[RP TownTalk] Trees Cut Down on Bike Path near Greg's Towing

[Dwight Holmes]

Alison - Those are neat vignettes of very local stories that the rest of us
who don't live right there would be unlikely to witness.  So it's valuable
input into any discussion on use of that wedge of property that is the
industrial park.  Here's my perspective, and as I said in my earlier post,
this is just me.  And it doesn't mean I might not change my mind based on
more and better information, yours included.  But FWIW, here's my take:

When the industrial park was placed there, at the end of a dead end "road"
lying between the tracks (and another industrial/commercial block opposite
the tracks where ERCO, the White House storage facility, etc were/are) and
the now-abandoned trolley trail.  It was therefore out of the way (though
maybe not so from the perspective of residents, like yourself, in the NW
corner of Riverdale Park between the tracks and Rt 1, and north of
East-West Highway.)

But now, if you look at the area from overhead (
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9659434,-76.931807,1224m/data=!3m1!1e3)
what you see is two parcels of land zoned for development, the relatively
tiny square of property we colloquially call 'Town Center' by the RR
station to the south, and the Cafritz/Riverdale Park Station development to
the north, separated by the wedge of property that is the industrial park.

I assume we can agree that if we were starting now - which we aren't - that
no one would think it a good idea to place an industrial park in the middle
of the town's center and adjoining areas of mixed-use development.  But
it's there, and the question is, do we want to do anything about that?
Obviously that is a question about which people will have many different
opinions.

My biggest concern for leaving things as they are is that as the existing
Town Center (including the old S&J's and Barbershop/Bookstore/Archie
Edwards Blues Society bldg and even including Town Center Market continue
to grow customers and foot and car traffic (someday those empty storefronts
will be filled), demands for parking are going to increase and the farmers
market, holiday market, RP ArtsFest, etc will be pushed out.  The present
day industrial park would be the ideal spot to locate permanent facilities
for those type of community events, perhaps some additional parking, and
even a community center (we can dream, can't we?). It would serve to then
fully connect and integrate the new development at Riverdale Park Station
into the town.

Again, that's just my take.  Most people's mileage will no doubt vary! :)

_____________________________________
"A budget is a moral document." --Jim Wallis

On Mon, May 1, 2017 at 11:53 AM, A. Spain <alisonspain at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm not an arborist, so can't truly speak to the health of those trees.
> Looking at the remains, some seemed quite healthy and others rotted out.  I
> watched some of the removal and it seemed like they just weren't interested
> in selective pruning, which is unfortunate.  Curious as to what they plan
> to do with the remaining stumps.
>
> I like the idea of community space, but it seems like activating an
> existing and under programmed space vs. displacing hard working people and
> their businesses is more in the spirit of Riverdale's character and
> history.  The Cemetery above the Farmer's Market is a perfect example of a
> place that could be more of a gathering space with a sense of enclosure
> created by a bit of landscape buffer from East-West and a fence to keep the
> kids out of the road.  There's a lot of little spots like that tucked into
> Riverdale.
>
> With regard to the existing businesses, where would you relocate them?
> Everyone needs or benefits at some point from the kind of labors and
> services they provide, including developments like Cafritz. Whereas the new
> Whole Foods pilgrims walking down my street sometimes say hello, the
> gentlemen who take their breaks outside of Pittcon always have an
> enthusiastic greeting for my son and have invited us to their parking lot
> BBQ on more than one occasion. An older Pittcon employee has been gardening
> between the trail and the building for much longer than I've been a
> Riverdale resident. His garden is not as meticulously landscaped as Whole
> Foods but I'm sure it's a lot more sustainable and local. My point being,
> there's more community happening on that little stretch of asphalt than you
> might imagine.
>
>
> Alison
> Tuckerman St.
>
>
>
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