CityWorks in the Press
EDITORIAL: Let businesses stay
WE like everything about Neptune's plan to redevelop West Lake Avenue into the thriving shopping area it used to be except the part about dislocating businesses that have done all the right things by coming to the blighted area.
Neptune officials proudly unveiled their vision for the area this week - modern buildings filled with shops and residences on either side of the wide street, a park and maybe even a family clinic. It all sounds good, but what about Lester and Lynn Goldberg, who own Scrubber Doctor, a janitorial equipment and supply company?
The Goldbergs have run the business in Neptune for about nine years and in January 2004 bought the building that now houses their business off Route 35. Their story is a chapter straight out of an urban redevelopment textbook - buy a building that needs work, obtain grants and low-interest loans to fix it up and turn the property into a respectable place of business.
Imagine their chagrin when a map was unveiled at a press conference on the redevelopment plan Wednesday that showed their building was not part of the plan.
"We were told when we bought it, that if we redid it, it would be a blessing and the best thing that ever happened, and then they're telling us to get lawyers," Lester Goldberg said.
That was the advice the Goldbergs were given, presumably to negotiate a settlement or even to handle eminent domain proceedings. That's no way to treat small businesses that have invested money and sweat to make their enterprises successful and their neighborhoods stronger.
The township plans are in the formative stage, and there's talk of allowing businesses and homeowners the chance to buy property at reduced rates. That's the kind of thinking the township needs to ensure that those who are working to rehabilitate the West Lake area can stay there when the vision becomes reality.
Township officials need to insist that people like the Goldbergs aren't tossed aside with the old bricks.
WE like everything about Neptune's plan to redevelop West Lake Avenue into the thriving shopping area it used to be except the part about dislocating businesses that have done all the right things by coming to the blighted area.
Neptune officials proudly unveiled their vision for the area this week - modern buildings filled with shops and residences on either side of the wide street, a park and maybe even a family clinic. It all sounds good, but what about Lester and Lynn Goldberg, who own Scrubber Doctor, a janitorial equipment and supply company?
The Goldbergs have run the business in Neptune for about nine years and in January 2004 bought the building that now houses their business off Route 35. Their story is a chapter straight out of an urban redevelopment textbook - buy a building that needs work, obtain grants and low-interest loans to fix it up and turn the property into a respectable place of business.
Imagine their chagrin when a map was unveiled at a press conference on the redevelopment plan Wednesday that showed their building was not part of the plan.
"We were told when we bought it, that if we redid it, it would be a blessing and the best thing that ever happened, and then they're telling us to get lawyers," Lester Goldberg said.
That was the advice the Goldbergs were given, presumably to negotiate a settlement or even to handle eminent domain proceedings. That's no way to treat small businesses that have invested money and sweat to make their enterprises successful and their neighborhoods stronger.
The township plans are in the formative stage, and there's talk of allowing businesses and homeowners the chance to buy property at reduced rates. That's the kind of thinking the township needs to ensure that those who are working to rehabilitate the West Lake area can stay there when the vision becomes reality.
Township officials need to insist that people like the Goldbergs aren't tossed aside with the old bricks.
© 2005 - 2007 CityWorks, All Rights Reserved