November 2007

Route 208 Study

New Vision for Route 208 Properties
The final report by the Fair Lawn Economic Development Corp. outlines a concept plan that would transform the 210-acre park in Fair Lawn and Glen Rock from a strictly industrial site to a mixed-use development, featuring commercial office space, restaurants and residential housing. Click here to view report.

New law blocks Aggressive Towing

FROM THE RECORD (North Jersey Media Group)
Thursday, October 25, 2007

By STEPHANIE AKIN
STAFF WRITER

CHRIS PEDOTA / THE RECORD
Governor Corzine, right, and sponsor Assemblyman Robert M. Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, after the bill was signed into law Wednesday.

A bill to protect motorists from "rogue tow-truck drivers" was signed into law Wednesday by Governor Corzine near a Fair Lawn parking lot infamous for aggressive towing practices.

The Predatory Towing Prevention Act, in the works since last spring, is meant to prevent towing companies from charging exorbitant fees to remove cars from private property with no notice to drivers.
VIDEO
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THOMAS E. FRANKLIN / NORTHJERSEY.COM

"We've all been there at some point in time," Corzine said at a press conference before he signed the bill. "You're out shopping, you're at a business meeting, and you come back to find that your car isn't there."
The bill requires property owners who tow vehicles to meet certain criteria, including:

• Posting warning signs indicating the purposes and times parking is allowed in the lot.
• The name, address and telephone number of the company towing unauthorized vehicles.
• The charges for towing and storage.
  It also requires towing companies to use secured storage facilities that are open from at least 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and prevents them from offering "kickbacks" to people who provide information about illegally parked vehicles.

Tow-truck drivers -- about 25 of whom protested the bill signing Wednesday -- said they had no problem with those particular regulations.

What concerned them was language that applied to all tows, not just those on private property -- which drivers said constitute only about 3 percent of their business.

The law requires all tow companies to register their trucks with the state and pay an as yet undecided per-vehicle fee. They must also report their rates to the state Division of Consumer Affairs, which will determine average fees for towing services. Companies will be prohibited from charging more than 150 percent ofthe average cost for any service.

The state will use registration and violation fees to cover the costs of enforcing the new rules.
Tow-truck drivers said such regulations restrict their right to set competitive rates and agree on fees with customers who request a tow.

Many municipalities already require tariffs and set fee structures for towing companies.
"You've always got bad apples in a bunch," said Larry Carnavale, a driver from Tumino's Towing in Ridgefield Park.

"Just because you've got one company that does the wrong thing, all of a sudden every other company is just as bad."

The towing companies said they would try to pressure legislators to amend the bill so it applies only to private property tows. If that isn't successful, Garden State Towman's Association President John Glass said, his organization would sue on the grounds that the law violates Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations.

Bill sponsor Assemblyman Robert M. Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, said he thought the required registration fee will be modest, and that it would be offset by the public benefit of having fees regulated and posted.
"Before this, it was anything goes," he said.

Corzine signed the bill in the Fair Lawn International House of Pancakes parking lot where a parking war between the IHOP and the neighboring McDonald's, chronicled in The Record, first attracted lawmakers' attention to the issue.

At least 80 people were towed from the McDonald's lot in the year before Gordon sponsored the bill, with the scenes getting so heated that police had to be called 34 times.

During the legislators' remarks, the McDonald's lot was clogged with trucks of all sizes, including some loaded with towed cars. Owner Sebastian Lentini stood at the border of the IHOP lot talking with the drivers. He referred questions to his lawyer, who did not return a phone message.

Fair Lawn resident Carolyn Soojian, who lives on neighboring 37th Street, said she had seen enough cars towed in the McDonald's and International House of Pancakes dispute to prompt her to come over and take a seat in the damp parking lot as Corzine signed the bill.

"We've watched all this nonsense going back and forth," she said. "We would sit in IHOP and watch people getting towed."

The towing practices that she had witnessed, she said, were mostly inspired by "greed." As for the tow drivers demonstrating, she said she wasn't sure why they should be worried.
"If they're honest, legitimate companies," she said, "they've got nothing to be concerned about."

Gateway Signs

Two attractive "Welcome to Fair Lawn" signs are strategically placed on east and west Broadway locations.

 

Fair Lawn Business Recipient of the
Improvement & Modernization Loan

Facelifts for Facades, Sign & Awning Replacement

Among Elements on the Economic Agenda

Fair Lawn , NJ — January 15, 2008 — An ambitious modernization and revitalization program offered to Fair Lawn businesses has already had a positive impact in this Bergen County town of 31,000 residents.

