Re: East Ridge To Allow Developers Use Of Right Of Way For Additional Parking For Chick-fil-A
Here is a fine example of why Red Bank gets an "Atta' boy" (or Atta' Girl) for looking out for their citizens and their own best interest. I was recently criticized for pointing out how Red Bank is separating itself from the other municipalities like East Ridge when I commented on the city attorney's advising to deny a setback variance. The city attorney feared that approval would equate to no regulation at all.
Then we read the latest installment of East Ridge pawning itself off to the nearest person holding a dollar. A developer, standing to make millions of dollars wants to build a huge shopping mecca with East Ridge's own property. We've seen countless headlines about how these guys go to the council, butter them up with promises of tax revenues (and probably unseen exchanges behind closed doors) that result in East Ridge losing money, property and control of their city.
These are just from memory, but bear with me. East Ridge sold the property for Jordan Crossing to the developer at their cost, only to have the state (who sold it to East Ridge at a reduced cost) come back and demand the difference from market value from East Ridge. Then East Ridge bent over backwards to get the Bass Pro Shop in, even going so far as to sell the dirt from their own city park so that they could swap flood zones with the developers. Remember when the fire department had to be relocated for this developer? The plan was to reuse the old building and assemble it on another piece of property? That property didn't work out and East Ridge was on the hook for building a new fire department from scratch. The old building must be in storage somewhere waiting for someday.
Now we get to the city allowing the developer to build over the right of way to a road, which if a recall correctly, was built with a federal grant and probably has strings attached. The biggest concern: a park entrance sign... Don't worry though. East Ridge is co-signing for this developer, so if something comes up, just bill the taxpayers.
Build more sports fields,
Tim Giordano