This is a letter from fellow resident, Dave Slomin on behalf of Citizens For A Better Ridgewood. Please share with everyone you know and, more importantly, please come out to the Village Council meeting on the night of March 23rd at Ridgewood High School. Ridgewood needs you!
Dear Neighbors,
This Wednesday night, 3/23, our Village Council, is set to vote on High Density Housing that is TOO BIG, TOO DENSE, TOO OUT OF SCALE and TOO OUT OF CHARACTER with the Village we love. Check out this video by Dana H. Glazer to see what the “new density” looks like: https://youtu.be/kJGXjjNBSgQ
All politicking, threats of lawsuits, and municipal studies and impacts aside… this comes down to a matter of “Vision” for Ridgewood. And right now, there is a huge disconnect between the vision for Ridgewood’s future held by the current powerholders in our Village Council and Planning Board, and that of a large majority of Residents. These powerholders see downtown Ridgewood as bigger scale, taller, denser, and much more bustling. They are planning a town center with a more urban look and feel, not a small town character. I don’t really know what is influencing them, as virtually every Resident CBR has spoken with – 1,000s of them over the past 4 years – wants Ridgewood to maintain its small town feel. Residents want to give their children and grandchildren the same wonderful town we enjoy. When we want more city, we know that Manhattan is a short drive away. Why doesn’t our Council majority feel the same?
Citizens for a Better Ridgewood (CBR) is for fitting and positive development. We are only naysayers to bad representation and bad planning. CBR believes that we can promote fitting development in Ridgewood by lowering the density of the current ordinances from 35 to 25 units per acre, which is already a 100% increase over current zoning, yet has solid precedent in our Village. Additionally, our planners must also limit Floor Area Ratio (e.g. building size), and enforce proper street setbacks and parking to make new buildings work. We feel it is our Council and Planning Board’s job to increase the quality of life value of our entire town, not just the property values of some developers.
Wednesday night is our last chance to try and stop this. Oddly, all three Council Members who support this over-scaled development are not running again. Why? We can only guess. But what we do know, is that in approving such unprecedented development as a Council Majority, but a Ridgewood Minority, they leave the mess to the next Council and to every Resident of this town… and to our children. Again, bad and unfair planning.
More Grist for the Developers and Political Dreamers..flipping us the bird on the way out the door..incredibly arrogant….completely predictable..taxpayers stand to hold the bag on the long term damage..stop that oversized Garage..A monolith to their arrogance and an insult to that small neighborhood..people live there too..Time for change..time to get off the couches,….
Ridgewood needs more people downtown to park in the new garage.
8:47 true.
Did anyone else notice the quote “Brancheau stated that one such property {where affordable housing could be built] is the space across Route 17 from the village’s Park & Ride. The space abuts the Schedler property and a number of single-family houses.”
So the Schedler field will be perfect as recreation area for a massive low income housing building which will sit along route 17 and back into Schedler. Maybe we should put a playground in too. Once again, people protest the first offer and the net result is much worse.
Another prime example is that all this construction will occur simultaneously because we spent years arguing about every project. If we had cut a good deal and built the first it would already be done. Instead we will now have major construction everywhere in the Village for 2-3 years.
Sometimes the best strategy is not to pander to NIMBY residents but instead to negotiate the best result possible.
Brian obviously you are not paying attention to whats going on
We as taxpayers don’t owe anyone a 20 Million plus neighborhood and church school zone busting Garage or any other business related expenditure.We should next petition for a vote that any such expense if incurred shall be supported by a 10 percent tax on all village businesses until the bond and interest is completely paid off,night change some perspectives that the residents are chumps,