ENGLEWOOD, N.J.—A proposal by Englewood Health to possibly use 75 current spaces at Liberty School for employee parking sparked a brief discussion of the school’s fate—currently declared an area in need of redevelopment—and whether providing hospital parking there is even possible.
In addition, council members discussed whether the parking rate offered by Englewood Health was fair, and whether local organizations who currently use the lot for free might be displaced.
Meanwhile the council also approved a resolution authorizing the Planning Board to undertake a preliminary investigation of 20-plus properties near the city’s Dean Street Economic Opportunity Zone.
The study, not to exceed $800, will evaluate whether the properties qualify as areas in need of redevelopment, opening up possible federal grants and redevelopment opportunities.
A $54K proposal
Borough Clerk Yancy Wazirmas said the hospital’s proposal would offer the city $60 per space per month for 75 spaces in the lot behind Liberty School. That amounts to approximately $54,000 monthly. The spaces would be rented 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday.
Several residents and council members highlighted existing parking challenges near Englewood Hospital due to hospital construction projects which were causing parking shortages.
“So it’s out there for discussion. Who knows if $60 is a good number? Who knows if any number is a good number?” asked Council President Katharine Glynn.
Cobb questioned how many spaces currently exist there and Wazirmas said the proposal would comprise “the bulk of the parking lot.”
‘Do something with it’
“Isn’t it wiser for us take this property and develop it and do something with it than to make a parking lot out of it?” asked Mayor Michael Wildes.
He said the property is vacant, and mostly unused over more than a decade.
The property was declared “an area in need of redevelopment” in January 2018 and has been the focus of ongoing debate over a decade, much centered on whether the nearly 120-year-old school building can be repurposed as a performing arts high school, senior center, affordable housing, or an arts or community center.
Liberty School’s fate?
A $30,000 study authorized by the City Council nine years ago determined Liberty School should be repurposed as a performing arts high school or a combined arts and community center estimated to cost between $9 million to $14 million. No action was taken by the council.
Over the last year, Liberty School has been the focus of three entities—a not-for-profit group and two local churches—eyeing the site as a possible community center or repurposed as an arts and community center.
One architect hired by Project Liberty, a not-for-profit effort of North Jersey Community Foundation, said Liberty School is a perfect candidate for “adaptive reuse” of a historic building and another said the repurposed school could serve as “a cultural anchor” for downtown Englewood.
In the last five years, council members have floated a range of options for the now-deteriorating historic school such as rental units, condominiums, senior housing and the much-discussed community center. Nothing has happened.
Questions remain about structural integrity of the school, including its electrical, plumbing and physical deficits.
Observers can see widespread peeling paint on doors and windows, cracked windows, broken gutters and leaders, and weeds growing in the parking lot.
An effort to seek community input on a possible future community center—whether at Liberty School or elsewhere—resumes in September after holding one meeting in May where residents and public officials explored demand for such a center.
Parking ‘temporary measure’
Councilwoman Cheryl Rosenberg said proposed on-site parking at Liberty School directly impacts traffic and parking in her ward although as a “temporary measure” it could be feasible if much more information on impacts is forthcoming.
She wondered about possible impacts on local neighborhoods. She worried about streets nearby Englewood Hospital where employees park and “they just leave their garbage everywhere and I think we’re at real risk if we let them park there (Liberty School),” she added.
She said cleanup of trash left by hospital employees should be considered in any price that Englewood offers to charge for parking.
Glynn said they could include cleanup as part of any parking space contract.
Glynn said the hospital has offered to fix parking lot potholes and handle snow removal and that cleanup could be included.
“This could also be temporary, until the property is redeveloped or we could say we don’t want to do it, or we could say we want $200 a spot,” Glynn said.
She said she wondered how Englewood Health came up with the $60 per space parking rental fee. She said the proposal came from Englewood to the city manager.
Wazirmas said Englewood was advised that use of the Liberty School parking lot will affect any organizations that use the lot free with city permission.
Several residents suggested there could be problems if several organizations using the parking lot for free—including a woman’s rights center and a nearby mosque—had to find alternate parking.
Free parking assessed
“Seems like we need the times when those three orgnaizations use the lot. And how many spaces they use and how many spaces we have all together,” said Glynn. “Again this is just for discussion, not to take any action.”
Rosenberg wondered whether “a larger discussion” was occurring with the hospital over taxes and Bailey said he would provide an update in closed session.
Other redevelopment
The resolution to investigate properties for redevelopment charges the Planning Board to undertake a redevelopment study—by hiring Benecke Economics—and lists nearly two-dozen properties to be investigated including properties on East Palisade Avenue, Depot Square, North Dean Street, East Street and Sterling Boulevard.
The resolution notes these properties reside in the Dean Street commercial corridor “which by reason of faulty arrangement of design, deleterious land use, obsolescence or obsolete layout, or other factors, have remained vacant, stagnant, unproductive, under-utilized, and undervalued and may be detrimental to the safety, health, morals and welfare of the city.”
It notes the corridor comprises a “non-condemnation redevelopment area in accordance with the criteria of the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law.”
Glynn voted against the redevelopment study saying “the vendor has proven difficult to work with” although she said she favored such a study.
