Next Steps: Woman's Club and Post Office Site

Two of the most significant developments in Maplewood's history are each one step closer to becoming a reality.

At Tuesday night's Township Committee meeting, the committee voted unanimously on a resolution to set a closing date for the purchase of the Maplewood Woman's Club for the last week in May.

The contingencies on the purchase have been satisfied and the due diligence period has been concluded, said Township Attorney Roger Desiderio. "Environmentally, there seem to be no problems," he said. The most recent test was to determine if any of the soil was contaminated; the test found no contamination.

"I don't see any legal impediments to moving forward," Desiderio said.

The committee also passed a resolution to refer the Maplewood Township Post Office Redevelopment Plan to the township Planning Board to discuss at its May 14 meeting. 

The planning board will review the plan, after which the TC will introduce it at one of its meetings in June. There will be an official public hearing before it is finally adopted, said Mayor Vic DeLuca.

The public may also comment on the plan at any of the regular TC meetings between now and when it is adopted.

The township hopes to issue a request for letters of interest from developers during the summer and will meet with prospective developers in the fall and choose one by the end of 2013, said DeLuca.

"There's a lot of opportunity to comment," said DeLuca. He said that with input from the planning board, the committee and the public, "We will make this the best plan that we can."