>Housing development planners say their proposed projects would benefit Ridgewood
Thursday February 9, 2012, 3:04 PM
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Citing projected minimal impacts on village services and district schools and suitability of the properties in question, planners for each of the two proposed downtown residential developments testified that the projects would bring overall benefit to Ridgewood.
Preliminary testimony on the two housing developments concluded at Tuesday’s Ridgewood Planning Board meeting, and more hearings are expected in a few months. In January, the board commissioned Village Planner Blais Brancheau to conduct a study of the downtown area to determine its capability to handle residential developments such as the ones currently proposed. The study is expected to take several months to complete, after which the developers will return to the planning board.
On Tuesday, each project’s planner tied together some of the lingering discussion threads and questions raised by board members, namely the projected increase each development would add to the school district’s enrollment and parking problems it could create.