Category: Urbanization

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Ridgewood Planning Board clears way for high-density housing

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JUNE 3, 2015, 9:14 AM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015, 7:07 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — Developers were all smiles as they left Tuesday night’s meeting of the Planning Board, which approved four separate amendments to the village’s master plan, paving the way for high-density, multifamily housing projects downtown.

Several residents walked out of Tuesday night’s meeting when the closing comments by members of the board made it clear even before the vote that the panel would be moving to advance the proposed zoning changes.

The four master plan changes were approved by majority vote; Wendy Dockray, a real estate agent, was the only member to oppose all four amendments. Both Susan Knudsen, a Ridgewood councilwoman who sits on the board, and Michele Peters, an attorney, opposed three of the amendments.

All three women said that a vote Tuesday night would be premature, calling for more discussion of the amendments.

The vote capped five years of meetings, public hearings, and expert testimony on the master plan amendments, first requested by four developers with plans for four different housing complexes.

One developer has since backed out, leaving three housing projects planned with a combined 208 apartment units.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-planning-board-clears-way-for-high-density-housing-1.1347831

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Ridgewood Planning Board Approves High Density 35 Unit per Acre Plan for Central Business District

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June 3,2015
the staff of the Roidgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, 35 Units per acre was approved by the Ridgewood Planning Board in a 6  to 3 vote, in what can only be described as a victory for special interests over the residents of the Village . Last night the Planning Board approved a  change to the Village master plan from a density of 12 units per acre (current) to a density of 35 units per acre (almost triple) , giving the Village Central Business District a higher density than Hackensack 22 units per acre, Teaneck 28 units per acre, or Fair Lawn 17 units per acre.

According to Citizens for a better Ridgewood ,( CBR ) YES VOTES FROM….David Thurston (works in commercial real estate), Nancy Bigos (works for our parks and recreation), Mayor Paul Aronsohn (excited to open the door to high density), Charles Nalbantian (has sat on the board way too long, the public seems to annoy him), Richard Joel (has young children in our schools), Kevin Reilly (seemed hesitant to vote Yes, but did anyway) NO VOTES FROM…Council Woman Knudsen, Wendy Dockrey and Michele Peters. ALL THREE NO VOTES WANTED DEVELOPMENT THAT WAS MORE IN CHARACTER WITH OUR VILLAGE WITH DENSITIES CLOSER TO 24. THEY WANTED OTHER OPTIONS THAT BLAIS FAILED TO GIVE THEM. THEY PUSHED FOR OPTIONS LAST NIGHT AND THE MAJORITY OF THE BOARD REFUSED TO CONTINUE THE DISCUSSIONS.

While opponents of the high density Master Plan change look for other options , many  wonder if this now opens the door to a court victory for Valley’s major expansion?

CBR is still circulating there petition to stop the over development of the Village https://www.change.org/p/ridgewood-nj-planning-board-village-council-vote-no-on-the-high-density-housing-amendment-at-35-units-per-acre-last-minute-petition?just_created=true .

The petition was ignored last night with Planning Board Attorney Gail Price calling it , “hear say” and Chris Harris of the Record claiming , “a bunch of names are not even from Ridgewood” .

There is an opportunity to speak Mayor Paul Aronsohn how will be holding office hours for Ridgewood residents this Saturday. Mayor Aronsohn will meet with residents on Saturday, June 6 from 9AM to Noon in the Council Chambers (Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room) on the fourth floor of Ridgewood Village Hall. For an appointment to meet with the Mayor, please call the Village Clerk’s Office at 201-670-5500 ext. 206. You may come to the Mayor’s office hours without an appointment, but those with appointments will be given priority.

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Reader says the developers are either stupid or were told by those involved in the process (council, planning board?) that it would be approved

misterrogers02

I will not sign the petition only because I have no idea what kind of backlash I might face by doing so. But I wholeheartedly object to their 35 unit/acre proposal. The developers knew the rules when they bought the properties. The rules allow 12 but let’s be generous and go with the 18-24 existing standard – they asked for double that and by their own admission were surprised by the resistance they’ve faced. So they are either stupid or were told by those involved in the process (council, planning board?) that it would be approved. They say the economics don’t work under the current rules – so who in their right mind would take that kind of risk? These developers do not have the best interest of the village in mind, they want more traffic (foot or otherwise) downtown. Who does this help? In some ways the businesses generally but much more so and longer term it helps the landlords. For years they have been jacking up the rents on businesses (driving many away) in a time where retail spending as a whole has moved online making brick and mortar stores less valuable. The landlords see this and are happy to support this over-expansion because there is no other way to fill that revenue hole than to extract it from current residents of Ridgewood.

