December 2001 / January 2002 Edition

Broadway Recommendations and Status (Details)   This list contains more detail than the summary.   1. Investigate the availability and suitability of certain vacant properties located at the corner of Plaza Road and Broadway, the corner of 34th Street and Broadway, together with an existing residence located at 1-11 Grunauer Place for use as parking.    Status:  The Grunauer Place residence was sold and the parcel at the corner of 34th Street and Broadway is presently being developed.  So far as is known, no investigation has been conducted regarding the remaining (or any other) parcel.   Comment: The committee recommended that lots be acquired by the Borough and operated as municipal parking facilities.  If acquired, the lots should be well lit (without adversely affecting adjoining residences) and appropriate signage should be provided both on Broadway and internally on the lot(s).   2. Consider extension of the B-2 Zone, General Business, and the OBS-2 Zone, Office and Business Services, to a depth of 250 feet from Broadway.  In the alternative, the zoning ordinance could be amended to permit parking in an adjacent residential zone to a maximum depth of 250 feet as a conditional use. The committee did not advocate the use of eminent domain powers by the Borough to acquire private residences for use as parking lots.    Status:  Referred to the Planning Board in June, 2001.  The board reviewed this issue and responded to the Mayor and Council in June, 2001.  The Mayor and Council have not acted on the recommendation or the Planning Board’s response.   Comment:   Appropriate safeguards and buffers (such as perimeter fencing, screening and plantings) would be required to protect adjacent residences and should be carefully considered in order that adverse conditions which currently exist at the boundary between the business and residential zones are not simply relocated further from Broadway.  It was the committee’s understanding that this would be a long term solution where willing sellers (homeowners) could offer their properties to willing buyers (commercial property owners) at fair market values at the time of sale.   3. Provide pedestrian crosswalks at 28th Street and at or near the intersection of Grunauer Place and Broadway, to the existing crosswalk at 34th Street and Broadway.   Status:  Apparently, a letter was written to the state agency which has jurisdiction over Route 4, and unfavorable response was received.  No action taken so far as is known.    4. Encourage cooperative parking agreements between merchants and/or property owners throughout the Broadway corridor.   Status: No action taken so far as is known.   5. Review signage directing shoppers to the existing parking, with a goal of making it clear and visible.   Status:  No action taken so far as is known.   6. Consider creating cul-de-sacs on the side streets off Broadway to create the mini-parks suggested by the Moskowitz Report.  Benches, trees and plantings could be installed and angle parking created.  In addition, while there are tennis courts and ball fields located along Pellack Drive between 28th and 30th Streets, there are no facilities nearby for young children.   Status: No action taken so far as is known, except for the installation of a mini-playground at 29th Street and Pellack Drive.   7. Bicycle racks should be installed near the Hyway Theater, the Broadway train station and Gamemaster at 26-13 Broadway.   Status:  No action taken so far as is known.   8. The committee believes that the New Jersey Transit station located at Broadway is an asset to the community.     8a. The Mayor and Council should make every effort possible to retain the train station and, if possible, to have New Jersey Transit construct an expanded station, accessible to the handicapped.  Such a station would serve as an anchor for the Broadway corridor, serving commuters who would in turn patronize local businesses.  An expanded Broadway train station could also relieve some or all of the current overcrowding at the Radburn train station.  Finally, an expanded station would also remove cars parked on local streets by commuters who use the Broadway train station at present.   Status: Unknown.   8b. Commuter parking for the Broadway train station is virtually nonexistent within the Borough of Fair Lawn.  The NJT representatives indicated that an application made on behalf of two or more municipalities would receive a higher priority than an application received from a single municipality.  It is the recommendation of the committee that the Borough contact the appropriate officials of Elmwood Park and begin discussions to upgrade the Broadway train station.  This would also mean that sites in Elmwood Park could be considered to provide the parking requirements of New Jersey Transit.   Status:  So far as is known, the Borough Manager has had telephone conversation(s) with unnamed officials of Elmwood Park, but no meetings have been arranged between elected officials to date.   8c.  Request that NJT construct an elevated enclosed or protected walkway to enable commuters to cross from the existing station to the other side of Broadway so that commuters who live or park across from the station do not have to cross Broadway.   Status:  Unknown.   9. The committee recommends that a comprehensive traffic be conducted in the Broadway corridor and surrounding side streets, including: a)       Installation of flashing lights to protect the children at Warren Point School. b)       Traffic light controllers should be installed at all intersections presently equipped with signaling devices, permitting activation by police, fire and ambulance vehicles in the event of an emergency.  