Ridgewood Planner’s report on multifamily housing misses the point
To the editor:
After recently moving to a home that is only a block outside of our Central Business District, I had an even more vested interest in attending the last Planning Board meeting. I was curious to hear our village planner, Blais Brancheau, as he told our Planning Board about this new high-density zoning change. I was incredibly disappointed with Blais’ presentation. He talked in circles and back peddled, saying not much about very little.
We want our village planner to have a plan, not just deal with developers as they come along! We need to know the long-term repercussions of this zoning change. We deserve this, as citizens and taxpayers of this town. He has yet to set forth facts on how these developments will impact our municipal services, traffic, our schools and the future of Ridgewood.
Instead, we heard about State of NJ planning guidelines and recommendations from NJ Transit. Why didn’t Blais discuss local and regional issues ahead of generalized state planning recommendations? Our schools are at or are near maximum capacity, yet Blais told the Planning Board this should not be a primary concern. Really? That is why we live here … the schools are the best.
According to Blais’ report, Page 14, using the Rutgers Study, the actual number of schoolchildren attending Ridgewood schools from apartments in/around the CBD was almost four times higher than the projected amount. And Blais neglected to highlight data that would make this projection even higher.
Our lack of parking is a huge issue right now, yet all of these high-density zoning changes will come with less than the state required parking. Our town’s Open Space committee gave a full presentation on our severe deficit of open space in this town, yet rezoning for up to 500-700 new apartments will surely exacerbate this problem.
Our Planning Board needs to think long and hard about the decisions before them. Yes, there is a need for beautiful, higher-end apartments to keep empty nesters in Ridgewood, their town they love and invested in for years. But people cannot be expected to sit through endless testimony, read through ridiculous blogs, or pay for attorneys in order to fight for their town. But that is the way it is today.
Why not put forth a non-binding referendum to see what the taxpayers of Ridgewood see for the future of Ridgewood? Upper Saddle River just did it. How about a village-wide mailing of the facts to every resident to educate us on exactly what the Master Plan amendment includes? Upper Saddle River just did that, too. (Oh, and Upper Saddle River just voted 11-1 against high-density zoning.)
It is up to the Planning Board to do what is right for Ridgewood, not for the developers, today and in the future. As leaders of our community, we truly hope they will.
Gail and Jim McCarthy
Ridgewood