Sponsored by the Fair Lawn Economic Development Corporation (FLEDC) in cooperation with Columbia Bank and Valley National Bank, the Fair Lawn Improvement and Modernization Loan and Grant Program is helping local business owners in all business zones purchase new equipment and supplies and make physical and aesthetic improvements to their commercial properties. The program offers up to $35,000 that can be paid back over seven years.

Louis Vintaloro (third from right), owner of the Performance Jiu-Jitsu Academy , is pleased to accept a check from the FLEDC as part of its Improvement and Modernization Loan & Grant Program. Vintaloro used the funds to make several interior and exterior improvements. He is joined by (l to r) Darren Lizzack (EDC trustee), Bob Beshlian (BIC chairman), Stuart Hermann (EDC chairman), David Nutt (commercial lending officer, Columbia Bank), and Todd Malkin (EDC trustee).

In its second year of service to the community, the FLEDC has approved the first loan to Performance Jiu-Jitsu Academy on Broadway, which teaches the art of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. The results of the loan, according to owner Louis Vintaloro and other FLEDC participants, have been very encouraging. The Academy has made several interior and exterior improvements to better position itself as a professional, highly qualified martial arts facility.

Vintaloro says he probably would not have been able to effect these changes—and the encouraging results that followed—without the availability of the grant program. “The support of the FLEDC and the local banks that believe in what the organization is doing is one of the most positive things to happen to the Broadway district in a long, long time,” he says. “It is benefiting not just the Fair Lawn business community, but our residents and visitors, as well.”

Columbia Bank Commercial Lending Officer David Nutt notes that the program could not have come at a better time. “As a community bank, we believe that reinvestment programs like this one helps to increase confidence in our town. With such obvious visual improvements taking place, the program both promotes goodwill and serves as a catalyst for even more business community development.”

The Fair Lawn Improvement and Modernization Loan and Grant Program consists of two elements. The first is a reduced interest loan, which offers loans at one percentage point below prime rate (fixed at the time of closing). Then, if the borrower commits to creating one job for a low-to-moderate income resident of Bergen County within two years, he or she will be entitled to an interest reduction grant that can prepay the interest in full at the time of the closing. In essence, the loan becomes interest free and the borrower has only to pay the principle.

The Borough of Fair Lawn is a partner in the project, with additional grant funding provided by the Bergen County Division of Community Development. Representatives from Columbia Bank and Valley National Bank have already met with several additional potential applicants to continue the assessment and approval processes.

The FLEDC is a non-profit advocacy organization that seeks to strengthen the economic vitality of Fair Lawn 's commercial districts and business zones.

Other Key Programs

The Fair Lawn Improvement and Modernization Loan and Grant Program is just one of four grant opportunities offered to businesses in Fair Lawn 's commercial districts. The others are the FLEDC Business Zone Sign & Awning Grant Program, the Broadway Improvement Corporation (BIC) Sign and Awning Grant Program, and the River Road Improvement Corporation (RRIC) Sign & Awning Grant Program. All organizations have renewed their source of funding for the budget year 2008.

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu also participated in the BIC program, available to businesses in the Broadway Special Improvement District (SID). The Academy's attractive new sign was designed by a local business called Sign 2000.

“As a property manager and landlord on Broadway for more than 30 years, I've seen many businesses come and go—many of which don't survive because of undercapitalization,” says Bob Beshlian, chairman of the BIC and owner of Beshlian Properties. “These no-interest and low-interest loans provide a perfect opportunity to help our commercial neighbors meet the challenges of establishing a new business.”

“The FLEDC board of trustees believes that the Sign and Awning Grant Program is a great tool to provide investment incentive to property owners in Fair Lawn ,” adds Stuart Hermann, chairman of FLEDC and a local CFP ® and CPA. “With our sign and awning program partnering with the improvement and modernization program, I don't think there are many other municipalities around as proactive in commercial district revitalization as we are here in Fair Lawn .”

Other Fair Lawn businesses from both the BIC and RRIC districts that have taken advantage of the various improvement programs include Bethany Christian Services, Chicken Galore, Connectionz Salon, DDM Entertainment, Dry Cleaners on Wheels, Furniture Outlet Warehouse, John's Barber Shop, Natural Way Café, Realty Executives and others.

A copy of the Fair Lawn Improvement and Modernization Loan and Grant Program brochure, in addition to other related information, can be found on the websites of the Fair Lawn Economic Development Corporation at www.fledc.com ; the River Road Special Improvement District at www.fairlawnriverroad.com ; and the Broadway Special Improvement District at www.broadwaysid.com .

For further information contact FLEDC administrator Don Smartt at 201-797-3442.