c)       The traffic island at the intersection of Broadway and Plaza Road on the north side of Broadway should be reconfigured as it creates a bottleneck for traffic traveling southbound on Plaza Road.  d)       Consideration should be given to removing a portion of the center divider and permitting left hand turns from Route 4 West onto Midland Avenue.  e)       Consideration should be given to changing the location of the stop signs located at 30th Street and Rosalie Street.  f)         All of the bus stops on Broadway should be reviewed as to placement and condition.  Each of the bus stops should be evaluated both from the point of view of safety and for convenience of commuters. g)       Crosswalks across Broadway should be of the ladder striped variety and should be put at all intersections. h)       Traffic lights governing the intersections should be redesigned to make the crosswalks safer and more accessible for the disabled.   i)         The committee has reviewed the report of the Fair Lawn Avenue Pedestrian/Bicycle Corridor Study revised through August 30, 1999 and believes that most of the suggestions made therein for improvements to the Fair Lawn Avenue corridor are equally applicable to Broadway. j)         On-street parking areas should be clearly delineated and parking for the handicapped likewise delineated and restrictions with respect to same enforced.  k)       Existing signage should be replaced with clear and concise directional, parking and other signs, together with more signs showing the various speed limits on the different sections of Broadway.   Status:  The bus stop at the corner of Broadway and 30th Street has been eliminated.   10. The committee recommends that the Borough re-examine the zoning ordinance and consider changing it as necessary to permit uses such as restaurants and cafes, book stores, coffee stores and the like in the OBS-2 zone.   Status:  Unknown.   11. The process by which a business owner obtains permits, either through site plan approval or otherwise, should be streamlined and should not be so onerous as to deter someone from opening a new business on Broadway.   Status:  Unknown.   12. Review the sign ordinance which is thought to be too restrictive as regards the height of lettering, sizes of signs and maximum percentage of building area coverage.  Status:  The Planning Board has stated that it agrees that the sign ordinance could be redrawn.   13. The Borough, through its grants firm, should seek any available funding for either low cost loans or as seed money to be matched by building owners and/or tenants in order to upgrade storefronts/facades.   Status:  Unknown.   14. If grant money exists for developing standards for merchant window displays, it should be pursued.   Status:  Unknown.   15.  The Broadway corridor could be improved in a number of ways to make it both more attractive and more inviting to pedestrians and shoppers.   The committee recommends the following: a)   Trees should be planted where space permits, otherwise, evergreen planters could be installed.  b)   To the extent that the New Jersey Department of Transportation has funds available in this or next year’s budget, the Borough should investigate how to apply for such funds in order to have the same type of work as done at the Warren Point School installed throughout the Broadway corridor. c)   The State will be undertaking a program of planting trees and shrubs at the intersection of Routes 4 and 208.  The Borough should undertake to have the State extend such plantings as far west on Broadway as possible. d)    The sidewalks and curbs on Broadway are generally in a state of disrepair.  Any funds available through either State or Federal programs for the replacement of sidewalks should be investigated with the goal towards repairing, at the very least, a section of Broadway at a time until all of Broadway’s sidewalks and curbs have been repaired and/or replaced. e)     Benches should also be placed along Broadway especially, if possible, at designated bus stops. f)      To the extent that there is landscaping on Broadway at present, business owners and/or tenants should be encouraged to update same and clean it of debris and garbage.  In those areas where landscaping does not exist, the Borough should encourage business owners to do so. g)     Merchants should be encouraged to police the areas immediately outside their store on a daily basis and new trash receptacles should be purchased and placed throughout the Broadway corridor.   Status:  New trash receptacles have been placed on Broadway; as to the balance of recommendations, unknown.   16. Improve lighting (such as found on River Road) to increase the safety of both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.    Status:  No action taken as far as is known.   17.  All items such as flower planters and trash receptacles should be placed uniformly, either at the curb or against the building, so as not to pose a hazard to pedestrians.   Status:  No action taken as far as is known.             18. Stricter enforcement of laws/ordinances should be considered for the following: a)       Deferred maintenance of buildings/facades; b)       Sidewalk repairs; c)       Litter and waste; and d)       Failure of motorists to observe speed limits, yield to pedestrians, stop on red before making right turns and double parking.