There were 3 primary considerations for moving to Ridgewood (many years before our first child was even born btw so the “empty nester” argument is invalid here – we are 2nd generation Ridgewood).
1) Great schools
2) Safety – outstanding police and fire response
3) Charming, Beautiful place to raise a family and hopefully retire

Allowing this over-expansion enhances exactly none of those considerations. Ridgewood’s restaurants thrive, retailers do not and likely will not when even the high-traffic areas of 17 have been forced to close. Stop arguing that we need to draw bigger retailers into this town – I can drive to 17 if I can’t find what i’m looking for online. Enough with the nonsense arguments, and enough with Blaise trying to figure out how to stuff the maximum density into our limited space (all this based on his “expert” opinion even though he has zero ability to think about a broader common sense plan for development).

in short – just say No to the developers. It is not our responsibility to tell them what’s allowed – they knew that when they bought the property. Cutting your request from 4X what is allowed to only 3X is not a compromise, it’s still a snow job.

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PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC MEETING TONIGHT

Village _council_meeting_theridgewoodblog

file photo Boyd Loving

PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE/AGENDA

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Village Hall Court Room– 7:30 P.M.

(all timeframes and the order of agenda items below are approximate and subject to change)

1.            7:30 p.m. – Call to Order, Statement of Compliance, Flag Salute, Roll Call – In accordance with the provisions of Section 10:4-8d of the Open Public Meetings Act, the date, location, and time of the commencement of this meeting is reflected in a meeting notice, a copy of which schedule has been filed with the Village Manager and the Village Clerk, The Ridgewood News and The Record newspapers, and posted on the bulletin board in the entry lobby of the Village municipal offices at 131 North Maple Avenue, and on the Village website, all  in accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act.

Roll call: Aronsohn, Bigos, Knudsen, Nalbantian, Joel, Reilly, Dockray, Peters, Thurston, Altano, Abdalla

2.            7:35p.m. – 7:40 p.m. – Public Comments on Topics not Pending Before the Board

3.            7:40 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. – Committee/Commission/Professional Updates for Non Agenda Topics; Correspondence Received by the Board

4.            7:45 p.m. – 10:15 p.m. – Public Hearing: Land Use Plan Element of the Master Plan AH-2, B-3-R, C-R and C Zone Districts

5.            10:15 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. – Approval of Minutes: June 2, 2014; May 20, 2014

6.            10:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. – Executive Session (if needed)

7.            Adjournment

In accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, all meetings of the Ridgewood Planning Board (i.e., official public meetings, work sessions, pre-meeting assemblies and special meetings) are public meetings, which are always open to members of the general public.

Members: Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Nancy Bigos, Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, Charles Nalbantian, Richard Joel, Kevin Reilly, Wendy Dockray, Michele Peters, David Thurston, Isabella Altano, Khidir Abdalla

Professional Staff: Blais L. Brancheau, Planner; Gail L. Price, Esq., Board Attorney; Christopher J. Rutishauser, Village Engineer; Michael Cafarelli, Board Secretary
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CBR change is good, growth is good, but this is too much

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Ridgewood NJ , CBR invites you to please open the link below and consider signing this petition. The Planning Board will most likely be voting on this amendment tomorrow night and we want to show them many people are not for this considerable change to our master plan from a density of 12 units per acre (current) to a density of 35 units per acre (almost triple).
Just to give you an idea of what other towns allow: Hackensack 22 units per acre, Teaneck 28 units per acre, Fair Lawn 17 units per acre, etc. Why would we want to have such a high density of 35 units per acre in our Master Plan? If they vote yes, there’s no turning back. Ridgewood will no longer be the charming Village we all love. Yes, change is good, growth is good, but this is too much. It needs to be a more reasonable number. Please sign and forward. Only 1 signature per e-mail address is allowed. Please send to your spouses e-mail address, so they can sign too.

https://www.change.org/p/ridgewood-nj-planning-board-village-council-vote-no-on-the-high-density-housing-amendment-at-35-units-per-acre-last-minute-petition?just_created=true

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“VOTE NO” to 35 units an acre revised Amendment to the Master Plan

Abraham-Godwin_theridgewoodblog

Fellow CBR Supporters — We need your help ASAP!

