No-Parking Signs Removed: 'A Very Small First Step in a Long Process'

The “no-parking" signs erected in New Providence’s Village Shopping Center early last month have been removed, which may be the beginning of a downtown parking solution.

Councilman Gary Kapner said Willing Biddle, chief operating officer of Urstadt Biddle Properties that recently purchased the Village Shopping Center, removed the signs as “a gesture of good will in lieu of ongoing negotiations.” However, Kapner said it’s going to require a lot of work to get downtown property owners to agree on a parking plan going forward.

“It’s really a very small first step in a long process,” Kapner said. “He’s been a good guy about this, but this is not the end of the situation. It’s only the beginning.”

Kapner said downtown stakeholders have been made aware of this recent development, but he and Councilman Bob Robinson — who were charged with leading discussions about downtown parking issues through two council resolutions — are working to get all stakeholders together for a meeting.

“It’s summertime, people are away, and we’re trying to get a group of people together to discuss it. Members of the Economic Development Committee are business owners in town as well as residents. It’s a mix of business owners and residents, and also some members of the Downtown Improvement District,” Kapner told Patch. “They’re in the loop for sure. People have been informed [about recent developments], but there hasn’t been a discussion about it.”

Kapner said he has no idea how long it will take for a shared parking solution to be found. But he did note that it’s been difficult to get all stakeholders to agree on solutions discussed in the past.

“The ideas in the past have encompassed the whole downtown area. We may take a small step and just try to encompass [the Village Shopping Center] — I believe that’s what they call quadrant 1 — and try to work on a resolution there and if we can build from that, then build it into the entire downtown.”

Speaking personally, Kapner said he’d like to see the borough build a municipal parking lot to take some pressure off of the downtown area and allow for future growth. However, those are simply his ideas and council is not currently discussing a municipal parking lot.

This parking issue has not been without controversy in recent weeks.

Council held a special meeting on Wednesday, July 17 to vote on a second resolution to establish Robinson and Kapner as the council representatives for “downtown shopping district issues" and ask Mayor J. Brooke Hern to stop "undermining" the council's efforts to reach a fair parking solution by directing his own negotiations with downtown stakeholders.

In that resolution, council members stated they have no confidence in Hern’s “competence and ability to act as a neutral facilitator for negotiations between stakeholders concern the parking situation.”

At that meeting, each councilman expressed his frustrations and agreed that it was not Hern’s place to negotiate a solution for shared parking in the downtown area on his own, without concurrence of council and after Robinson and Kapner were charged with that responsibility at a recent meeting. They also agreed that a shared parking solution would not be met by only speaking with one stakeholder.

In this case, council members were referring to Hern's contact with Willing Biddle, COO Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., which recently purchased the Village Shopping Center. Instead, they agreed all downtown stakeholders must be included in the discussion and the solution.

Hern did not attend that meeting, but issued two statements by email to Patch, one before and one after the meeting.

In his first statement, which can be read here in its entirety, Hern said, “For the past three years this Council hasn’t lifted a finger to resolve downtown parking problems. I don’t really care who leads negotiations for the Council, just as long as someone does it. I’m setting up meetings because nobody else has done anything about it. The Council President may be offended, but that’s not really my concern. The vacant stores in the Village Shopping Center will soon be filled, and something needs to be done about shared parking before things get even worse.”

At the July 22 council meeting, former Mayor Al Morgan took issue with Hern’s comment that the council hasn’t lifted a finger to find a parking solution.

“I think what really dismayed me was your insinuation that council doesn’t lift a finger. These are hardworking, dedicated, honest people that try and do a good job day in and day out. And nobody is going to tell me that you can lift a finger with Mr. [Larry] Paragano when he was trying to sell that property, [the Village Shopping Center],” Morgan said.

“There was no way he was going to negotiate with anybody until he sold that property and quite honestly, rightfully so. So for you to say that these people didn’t try or lift a finger is totally inaccurate. In fact, the same could be said for you. This came about because the signs went up and I personally know that Gary and Bob and the Economic Development Committee were working since May to start working on this and working with the land owners, and you knew this Mr. Mayor.”

