BY MARY JO LAYTON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The Valley Hospital’s proposed expansion moved closer to reality when a judge signed off on an agreement between the hospital and the Ridgewood Planning Board that eliminates a top floor from plans for the main building, but still permits the hospital to nearly double in size.
The ruling by state Superior Court Judge Lisa Perez Friscia remands the case to the Planning Board to hold hearings on the proposed 2016 master plan amendment beginning March 30 with a vote scheduled by April 7.
It marks the third time the issue, which has dominated village politics for a decade and consumed countless hours of public meetings, will come before the Planning Board.
And again, residents overwhelmingly agree the 451-bed hospital needs to renovate, even expand — the campus is dominated by 1960s-era buildings while competitors have built cancer centers, gleaming outpatient centers and even opened a hospital in Westwood. The sticking point is that the residents remain outraged at the size of the proposed buildings in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
The latest plan calls for eliminating 34,000 square feet from 995,000 square feet of proposed construction to modernize and provide all private rooms.
“It’s a minuscule reduction in square footage,” said Peter McKenna, president of Concerned Residents of Ridgewood. “I don’t know why the Planning Board felt compelled to accept this.”
The agreement was reached after several sessions with mediator Virginia Long, who retired from the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2012. Now that the case goes back to the board, Valley and the board can present witnesses, but it’s unclear how much latitude the board will have in the proceedings.
Board Attorney Gail Price could not be reached for comment Friday. McKenna said he was consulting with members of his organization to determine their strategy.
“It sounds like we’re going through the motions in having hearings,” McKenna said. “It doesn’t sound like there can be any meaningful change to the plan in the process.”
Thanks Gween for getting such a great deal for us and Valley. Im sure your 3 candidates for Village Council will follow your lead and continue your legacy.
Watch the for sale signs go up around the Valley area. Up Up Up and away from Ridgewood. move away.
The traffic coming into Ridgewood from the large hospital , “a regional hospital for the greater community” and the newapartment dwellers who live in the CBD.
Imagine how clogged Linwood and East Ridgewood Ave will be. Maybe we will top NYC. Is there a prize for that?
Let me see The 3 Amigos PLAN A
5 story parking garage for my chamber friends CHECK
High density housing for my developer friends CHECK
Vally Hospital expansion CHECK
Schedlar 90 ft baseball field for my sports friends IN PROGRESS ( expected Complete date before 6/1/20/2015)
PLAN B
Insure that 3 Council Candidates that mirror our vision for Ridgewood are elected.
Note to self. Call Whitehorse Strategist
What about a PILOT or challenging Valley’s “not-for-profit” status in court using the Morristown precedent? What are the current candidates for the Council saying about that because NO ONE on the current Council appears to care about their fellow tax paying residents.
The disruption noise and chaos around that area will be unimaginable. I hope there is some maneuverability for the village. How the hell will classes be able to take place at BF when you won’t be able to even open the windows. This is awful.
Woo Hoo !!!
Pete. How much did you and your neighbors spend on that attorney you hired?
Paul Smith says “The disruption noise and chaos around that area will be unimaginable.” Does he forget that Valley will be operational during the construction phase? Will the patients, doctors, surgeon, nurses, and technicians really put up with unimaginable disruption noise and chaos? Paul you may want to take a deep breath before spouting such nonsense.
Rurik, I know you are dancing with glee. Don’t overdo it.
We’ll see Mr Halaby… they may be acquired by HUMC or Englewood by the time the construction is over anyway… nonsense indeed… wait for the school traffic combined with trucks coming in and out of the site… the devil, as always, will be in the details…. so this is the 80% part where i respectively disagree with you to keep things consistent of course
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Paul’s right..how will kids even safely get through road crossings that today are anything but safe..we can’t bus them all in…parents will start car pooling them over to from BF only adding to the congestion and danger..
8:43 AM, our governor said he might put a two-year moratorium on that statewide. Convenient!
Anon 10:48 No, I am not dancing with glee. I feel sad for the Vocalantis and their obdurate ways. They have an amazing talent for winning battles and losing wars. It does not take a genius to realize that the courts will never allow someone to stop Valley from renewing. There is the concept of the “public good” which preempts the selfish parochial needs of a handful of neighbors. And don’t forget that 25% of Ridgewood’s residents use Valley every year. The Planning Board approved Valey’s renewal plans in 2010? and if the CRR and their fellow travellers had not raised such a stink the construction will be almost all done by now. The CRR missed a great opportunity to sit down with Valley to alleviate their concerns of children being mowed down by monster trucks, the neighborhood being blanketed with pollution and lousy construction practices that would crack walls and flood basements for miles around.
So Rurik you’re ok with Gwenn Hauck laundering money through her husbands firm to hide the fact that she is still giving Valley money again. She and her husband directed money to Valley through his firm which she posted on her finanncial disclosure pages when she was first elected. I applaud Valley for posting their name in their benefactor list because they knew where the money came from in the first place. It took a phone call from Gwenn Hauck to tell them to send her a letter stating something else instead. This is not over and Gwenn Hauck needs to come clean. And the judge will soon find out what is really going on in Ridgewood. Shameful.
Tell me Rurik ( and any other supporter of Valley, including the judge), why can’t the “public good” be served if they were to build this place other than in a residential zone ?
Dear Rurik Your number of 25 percent of residents use Valley every year is related to day services. The number for an over night stay is approx. 6 percent. Almost doubling the size of Valleywhich includes a huge onsite garage on the corner of Van Dien and Linwood is not a compromise, it is a disaster for Ridgewood. Valley has purchased numerous properties for off site development which will better meet the needs of both sides. My mother was ill for a long period of time and when I could take her to an off site venue for treatment re: site on Winters Ave. in Paramus, I was relieved . It was so much easier to navigate for a multitude of reasons. Bigger is not always better, especially when it will take place in the middle of a residential neighborhood abutting a school.
Rurik…It’s not 25%, check your facts before you spew. Hard to win the wars when you don’t have the money, or resources our village services provide to Roberta, et al. I think adding any additional congestion to our CBD or village is an absurd thing to do. People don’t come here because it’s horrific driving around here, it’s very stressful, and frankly not worth it. There is nothing downtown that I can’t get on Amazon or somewhere else where I can pull up and park for free. Never mind the impacts, YES impacts, on the look of our village, school, etc. – you can’t possibly believe dropping massive buildings in the center of town or tripling a hospital’s size has no impact. I think you and your friends should continue your “vision” for a better Ridgewood, you should put a water park at Graydon, a storage facility center at Habernickle, turf at vets, expand the library, a performing arts center at Van Neste with portable trailer park buildings, a hospital on Walnut, tear down some of the cute one story shops and allow all owners to build up and then lastly, open up the zoning to multi family housing in all the neighborhoods.
Right on, Linda. Valley lawyers and “experts,” and people like Rurik, have continually painted a picture of how much of a great need this place is. Now they have managed to fool the judge. A lot of phony people have gotten away with murder at the expense of Ridgewood residents. If this place belongs anywhere it belongs in Paramus or Mahwah.
That corner of Linwood avenue and Van Dien supporting a construction project of that size for a new structure and foundation core and 4 to 5 level
Garage which would be a feat onto itself while operating as a hospital and thorofare for both vehicle traffic and school children crossing is highly unlikely to not place both pedestrians and schoolchildren at a major risk.
There is not enough square footage to achieve a safety buffer outside of shutting that whole crossing down for years,.