The Present is Fine, Thank you

      I don't want to return to 1973. 
     
      While I would love to be that young again (with a little of the wisdom I have gained since -- full disclosure, I had hair like Susan St. James), I wouldn't want to relive the lies of Richard Nixon or the insults hurled at returning soldiers. I also really don't want to relive the fallacies of urban renewal.

      For some strange reason, some people in Hunterdon County do want to go back to those days. 

This is what Main Street Flemington looks like now. Small town America at its best.

         The problems with urban renewal is that it took away old, well built structures and replaced them with oversized and poorly built towers. Often the new buildings were so out of scale they ruined the look of the entire downtown.

      Fortunately, that silly trend fell away, replaced by a desire to save and cherish historic buildings.

     But, Flemington Borough Council gave the borough's redevelopment contract to a throwback to the bad oild days.

     Jack Cust wants to build a building three stories taller than allowed in the ordinance (and probably taller than the fire department's snorkel can handle). He wants a 100-room hotel (100 is the magic number of a new liquor license), 900-car parking garage, 45,000 square feet of retail space.

      Of that 45,000, 25,000 would be dedicated to Flemington Furs -- sure, keep the business that attracts PETA and their spray cans of fake blood. Just what every town needs.

      Cust also wants to take the Flemington Furs property. He said the borough needs a college. Maybe, but I'd rather heard that from RVCC.

      His proposal goes against the master plans of both the borough and the county. Sure, master plans can be changed, but it should only be done through a process of public hearings with expert testimony. Not on a whim.

      I'll get to the transparency and historic issues in future blogs.

     Stay tuned.