the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, “Our Village ,Our Future” ran a series of questions for Villagers and analyzed and published the responses . The “Our Village ,Our Future ” is focusing on the reimaging the Village of Ridgewood Master plan . The reimaging is an attempt to update the Master Plan and while many suggest that “the horse has already left the barn” , it seems an opportunity to address the many issues facing the Village .
From the site are the goal’s and ambitions :
“A Master Plan is a comprehensive document that serves as a roadmap, intended to guide the physical, economic, and social development of a municipality. The Plan is composed of goals, objectives, and recommendations that are designed to achieve a town’s shared vision and guide future policy decisions.
A Master Plan can address a wide range of topics and/or geographic areas of importance to residents and other stakeholders. It can provide an overall vision for a place and identify key priorities and strategies toward achieving the vision. It can provide direction in terms of investing in transportation improvements and public facilities, changing zoning regulations, protecting ecologically-sensitive areas, or becoming more environmentally sustainable. Concept plans and other visuals within a master plan can demonstrate ideas and hoped-for outcomes.
The Master Plan is also the basis for a municipality’s zoning regulations. In New Jersey, all municipalities are required to have a master plan and to “reexamine” it at least every 10 years. The reexamination process can represent a stepping stone for updating or creating a new master plan. However, the resulting Reexamination Report itself does not constitute the actual updated or new master plan.
The Village Council and administration use the Master Plan to prioritize the direction of policy as well as to strategize the best use of time and resources. The Council will use the Master Plan when making decisions about new laws and ordinances as well as budgets and spending. These decisions should be consistent with the Master Plan’s goals and objectives and should be designed to effectuate the Master Plan’s recommendations.
The Planning Board and Board of Adjustment refer to the Master Plan when making decisions on development applications as any new development should be consistent with the Village’s land use goals and objectives as well as the recommendations of the Land Use Element in particular.”
The four Weekly Poll Questions released in November have been analyzed and summarized HERE! You can also find the document on the Reports page of this website.
What is your favorite event hosted by either the Village or one of its many active community groups? I think there was no surprise here that the 4th of July Parade / Fireworks and the Christmas Tree Lighting were the top two .
What is the Village’s most pressing transportation need? the top two were, Improve the Conditions of Roadways and Congestion. Our favorite came in third Bicycle Access and Safety and interesting Additional Mass Transit Options was a distant 5th place .
What do you think is the biggest issue facing Downtown Ridgewood with regards to traffic & circulation? The top two were Unsafe Pedestrian Crossings Around Downtown and Heavy Traffic. A close third was ,Lack of Options for Alternative Transportation Modes (e.g. bicycle infrastructure, scooters, etc.) .
How important are the following cultural resources to you? Libraries ranked at the top with Community Events & Festivals next and third was Historic Preservation/ Structures/Museums
I’m surprised that building another parking garage isn’t on the list.
Front section of the library looks like a woke Disneyland: LGBT, Trans, Race, Vaccines. Basically post-modern religion substitutes porn. If that’s “cultural resources,” we’re in trouble.
15% Parking Shortage. WTF . The Ridgewood Parking Garage remains empty and people say there a shortage . Must be friends of Mayor Pauly the Greek
This article is the first I have heard of thls “survey”, so please excuse my ignorance. I must have been hiding under a rock between my attendance at recent Council meetings.
As a result of my gross inattention, I have the following serious questions about this survey that I would really like to have answered:
– When were these questions asked?
– Where were these questions asked (through what means of communication/publication/direct mailing…?)
– Of whom were these questions asked?
– How many respondents were there?
– What %age of respondents are actually tax-paying VOR residents?
Is there any source from which answers to the above questions can be obtained?
Cynically speaking, is this an honest-to-goodness objective survey, or is it just window-dressing for those who seek to have in hand what they could present as seemingly objective “justification” for their generally unpopular but profitable (to them) development plans (i.e.; another garage, another library, another Village Hall, or perhaps a nice Great Pyramid in Veterans’ Field?)
Who makes up the questions? We just underwent a massive population increase as a result 1 vote on the council that gave builders a variance to add another floor to make their buildings bigger when Midland Park and Waldwick councils refused to allow these builders to destroy their towns. Watch out for rigged questions to change zoning that depletes single family housing that ultimately continues to turn Ridgewood into a city.
“Front section of the library looks like a woke Disneyland: LGBT, Trans, Race, Vaccines.” – that’s why my kids never go to the “library”. I don’t what them get exposed to sick propaganda. The library is now a woke institution with political goals.
It doesn’t matter who answers to the survey, it matters who counts the answers.
NY state is approving legislation that removes limits about density for suburbs, basically anybody owning a lot can built 3-4 housing units in small spaces which means NO MORE suburbs. It will soon come to NJ and then God help us to find an exit. RW will be a massive town bigger than Hackensack and will what’s happening in Paramus it will be a good size city.
I would love to know what they plan on doing with the $2 million purchase of the contaminate to town garage next to Ben & Jerry’s.. I would also like to know when they will be doing anything with the $2 million purchase of that forest on the other side of 17. Where is they want to put a park where the town garage is located after they pay to clean up the contamination, I wonder if the tanks are leaking into the ground water!
The tanks ARE leaking into the groundwater. It’s documented. The plume travels towards Rite-Aid.