To the people of Montclair and the surrounding communities:
We are the small business owners of Bloomfield and Glenridge Avenues. Like small businesses everywhere, we struggled through COVID-19 and 2020. That our businesses have survived is due, in large part, to the support from our wonderful community. We are now asking for your help again.
We are thrilled about the construction of a parking deck on Glenridge Ave. However, we expected adequate notice about the date of the lot closure, and a detailed plan for replacement parking, garbage disposal, and pedestrian access for businesses. From the beginning of the Seymour Street project we were led to believe (as was every town representative that we have spoken with), that the Glenridge lot would not close until the South Fullerton and South Willow street decks were completed and open. Those private parking decks were constructed on publicly owned land, and replaced municipal parking lots. There is currently no definitive opening dates for those decks, and the only listed parking prices are blocks of 10 hours for $7-20 at the discretion of the developer.
Small businesses have been told that we “must bear the pain” and “just try to get through” until construction is complete. However, construction will take at least one year (and please note that the current Seymour Street construction is almost a year behind schedule). Therefore, we ask why already struggling small businesses must suffer without parking, and residents can be charged exorbitant prices, while the developer who stands to profit from our town is not asked to share the burdens and pains of construction.
We are asking for 4 things-
-Do not close the Midtown lot on Glenridge Ave until the parking decks on South Fullerton and South Willow are fully operational
-Guarantee adequate replacement parking spots in the new decks (300 spots were lost between the three closed lots) at municipal rates, until the developer completes construction of the Glenridge Ave deck
-Offer small businesses and restaurants an alternative to having dumpsters or garbage piled in front of their buildings for the duration of the construction
-Create a small pedestrian walkway along the edge of the Glenridge lot to allow pedestrian access from Glenridge Ave to Bloomfield Ave, just as a pedestrian walkway was created along the edge of the construction between Seymour and South Willow streets.
We are an integral part of the Montclair community. We are your friends, family, and neighbors. We help make Montclair the special town that it is. We are asking for your support to ensure that our customers and Montclair residents are not gouged for parking on their own land, and that small businesses are given a fighting chance to survive.
Thank you for your support and patronage, from the undersigned small businesses of Bloomfield Avenue and Glenridge Ave.
Cameron Animal Hospital
Diamond Cycle
Studio 42
Red Star Paint
Trend Coffee House
Fumé Cigar Shop
Greenleaf Café Eclectic
Parlor Hair Studio
and many others