We have reason to believe that the Planning Board may vote on the revised Amendment to the Master Plan at tomorrow’s meeting!     Yes, this could all be over tomorrow night!

Please read and sign the petition below to urge  responsible planning and to encourage the Planning Board to “VOTE NO” to 35 units an acre .

Please SHARE THIS PETITION ASAP TONIGHT!

Share on Facebook, via email, on Twitter — everything!!
Encourage others to forward and share, as well!

here is the link to the petition!

https://www.change.org/p/ridgewood-nj-planning-board-village-council-vote-no-on-the-high-density-housing-amendment-at-35-units-per-acre-last-minute-petition?just_created=true

We hope to see you at the meeting:   Tuesday at 7:30 pm at Village Hall

Thank you for your continued Support!

Citizens for a Better Ridgewood
[email protected]

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Planning Board Meeting THIS Tuesday, June 2nd at Village Hall at 7:30 pm

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Fellow Supporters,

Please join us at the Planning Board Meeting THIS Tuesday, June 2nd at Village Hall at 7:30 pm

Agenda: FINAL Public Hearing on the Revised Amendment to the Master Plan that was put forth on April 21st  (Revised Amendment is attached)

We need your attendance at the next Planning Board meeting on Tuesday.  We are close to the end, but we must still attend the meetings and continue to urge our Planning Board to act cautiously when altering our Master Plan.  In our opinion, the Revised Amendment is still not appropriate for Ridgewood and will have long term negative consequences.

The new Amendment takes a one-size-fits-all approach to increasing density, offering the same benefits across all zones, regardless of the context or surrounding location — a risky approach that we do not support.

The new Amendment allows for up to 35 units an acre, with affordable for rent units included.  While this is indeed an improvement from the 40-50 units put forth in the initial Amendment, in our opinion, this is still too big of a jump from the 12 units per acre that is permitted now and the 22 units per acre average that currently exists in our down town.

Several properties (West Bergen Mental Healthcare and neighboring lots) that were originally identified as suitable for high-density housing in the first amendment have been eliminated from the revised amendment, which puts Ridgewood at risk for legal action for spot zoning.

In the revised amendment, the much larger Ken Smith property has been lumped into the same zone as the smaller Enclave (Sealfon’s) site.  These are two very unique properties and their zoning benefits should differ.

Our Village Planner insists that a minimum density (of approximately 35 units per acre) is necessary to economically incentivize developers to develop their properties and build housing, however, a lower density could be awarded that would still allow developers to build and profit.  Below is a link to a Letter to the Editor that references developers in HoHoKus that are seeking much lower density than 35 units per acre.

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-don-t-make-ridgewood-a-city-1.1340472

Thank you for your continued support.

Please join us on TUESDAY at Village Hall at 7:30 pm.  Let’s continue to  urge our Planning Board to get it right!

Citizens for a Better Ridgewood
[email protected]

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Homebuilding revs up in NJ, led by multifamily construction

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MAY 30, 2015    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2015, 1:20 AM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Home construction continues to heat up in New Jersey, especially in the multifamily sector, as builders obtained the largest number of monthly permits in April since the housing-boom days of 2005.

More than 3,700 building permits were issued last month. So far this year, 9,118 permits have been issued, up 12.3 percent from the first four months of 2014, according to the U.S. census.

This year’s increase in activity has been powered by the multifamily sector, as New Jersey’s long-term patterns of suburban, single-family development shift to a denser, more urban style. So far this year, multifamily permits have accounted for almost two-thirds of building permits issued in the state, as builders respond to a higher demand for rentals.

Patrick O’Keefe, an economist with the accounting firm CohnReznick, which has offices in New York and Roseland, expects single-family starts to remain flat, in part because young adults — the so-called millennial generation — often can’t qualify for mortgages because of tight lending standards and high levels of student-loan debt. In addition, he said, millennials “have experienced a housing market where prices went down, and have a more realistic assessment of housing as an asset.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/multifamilies-fueling-home-building-1.1345497

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Don’t make Ridgewood a city

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MAY 22, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Don’t make Ridgewood a city

To the Editor:

The Record ran an article on Tuesday detailing applications by two developers in Ho-Ho-Kus to construct new multifamily buildings with unit counts and densities much lower than the proposals here in Ridgewood.

