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My name is Mike Heller I am a 20 year
resident, property owner, local business
owner, past Volunteer Fire Fighter of 14
years, Life Member of The UGL Fire Department and a proud
sponsor of West Milford Baseball. As a property owner
with in the downtown area of West
Milford slated for Historic Designation. I want to
share my thought with fellow West Milford
Taxpayers.
I also
ask any West Milford Official to answer the questions on
this page.
Despite the fact
as quoted by Mr. Bill Drew our so-called Town Planner in the
Record News Paper November 16, 2004
"No one
wrote they supported the project" (speaking
about residents that were asked)
West Milford Officials
continue to pay a consultant and hold meetings (for over 6
years that I have been involved) to plan how they intend
to take property owners rights away from them under the
guise of progress.
According to Mr. Drew in the
same article he said "There is a
certain appeal to the street, to the
area"
As one drives through this down town area
what they will find well maintained buildings of proud
property and business owners. No one has to tell a
property owner especially a commercial property owner with
retail outlets to keep their property in good order.
This certain appeal you speak about Mr. Drew
was created by the property owners, not West Milford
Township.
The
property owners have made a commitment to this
area. What has West
Milford Township
done?
Why does West Milford feel they
need to control yet another part of our lives. According to
the Townships most staunch supporter Mr. Vanhooker head of the
Historic Preservation Committee in a West Milford Messenger
news paper article statement he said
"Property owners with in the district can do
anything they want with the inside and rear of their property.
If they wanted to alter the front or sides of the building
they would need to get a certificate of appropriateness form
the planning department"
Let me be the first to say
thank-you Mr. Vanhooker for allowing me to use my
backyard.
What you seem to
be missing the past 6 years is the most important
issue - These are
our propertys.
If you had an agenda
of making the downtown area historic Mr. Vanhooker,
why did your family sell me a property in this area only
months before you started contacting me as a Township
Official?
Mr. Vanhooker and his family
elected not to designate the home they claim has been in
their family for 100 years as "Historic".
They choose to sell it
to me in a deplorable rundown condition.
Did you plan on using my money
to move your agenda forward Mr. Vanhooker or was that an
oversite on your part?
Everyone talks
about “curb appeal” and "protecting something for future
generations".
These are great and valid
issues. Who wouldn't want curb
appeal. Curb appeal is something that I am 100% in favor of.
The problems
I see with the issue are:
-
In case no one
has noticed we don’t have any curbs;
-
We don’t have
curbs because we don't have side
walks;
-
We don’t have
proper parking to allow for the growth of an area designated
to bring services to residents;
-
No Building in
this area is in historic condition, they may be old but
every building has been completely
altered;
See picture
of Downtown West Milford, NJ 07480
I may not be as
knowledgeable as our elected or hired town officials. I
am only a simple businessman that owns and operates 3 NJ
companies from West Milford. I only employ local people,
sponsor organizations and stimulate the economy of West Milford by buying from other local
business's.
However my opinion
is:
If West Milford had spent the past 6 years
putting in curbs, sidewalks and dealing with our downtown
infrastructure instead of paying consultants to try to
sugar coat this issue, we would already have the “curb
appeal” everyone wants.
. If
anyone in West Milford government really cared we would
already have a nice neater downtown area. Even if you are
opposed to the wall Passaic County installed by the
Presbyterian Church one has to admit it made the area look
neater.
Curbs
and sidewalks would do the same thing.
The
property owners in the downtown area have kept our end but you
the Township of West Milford have not.
You have failed every taxpayer in West Milford.
Please
don't anyone think our Officials are incompetent after
all we have that new beautiful bike path down the edge of
Ridge
Road.
I am sure
that area parents are 100% confident their children are safe
as they ride down the edge of busy street near the curb
filled with leaves, garbage cans and road grit. I am sure they
don't think that their children could be hit by a
car as they may have to swerve into traffic to avoid and
obstacle.
Had our council put as much effort into our
downtown area as they did this bike path this would not be
an issue today.
As a property owner
being effected by the down town historic issue I
feel I have been mislead by Mr. Vanhooker his
commission and Mr. Bill Drew regarding the
following:
When it comes to the issue
of funds
I had a meeting with Mr. Drew and
the Historic Preservation Committee(including Vanhooker). This
is what I was told:
"West
Milford has no funds nor does it expect to have funds to help
property owners conform to standards"
They also turned down my offer
to match me dollar for dollar upto $50,000.00 to refurbish the
exterior of my building, telling me that
"The Historic
Preservation Committee has no power!, we are sorry we
can't help you!"
When it comes to property
values
During a phone
conversation with Mr Wayne McCabe the
consultant hired by the Township and myself he went on to tell
me:
"There is no
money at any government level trust me! anyone telling you
that is wrong"
he also said
"No one can
support property value increases or decreases so this is a
non-issue!"
I would like a member of the
council to publicly answer these questions with out the run
around politicians generally use:
1.
Why are there no
sidewalks down town?
2.
How is a Historic
Designation going to benefit the taxpayer and property
owner?
3.
Can I put an addition on
my house with out needing to beg the town or spend thousands
of extra dollars to do so?
4.
Can I fly an American
Flag?
5.
Can I fly an Italian
Flag (lower than the American Flag of course)
6.
Can I fly an Irish Flag
on St. Pats day?
7.
Can I put a statue of
the Virgin Mother or any other saint I want in the front of my
house?
8.
Will my property become
more valuable and why?
9.
Who will buy my house
from me with all the restrictions that will be placed on it? –
Will West Milford?
10.
Will business’s be
allowed to put up sale signs etc…
11.
If West Milford is as serious about the
downtown area as they claim why don’t they show the
property owners they are by
a.
Putting in side
walks
b.
Putting in
curbing
c.
Planting
tree’s
d.
Installing warm inviting
street lighting?
Why must the
property owners be burdened with the failures of our local
government?
I want everyone reading this to
know that I am 100% behind the proper development of the
downtown area to meet the needs of our residents but I am
not confident however that West Milford Officials truly know
what those needs are. The needs of a community change and
evolve as time moves forward. Business’s need the ability to
reset our course to meet new demands.
When the
government comes in and places broad restrictions they are
only hurting the resident.
It’s all trickle down.
If a business owner is charged more for raw material or
has to hire staff to deal with government regulations they
have to pass the cost on to the customer. Thus the more red
tape the more things cost the average person. That’s assuming
the business decides to stay in business in your town or even
our country.
If the business leaves West
Milford your sons or daughters little league team won’t
get sponsored, worst of all when you have an emergency and
need an ambulance or fire truck they may not be there because
the business the Volunteer worked for is no longer
here, so that volunteer will also leave town to
find work.
Historic Districting while it
may work in some areas does not appear to add
to the quality of life here in West
Milford.
West Milford Officials need
to improve our infrastructure through re-construction and
construction.
If West
Milford Township wants that Down Town Feel
they should be working on sidewalks, good roads,
lighting, sewers, water ect…
After this is done we can talk
about Historic Districting.
After all you can wrap up
nuclear waste in a box to make it look pretty. When you
open the box you still have nuclear waste.
These are the opinions of
Michael J. Heller a devoted citizen of West Milford, NJ
The Historic Committee
met @ 7:30pm October 17,2006 to discuss sending this
issue to the Town Council For a vote. Click here to find
out what happened or what didn't happen and
why.
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