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| 14 Reasons Why This Proposal Will Cripple the City, the Port, and the People of Camden |
| The Camden Redevelopment Agency and the City Planning Department have proposed the designation of the Central Waterfront District as a redevelopment area. |
| The South Jersey Port Corporation's Beckett Street Terminal, which is located immediately south of both the Tweeter Center and the berth of the Battleship New Jersey, lies entirely within the proposed Central Waterfront Redevelopment Area. |
| The Waterfront Alliance to Save the Port District, which includes business owners, employees and other concerned citizens, believes that this proposal will cripple the City, the Port ,and the people Camden. |
| The members of the Alliance believe that the proposal doesn't make sense for 14 very compelling reasons: |
| 1. To return to self sufficiency, the City needs a strong economy. To develop a strong economy, the City must attract new employers and new jobs. But, first, it must preserve existing jobs... (more) |
| 2. A strong City economy needs a strong port district. The port district is one of the City's most significant private sector economic engines... (more) |
| 3. A strong port requires an active and enhanced terminal at Beckett Street. More than 1,000 port jobs are supported by the Beckett Street Terminal... (more) |
| 4. The City needs jobs. The existing businesses targeted by the City for closure employ more than 2,400 workers... (more) |
| 5. Camden residents needs jobs. One out of every seven jobs that will be lost in the port district is held by a resident of Camden... (more) |
| 6. The City and the region need business revenue. Key waterfront employers generate more than $192 million in sales annually, which is 60% of the sales generated in the entire Central Waterfront District... (more) |
| 7. The City and the region need tax revenue. Eliminating the 2,400 existing jobs would cost the City $97.5 million... (more) |
| 8. The City can't afford to relocate or buy out the existing businesses. By the Planning Department's own estimation, the City will have to pay at least $800,000 million... (more) |
| 9. The City can't afford to send the wrong message to Port customers or Port workers. More than 20,000 people are employed by the customers of the port... (more) |
10. The Camden Redevelopment Agency sends the wrong message to all of its constituents by ignoring the City's own Master Plan. The proposed redevelopment plan ignores a key premise of the City's Master Plan... (more) |
| 11. The City, the County, and the State can't afford the huge, upfront, taxpayer-funded remediation costs necessary to qualify brownfields within the Central Waterfroint District for proposed residential use... (more) |
| 12. A "working waterfront" enhances plans to redevelop surrounding neighborhoods. The revitalization of the Downtown Business District and the Lanning Square and Bergen Square neighborhoods is enhanced by a vibrant... (more) |
| 13. Forward-thinking waterfront communities actively protect "working waterfronts" from residential encroachment. The protection of "working waterfronts" is becoming a recognized development principle in forward-thinking communities... (more) |
| 14. Promoting residential development as a substitute for the port/industrial waterfront is not good, long-term economic policy. Alternative strategies for a win-win scenario include... (more) |
| The Waterfront Alliance to Save the Port District comprises businesses currently operating in the proposed redevelopment area, employees of port-related businesses, concerned citizens, residents, and others committed to maintaining a viable, working waterfront that contributes to Camden's economic revitalization. |
| Most of the business in the Alliance would be forced to either close or relocate if the plan now under consideration is adopted and ratified by City Council. |
For more information, please call the Alliance representative,
Joanne Williams, at 215-569-8360. |
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