A developer for the 2.12-acre site that currently houses Granny’s Attic on Maple Avenue is pitching 27 one- and two-bedroom apartments along with retail and office space, in a three-story building. This helps maintain the commercial character of Ho-Ho-Kus’ downtown area, while also providing a reasonable and responsible number of new apartments, including some affordable units. Looking at the apartments alone, the multifamily component density is 12.74 units per acre.

Another developer is looking to build 45 townhomes there on 3.66 acres, a density of 12.3 units per acre. I recognize that there are some differences between these proposals and Ridgewood’s, but what does stand out is that commercial, for-profit developers are proposing construction at densities much lower than those they are demanding here.

For the past few years, Ridgewood residents have been hearing from Ridgewood developers, our own village planner, and some members of the Planning Board, that much higher densities are required to incentivize the building of some new housing units downtown. The Ho-Ho-Kus proposals, in a borough very similar to Ridgewood, show that these excessive densities are not required. They are just the product of a desire for improving their property values and profits. But greed is not always good.

To date, Ridgewood’s planner has never given any studied and proper reasoning as to why we need to have densities of, first 50 apartment per acre, and now an amended 30-35 per acre (which is still too high). All we know is that 50 was declared the max and 35 is a number acceptable to some developers. But this is unacceptable planning for Ridgewood.

At the last board meeting, I asked our planner what financial due diligence was done to determine that Ridgewood’s developers needed this high density to make enough of a profit to spur development. I inquired what property purchase prices, what income and expenses and what cap rate of return were used in his pro-forma that says 30-35 is now the number. He admitted he had not done any such study, but came to the higher numbers because the Brogan site developer complained that an earlier determination of 25 per acre wasn’t enough for them. So, the current densities are based on a developer complaint.

That’s not good planning.

Many residents, along with Citizens for a Better Ridgewood, a group promoting smart and fair development in Ridgewood, are advocating for building new housing, but at densities more fitting for our village. If we cannot have the benefit of proper analysis to determine correct densities, we should go with what we know works here. Either keep the master plan the same at 12 per acre, or, if we want to incentivize development, raise it to 18-25/acre, the current average that exists throughout Ridgewood.

Don’t make Ridgewood a city. It’s a village.

Dave Slomin

Ridgewood

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-don-t-make-ridgewood-a-city-1.1340472

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Ridgewood planners on board with changes to ordinance

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MAY 22, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The revised version of Ordinance No. 3066 was presented to the Planning Board on Tuesday to give members a chance to comment before it is sent back to the Village Council.

The amendments were prepared by a subcommittee of village officials and presented to the council on May 6. The governing body decided it would be best for the Planning Board to weigh in before introducing the ordinance.

The purpose of the ordinance is to strengthen certain provisions that already exist and to revise the process by which an applicant seeks a master plan amendment. The revisions clearly define the Planning Board’s flexibility in deciding how and when to proceed with an application.

Officials began considering revisions due to a community debate that took place last year over the ordinance’s perceived role in the master plan amendment applications received by the board, with some saying it allowed Valley Hospital and outside developers to take over the Planning Board process, said Mayor Paul Aronsohn.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/plannerson-board-with-new-changes-1.1340532

 

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Housing complex proposed for downtown Ho-Ho-Kus

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MAY 18, 2015, 7:12 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015, 11:09 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

HO-HO-KUS — A multifamily housing complex is being pitched for the borough’s downtown.

The proposed three-story development would have 27 one- and two-bedroom units. It would also have nearly 13,000 square feet of space for retail use and 9,300 square feet for offices.

Plans submitted to the Ho-Ho-Kus Planning Board show the proposed project would include some units of affordable housing.

Helmed by the borough’s Mechanic family, the owners of several properties throughout borough, the development would be built on 2.12 acres located in the heart of downtown, affecting 619 North Maple Avenue and 217 and 239 First Street.

