Ridgewood NJ, for the second year in a row residents report being harassed by the Village of Ridgewood about their sidewalks. This is less than one year the requested repairs were already made.
While some residents contend the Village is just looking for the permit fee others like Barb Ehret Crowe on the “It takes a Village of Ridgewood Facebook page ,”The thing that is crazy to me is in most cases damage is caused by trees planted and maintained by the village yet the cost for the damage they create becomes the burden of the homeowner. Makes no sense”
Amended 9-16-2015 by Ord. No. 3498
A.
It shall be the duty of any owner of real property abutting any public street or sidewalk in the Village of Ridgewood, at the owner’s sole cost and expense, to install, construct, repair, alter, relay, reconstruct and maintain the sidewalks in front of or abutting such property whenever such sidewalks are required as hereinafter provided or, being already installed, shall be in such state of deterioration or disrepair as to constitute a hazard to the general public using said sidewalks unless they are repaired, altered, relaid or reconstructed. In addition to the foregoing, it shall also be the duty of the owner, at the owner’s sole cost and expense, to install, construct, repair, alter, relay, or reconstruct curbs where the deterioration or damage to the same has been caused by the actions of such owner.
B.
It shall be the duty of any owner of real property abutting any public street or sidewalk in the Village of Ridgewood, at the owner’s sole cost and expense, to maintain the interior of the tree wells located in/on the sidewalk in front of or abutting such property each year by weeding, removing debris and maintain the overall clean appearance of the tree wells and the interior of same.
Many residents claim to have already done the repairs .
Maggie Borkowski Neilson ,”It takes a Village of Ridgewood Facebook page,” I replaced last year were due to-their trees. Now they’re back saying they see another. No trees near it, no different than last year. Wasn’t a problem then but is now. Guess they missed it last year while marking up the rest of my sidewalks.”
She went on to say , “We are on Fairfield. Our entire street was done last year this time. I’m angry because I fixed all the ones they marked, plus an extra just to be sure, and now they’re coming back looking for more! Trying to double dip on the permit fees when they haven’t even completed the rest of the town once yet.”
Many felt a call to Village manager Roberta Sonenfeld would end up hearing 30 minutes lecture that how everything she has been doing is great with zero defect rate and ‘you’ the resident must be wrong?
Maggie Borkowski Neilson said after a visit to the engineering department claimed ,” They are blaming the fact that they used temps last year as to why they didn’t catch this one slab. Also said yes, my contractor had a blanket permit to do work but didn’t notify them that they worked at my specific address so that is why they are back at my property one year later.”
Many long time readers remember that following a citizen complaint registered with the Village, all sidewalks on South Irving Street were inspected in late 2010 or early 2011. Notices of violation were subsequently mailed to many property owners and several contractors began work on repairs in the summer of 2011.
“Many felt a call to Village manager Roberta Sonenfeld would end up hearing 30 minutes lecture that how everything she has been doing is great with zero defect rate and ‘you’ the resident must be wrong?”
Stonefield is still here as of last night Council Meeting.
This is typical BS by an overbearing village.This need to change now.
They’re just trying to find work for the new code enforcement officer and generate revenues to pay her salary.
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…”
They are trying to make the new enforcement position self-supporting.
There has been a focus on finding every little petty fine. What is wrong with the manager? Why is she looking for so much fee income. It is like the police having a quota for tickets.
This self righteous village manager needs to go. She is miserable and wants us to join her.
South Irving Street. Who could have made that complaint about South Irving Street.
South Irving Street – home to Jane Reilly, Jim Griffiths,Ellie Gruber, David Grubb, Tom Fitzgerald, Roger Wiegand, Boyd Loving, Anne Loving, Katherine Schmidt, Anne Walsh, ……just to name a few. Rurik Halaby is two doors from S. Irving. Lots of concerned and involved citizens on that street.
Yep, lots of concerned and involved citizens who are not hiding behind anonymity, who run for office, who speak up, who write letters on all sides of the issues, who have the courage of their convictions.
While I did post this on Facebook, I don’t love that my name is now mentioned on this blog too. As an update, after a rough start I am working with the village to resolve this issue which seems to have stemmed from a miscommunication between the contractor and engineering department. I need to mention that the village manager’s assistant was very helpful and always followed up exactly as she said she would. She was professional and kind.
Deliberately moved to a street with no sidewalks and never regretted it.
Duh? What’s the problem with your name being mentioned on this blog?
Lol. I didn’t see your name until you posted it, but doesn’t appear you have anything to hide anyway. Glad it is being resolved.
Never understood this…the town plants a swamp maple on the ribbon of grass btween the sidewalk and the street.
The tree grows, roots get extended and the sidewalk buckles.
Why do I have to pay for this stupidity…?
I saw village truck on Fairfield taking pictures and wondering what he was doing. Village ordered extensive sidewalk repairs here last year which lasted too long and impacted start of school so kids had to walk in street to get to school. Why they are bothering same residents again is beyond me. I walk all over this neighborhood and sidewalks on many other streets are in serious disrepair. They have holes – big ones. I am going to send pictures. They are crumbling, cracked, and raised. I walk by this woman’s house and if there is something wrong with the sidewalk you would need a ruler to find it. Whoever ordered this repair is an idiot.
What’s the big deal about having your name on the blog? Got a problem with the blog? The blog gets things done. Way more so than facebook. The blog rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have seen sidewalk slabs being replaces (obviously after receiving village notices) where I did not even know there was a problem to begin with. And on the next block, there are horribly crumbling slabs that no one seems to care about.
I do not think that the issue is with enforcement. It is with what appears to be selective enforcement.