Readers sight lost Tax Revenue and increased maintenance costs for Zabriskie Schedler House and property
The property is assessed at $2.7 million which translates roughly into $60,000 in annual property taxes if the Village didn’t purchase the property. The property tax revenue would have been much higher if the property was redeveloped.
There have been maintenance costs on the existing building. The roof had to be covered and the building had to be better secured from outsiders. I think there was asbestos abatement done which was probably in the tens of thousands of dollar range.
Village of Ridgewood  lost tax revenue when the property was taken off the tax roll and placed into open space inventory. Currently there is no cost to maintain the property as is notwithstanding the lost tax revenue. The cost to the taxpayer if the property is developed as a sportsfield will be significant due to the required maintenance and lost tax revenue from devalued area homes.
Are we sure the property is actually “assessed” at $2.7 million, or are we just assuming so because that was the purchase price? If the sole goal was to maximize the property as a rateable for tax/income purposes then we should return the grant money, re-zone the property “commerical” and develop the heck out of the exposure to Rt. 17. However the property was not purchased with that intent. It was purchased because it was targeted as one of the last large parcels of open space in Ridgewood. And it was purchased to help address the significant lack of open area and field space we have. The proposed plan does a nice job of balancing open space and recreational space and should be acted upon.
NO TO BALL FIELDS!
Recreational space on Route 17? Great, we’ve become Hasbrouck Heights and Rutherford now.
Why not with all the building our Council want’s to do in the CBD we will become those towns and more but I guess you don’t care about that. Just your little area of town.
Save the house but no ball field. Really.
no shit. that’s real safe to put a park at that spot. what are they going to put up a wall.
When was any asbestos abatement done? How much exactly and who was contracted to do the work?
There was no asbestos abatement done. The only place asbestos is present in the Zabriskie-Schedler house is in the wrapping around the ducts located in the basement. The wrapping is not cut and therefore the asbestos is safely contained. A lot of homes in Ridgewood still have the same scenario without any real concern for health and safety. If and when asbestos is removed from the basement, abatement will be negligible. Now for the cost to the village. The village has incurred very little costs relative to the house, infact, NOTHING has been done to fix a leaking roof except for placing tarps that continue to fail. If you think that nailing a few boards to the windows and placing tarps has costs the Village money, think again and imagine Habernickle Family Park. Capital money has been spent and grants are currently being requested for structures without a real use.
A hotel is the best option if we are concerned about the town’s fiscal solvency.