If you have to park anywhere in downtown Montclair any time in the next 10 months, you better plan on getting an early start. The Crescent parking lot* -- the first place most shoppers and movie-goers looked when going downtown -- was closed on Monday.

The good news is that construction is being started for a 430-car parking deck on the site. The bad news is that it won't be done for months.

At a meeting at the Soda Pop Shop, downtown merchants, professionals and restaurant owners complained that they got little notice of the closing, and what they did get came awfully late. And they were far better off that the general public. As of 11:53 pm tonight, the news of the deck closing -- and the town's suggestions for where to find metered parking now -- were still not posted on the Montclair website.

We'll have more coverage of that meeting -- and of another Monday night meeting, about fumes in Bloomfield High School -- on Baristanet tomorrow. Until then, goodnight.

*Crescent lot, in blue, now closed. Lot with arrow pointing to it, closed last summer, prior to Hahne's demolition. Church St. lot, with question mark, still open -- but slated for Plofker hotel project.

January 31, 2005 in Controversy | Permalink