To make room for the construction on the south side of North Maple Avenue, some demolition is planned, including the razing of Granny’s Attic, an antiques shop.

“The project will include significant architectural upgrades with careful attention to streetscape, together with enhanced drainage, landscaping, lighting and other site improvements which will present an aesthetically pleasing and appropriate redevelopment of the property,” the application states.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/housing-complex-proposed-for-downtown-ho-ho-kus-1.1337302

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Reader asks will we spend more tax dollars to improve our water pressure once we get the new apartments downtown?

sprinklers_vets_fielf_theridgewoodblog

Ah, so we can just spend more tax dollars to improve our water pressure once we get the new apartments downtown

And how the hell are we going to add another 500 to 1000 toilets, kitchen sinks, showers, bathroom sinks, etc when we put the projects in downtown? Are we expected to give up our gardens to ensure the developers make a profit?

But the developers have assured us their will be no adverse impact on the Village and I believe them (cough, cough)

Rain has nothing to do with restrictions. Ridgewood uses groundwater . . . . it would take many, years of drought to impact the supply of water available to us.

The reason we have restrictions if because our infrastructure is inadequate to pump all the water we might need in a worst case scenario (ex . everyone is watering their lawns and a huge fire breaks out). Ridgewood doesn’t want inadequate water pressure in and emergency.

We have plenty of water. Every year it has to be re-explained. A few years ago, we almost had a permanent solution to this problem with plans to install bigger water storage tanks that would have been able to maintain full pressure even during heavy usage. The local residents had it voted down because they thought it would hurt their views.

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Reader says For the first time in 32 yrs. we are starting to question why we are staying here

Abraham-Godwin_theridgewoodblog

For the first time in 32 yrs. we are starting to question why we are staying here. High taxes, no kids in school, watching services go south( have you ever seen the corner of Linwood and Maple look that bad on Mothers Day, or Ben Franklin the morning after it is used by whoever the night before ?)the garbage political games, developers going nuts (along with a non profit), etc. It was once the positives far outweighed the negatives as this being a top notch town in which to live; unfortunately, that gap has narrowed substantially.

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Ridgewood making changes to controversial ordinance No. 3066 known by many as ” Pfunds Folly “

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Ridgewood making changes to controversial ordinance

MAY 15, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Arguably one of the village’s most well-known ordinances has been amended to address concerns dealing with some of its language.

The amendment was presented to the Village Council last week.

Ordinance No. 3066, which sets forth the fees and processes involved in applying for an amendment to the master plan or development regulations, was originally passed in July 2007. The ordinance has become the subject of controversy as many believe it enabled the multiple master plan amendment applications that have dominated the agenda at Planning Board meetings.

Part of the basis of revising Ordinance 3066 was to ensure that the Village of Ridgewood is in full ownership of its master plan document and retains the exclusive right to amend it, said Councilwoman Susan Knudsen.

“We own this document, it is our policy document,” she said. “The prevailing concept throughout this revised ordinance is this is our master plan.”

A committee consisting of Knudsen, Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Planning Board Chairman Charles Nalbantian, Vice Chairman Richard Joel, Village Planner Blais Brancheau, and Planning Board attorney Gail Price has been working for the past couple months to differentiate between a typical development application and a master plan amendment.

By state law, a site plan, subdivision or variance application forces the Planning Board, or the Board of Adjustment in some cases, to act on them within a certain period of time and go immediately to a hearing process.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/changes-in-store-for-controversial-village-ordinance-1.1335079

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Reader says Empty nesters have been selling their houses to families with young children for generations in Ridgewood

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Empty nesters have been selling their houses to families with young children for generations in Ridgewood and we’ve done just fine. Now the developers and their friends on our Council want to build hundreds of apartments in town for empty nesters. This is a pipe dream – we all know that these apartments will attract families with school children from nearby cities with school systems that lag behind Ridgewood’s.

A couple things are going to happen that nobody wants to talk about. 1. Kids who live in the apartments will go to Ridge, Willard and GW where class sizes are already beginning to tick up. 2. If empty nesters trying to sell their houses are competing with developers renting apartments to families with kids, the value of your house will go down.

We are being sold a bill of goods by special interest groups, specifically developers and labor unions, that are supported by 3 members of our Council. Their “studies” have produced laughable results – traffic will decrease and school population will stay flat. False and false.