As someone who was very active in the Clarus discussions, I don't remember anyone ever promising accessibility to the center platforms. It's a terrible oversight that they are unaccessible, but I don't remember anyone promising us that.

 It was proposed in the early drawings to have a ground level   west bound platform at the rear of the old post office property.  This feature was removed from later drawings.  It would not have resolved the issue of the still inaccessible center track but would have made at least some round trips possible for those with mobility issues who were, and still are, unable to use the Maplewood Train Station because they can't handle the stairs to/from the center platform. 

 Oh, I see. I must have missed that part. I imagine NJT nixed it.

A lot of the most heated, well-funded opposition* to the Post Office redevelopment vanished into thin air once the municipal election focusing largely on that issue was completed. Folks who've been around town for a couple of decades might recall a similar phenomenon surrounding the big tax revaluation.

*Does not refer to Author and others who had honest objections to the new construction before and after the election.