Future use of Ridgewood’s Schedler property will require balancing act
Monday December 16, 2013, 12:58 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
For the first time in more than a year, the Ridgewood Council publicly addressed the future use of the municipally owned Schedler property, and one unmistakable conclusion was reached: The process of determining an appropriate development will take time.
The debate within the community began even before the village used grant money to acquire the property from the Schedler estate in 2009. Ridgewood’s Open Space Committee formalized the discussions early last year and opened a series of information-gathering sessions with all residents, who provided input on how they thought the 7-acre, tree-filled tract should be used.
In a report handed to the Village Council last fall, the committee considered resident suggestions and recommended that the land be converted into a 60/90 baseball diamond with an outfield area that can be used for other field sports such as soccer. The 60 measurement refers to the distance between home plate and pitching rubber, and the latter equals the number of feet from one base to the next.
Wait a second, a neighbor is worried about her teenage driver dealing with the presence of young children and increased traffic?!?!? That’s a reason not to develop a property owned by the entire Village of Ridgewood??? Did she really say that with a straight face? That may be the all time greatest illustration for the NIMBY people. How about all the people in town who already live next to or near; Vets Field, Somerville School, RHS, Maple Park, BF, GW, Citizens Park, etc… Come on, we all know that no one likes change but some of these arguements are just ridiculous. The other great one is the neighbor who lives next door to Rt. 17 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year but is now very concerned about the affect of air pollution from Rt. 17 affecting the kids playing on the proposed field for an hour or two at a time. Shouldn’t he be worried for himself?
number 1 if you don’t attend meetings and take statements out of context you get to type a thoughtless statement. My friend and neighbor apologized to council for her nervousness speaking in a public forum. Her point was a little confusing but not lost. Children playing on the neighborhood streets would be in harms way if inexperienced teen drivers drive to the proposed field for high school level games.
number 1 your “other great one” our fellow Ridgewood resident speaking about air quality stated the dense trees provide a natural buffer against noise, air and visual pollution.
number 1 let’s review the statement by RBSA’s Jim Albano ” at this point it’s dangerous to put kids on a field that really is not for their size.” I beleive Mr. Albano is stating he has repeatedly put village children in harms way when they play on a field not suited to their size. It comes as no surprise that Mr. Albano would be willing to put our children in danger, along with the entire Schedler neighborhood, by considering this a suitable location for a field of any size or type.
of course #1 i couldn’t sign off without sharing the laughable comedy act of Peter Bennet, “I understand the neighbors’ concerns about traffic, but having been involved with RBSA for 12-plus years, I can unequivocally say that a 60/90 baseball field has the least impact on traffic ” Unequivocally? The neighbors know our neighborhood will uequivocally deal with the traffic of his field and the traffic of route 17 planted in the middle of our residential neighborhood. We know removing any of the natural buffer will irreparably and unequivocally destroy the value and safety of our neighborhood. No Bennett cannot state “unequivocally the 60/90 field will have the least impact on traffic” because only “no field” will unequivocally have the least impact on traffic.
and finally #1 the one tidbit of information Albano and Bennett don’t share. Suggesting the field is for high school level games (not high school games but high school level) only attended by an occasional parent or a girlfriend. these games are more often cancelled because the high school aged players are involved in other programs like high school and travel teams. players show up to rec games only when they have no conflict. Since the field would be open to be used by anyone not just Ridgewood residents the big question is who will really benefit. we know its not the neighborhood and certainly not the ridgewood taxpayers. pay attention number 1.
Sell the property to a developer to put up condos that should act as a buffer and please knock down that house its an eyesore.