The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
Let’s look at what Jeff Voigt run his campaign on. He misled us with all his fancy signs & quotes. What a liar….. people voted for him & what he told us be wanted to do for the Village. Such a big disappointment for the residents & for the residents who thought he shared the same views.
OUR WAKE UP CALL
April 6,2016
DS
If the events that transpired last night do not shake your faith in the sham of a process that has transpired, nothing will. We are being held hostage by an institution that is engaging in a scorched earth policy against Ridgewood. They do not want to be a good neighbor and it is clear they would rather destroy our neighborhood than offer any real compromise.
I’m extremely disappointed that the majority of PB members did show a spine. I understand their concerns but we have to be firm in our resolve that this is not right for Ridgewood and we will continue to fight. What is the point of a Planning Board that can’t plan???
I’m sure many of you realize this, but if you haven’t made the connection yet to the Valley expansion, Garagezilla, and the increase in allowed housing density in town, let this be clear: any judge and court will. Therefore, even if you haven’t signed the garage petition yet, please consider doing so. We need to show the courts and other interested parties that we aren’t going to cause self inflicted wounds first in order to help prevent a hospital that will triple in size in a residential neighborhood.
Secondly, the upcoming VC election is more important than ever. We need to get strong defenders of our town in place because clearly the troika in charge of this town has had their own agenda. Please consider supporting Bernie Walsh and Jeff Voight in May.
Thank you.
March 24,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , Council Candidate Jeff Voigt give the Ridgewood blog his take on the March 23rd meeting .
Jeff mentioned a new petition , “There is a petition going around (which I support) for repealing Ordinance 3521 (Ridgewood bonding the garage) – for the very reason that the garage does not fit in this space as it is currently configured. The website https://www.its2big.com has more information; email:its2big@its2big.com. As you can tell by this website, the garage is way too big (5 levels; 4 stories; with 60+ foot high towers [note: that zoning in this area is for 45 feet]) and; does not fit with the aesthetics of the surrounding area. The committed Village citizens leading this petition initiative include: Jacqueline Hone (phone: 201-377-8556), Anne Loving, Gail McCarthy, Ellen McNamara (phone: 201-874-0966) and Saurabh Dani (phone: 973-903-5361). As well please reach out to Lorraine Reynolds (phone: 201-264-8151). Thank you to all of these people for heading this up.”
Regarding high density housing and the Ordinances 3489-3492 that were passed, Jeff said he left the meeting with the following impressions and thoughts:
“· Affordable housing is driving the Master Plan and appears to hold precedence (from a legal standpoint) over the Village employing spot zoning to address it (note: the NJ Supreme Court has ruled that spot zoning is illegal; Riya Finnegan LLC v Township S. Brunswick; 2008). It also appears the current council majority is holding good land use planning (via our Master Plan) hostage to affordable housing. While I am not against affordable housing and agree that Ridgewood should do its best to meet its obligation, we still do not know what this obligation is and; we have no plan for it. This makes no sense to me. As well, it would be nice to understand from some good lawyers, which of the following holds precedence if the 2 are intertwined – the use of spot zoning (to address an issue – is this legal or not) or affordable housing.
· What would be optimal regarding Ridgewood’s affordable housing obligation is for the Village to wait and see what this obligation is from the state and then plan for it. It is hard understanding why we are chasing an elusive target and zoning in a willy-nilly fashion (e.g. new AH-3 zone on Rt. 17 North across from the park and ride). This new zone, AH-3, was presented on at the 3/15/16 planning board meeting – where the Valley Hospital resolution was also presented. Note: Since the agenda for this meeting was published on the Ridgewood website only 3 hours prior to this meeting, only about 10 people attended. The open public meetings act requires that agendas be published 48 hours before a public meeting. Therefore, no surprises as to why so few people attended and why so few people know about it. “
March 23,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, Candidate Jeff Voigt offered his view of tonight’s events, “While we may not be able to stop the vote for the high density housing – we need people to attend to demonstrate via a large turnout that the few should not benefit to the detriment of the many.
Unfortunately our process was hi-jacked by self-interests who used Ordinance 3066 to turn what should have been zoning issues into a planning issue. The planning board could have denied any of these applications but chose not to – resulting in a deviation from the original Master plan and a change in it. Each of these high density housing developments should have been decided individually and separately by the zoning board. Initially they were (i.e. the Enclave). However when the Enclave developers realized that there were too many variances that they were seeking and; that they were going to have major issues with the zoning board, they did an end around the zoning board and went to the planning board. The makeup of the planning board needs to be closely scrutinized by the new council to ensure it is non-partisan and holds Village interests of highest importance.
There is a case, decided by the 2008 NJ State Supreme Ct. – Riya v Township South Brunswick 2008 which ruled that if areas of a township/municipality are rezoned, they need to be consistent with the surrounding zones. It is my concern that what has occurred in Ridgewood goes against this ruling – as an example: commercial zones between the train tracks/Chestnut/Franklin Ave have been rezoned for residential use – which is inconsistent with these existing zones. Why the Council would expose us to potential lawsuits I believe is reckless on their part and smacks of favoritism for the few (e.g. developers) to the detriment of the Village.”
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, here is a video of Village Council Candidate Jeff Voigt, regarding his views on the high density issue. Jeff’s perspective is thoughtful and I believe reflective of how many of us see it.The video was filmed by resident Dana Glazer .
It’s so important that people understand what is at stake here and how important it is for all of us to be present at Ridgewood High School on the night of March 23rd for the vote on this issue.