Morgan said he’s known Hern for years and has dealt with him in many different ways, and his actions over time haven’t changed.

“On past council, we’ve walked out of a meeting and you start blogging things and saying things to reporters, and everybody in that room goes the next day, ‘that was never brought up at the meeting. He never said a word at the meeting,’” Morgan said.

“Here it comes again. If you want to work with these people, if you have an objection, if you want to do something, you have to tell them and not only that, you should tell the public. Not just go out and blog things and write articles without letting these people right in front of you say their piece right in front of that camera. That’s what you call transparency and I’m extremely disappointed. I’ve never seen this community go to these lengths where people can’t work together and it’s one person. I’ve worked with every single one of these people. The only one that nobody can work with is you. You’re a smart guy, no doubt about it. But it’s a team. It’s not about me and I, it’s about we and us. And the only way we get things done in this town is working together and it’s been proven time and time again throughout the years.”

New Providence resident Gail Libertucci also commented on this issue at the meeting, commending members of council for their efforts to help the borough and expressing her disappointment with Hern’s action. 

“I came out on this rainy night to commend [Council President Michael] Gennaro," Libertucci said. "I read some articles in the paper that were not flattering in terms of Mr. Gennaro so I came out tonight as a tax payer, as a woman, as an associate member of the republican committee to say Mr. Gennaro, we are thankful for the many hours of service that you put in for this town. It’s a hard job and we really appreciate what you’ve done.” 

“And Mr. Mayor, I have to say that your absence at the parking meeting really disappointed me. If we are a team — the taxpayers, members of the council and the mayor — if we are all going to work together, we need all of you to be here. And face the opposition. Have the courage to say, ‘listen, this is going to be a hot and heavy meeting. There’s going to be a little bit of opposition. But hey, let’s hear it out, mash it out and work it out.’”

Councilman Jim Madden sent a letter of thanks to members of the New Providence Republican Committee for attending the council meeting on July 22 and for supporting the Council amid Hern's comments that “Council hasn’t lifted a finger to resolve downtown parking problems.”

In that letter, Madden said:

“The ongoing criticism and resentment of the Council by Mayor Hern is both ridiculous and unwarranted. To suggest that the Council ‘hasn't lifted a finger’ with regard to the parking issue, and a broader criticism of Council's contribution, is completely inappropriate and baseless. His commentary that the Council is "attacking him" because of an election that will take place a year from now is only an admission that his own actions are with intent on dividing (again) our community as he prepares for his own election campaign next November."

"Transparency comes from within. A leader who hides, deceives and deflects is no leader at all, and is transparent as concrete. The Council tried many times to handle this issue in Executive Session, however Mayor Hern chose to take the debate public in an attempt to portray himself a victim. As Al Morgan said so eloquently last night; ‘you couldn't get along with anyone on the Council when you were a Councilman, and you're doing the same thing as the Mayor.’”

MOVING TOWARD A PARKING SOLUTION

At this point, Kapner said he thinks everything is moving forward smoothly to find a shared parking solution.

“There was some confusion about the initiative and who should lead it, and the council felt that, at the very least, more than one person should be dealing with it and it should be at the direction of the council and not an individual’s efforts,” Kapner told Patch Friday afternoon. “The council put together a committee; that committee is Dr. Robinson and myself. I guess everyone knows the mayor was not pleased with that. But I believe everybody is on board now. That’s politics. Politics is a team sports; sometimes you get what you want, sometimes you don’t.”

Kapner said the entire council, including Hern, are being kept up-to-date about progress made with downtown stakeholders on the parking issue.

“They’ve been briefed and received a copy of Mr. Biddle’s letter and his ideas, and we’re going to work to have discussions with the business community,” Kapner said. “The mayor is being kept in the loop, which is the same thing we ask of the mayor. Anything I do with respect to the parking or anything, I report at every council meeting and that’s what we ask every councilman and the mayor to do. So I think things are moving in the right direction. I can’t guarantee that, but I believe that’s what’s going on.”