Why would the former council members, who were defeated resoundingly, come to the meetings to attempt to advance their failed agendas? Are they just spiteful? Do they need to grow up?
Clearly, this was an attempt on Ms. Winograd’s part to generate a newspaper headline that the current Council was seeking to limit public comment.
According to the Ridgewood News which slept through the entire election Winograd was “compelled” to speak looking “to relieve the contentious energy that has been brewing for months”. The “contentious” energy was voted out of office and their agenda was resoundingly rejected . Perhaps if the Ridgewood News would have posted a few per election letters to the editor they would know that.
Once again Paul Aronsohn and the “3 amigos” show a limited understanding of Ridgewood and how things work. Hint : its considered very low class and disrespectful for failed council members to attempt to undermine the new far better ,more open , independent thinking council.
Ridgewood sale days under attack by aggressive parking police .witnessed this last Friday at 12 15 aside the book store cottage place.
Merchants should look into this interms of a ticket amnesty for mid day to 6 pm for special Ridgewood sale days .try to get over ourselves RIDGEWOOD good will be remembered forever…parking tickets on sale days guarantee no repeat visit by that out of Towner…why would they come back..give them a thank you for coming flyer waiver reminder if the Meters can’t be waived.
Aronson left us these problems and we need to deal with them now, ourselves. How much money is too much to unravel what was done? Besides, this is not a witch hunt – – this is a targeted effort to try and determine the truth of repeated allegations of improper favoritism in Village life. There is a reason there is a law on the books that allows the council to conduct this inquiry. This is exactly the situation where an investigation is required.
Until all the other Ridgewood problems are solved (Habernickle, high density housing, garage and most of all,Valley!) I can’t see the Village spending one cent on the library. It is already huge for a town this size and it has an auditorium that it rents out. (Check into how often it is rented and that will show you a need for maybe something extra on Sundays when they entertain but it is certainly not being put to daily usage. Why would one think the Arts Center would be any busier?
Offer developers incentives to build public parking
Editor, The Ridgewood Blog:
I get frustrated beyond belief whenever any member of the Village Council mentions all of the public parking spaces that will be permanently “lost” when the Brogan and Ken Smith properties are both fully developed (portions of both properties are now configured as surface parking lots and provide public parking to commuters and/or employees of CBD located businesses).
Yes; parking spaces will be lost during construction, but they don’t necessarily have to be lost permanently if someone on the Village Council would heed to my suggestion of offering incentives, in the form of tax abatements, exemptions, or reductions, to any developers who incorporate a public parking component into their development plans.
Believe me, if it were financially advantageous for a developer to incorporate a public parking deck/garage into their plans, they would rush to do so in a flash. Money talks, nobody walks.
So let’s get with it Village Council members – how about picking up the phone today and calling J. T. Bolger, Ned Cancelmo, John Saraceno, and Mike Smith to see what they have to say?
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood PD Patrol Officer Anthony Mormino and members of the Village of Ridgewood Department of Public Works Streets Division assist an individual whose smart phone fell into a dry storm basin at the intersection of East Ridgewood Avenue and Cottage Place on Friday afternoon, 08/05. The undamaged phone was successfully retrieved by PO Mormino. Great job guys !
During a Village Council Work Session held on Wednesday, August 3rd, Councilman Jeffrey Voigt publicly stated that he was approached by two (2) unnamed individuals who are “willing to testify” with respect to possible unethical, unlawful, and/or illegal actions that took place in connection with a previous Village Council’s introduction and subsequent passage of several ordinances related to the construction of high density, multi-family housing in Ridgewood. Councilman Voigt is proposing the formation of an investigative body, fully funded by Ridgewood taxpayers, to issue subpoenas, conduct interviews, hold public hearings, deliberate, and release findings/recommendations relative to this matter.
Although I wholly support finding out if there were any unethical, unlawful, and/or illegal actions that took place in connection with the previous Village Council’s introduction and subsequent approval of several ordinances related to the construction of high density, multi-family housing in Ridgewood, I am NOT supportive of the formation of a investigative body funded by Ridgewood’s taxpayers if Councilman Voigt, or anyone else on the Village Council, is already in possession of information that could be passed to an appropriate governmental investigatory agency, such as the NJ State Attorney General’s Office.
Why spend Ridgewood taxpayers’ money if there is already an agency that could handle this for us? Having an independent agency conduct the investigation would also serve to calm those who are already shouting “this is going to be nothing more than a witch hunt!”
If Councilman Voigt or anyone else on the Council has details of improprieties having taken place, he/they should PICK UP THE PHONE NOW AND CALL THE AG’s OFFICE – DO NOT HESITATE! There is no need to begin the long, drawn out, VERY EXPENSIVE process of forming a committee, issuing subpoenas locally, and conducting public hearings – I would view the initiation of such a process as intended to serve publicity purposes only.
Again, let’s cut right to the chase on this one – If someone is willing to testify that they are aware of things having been done that violated laws, DROP A DIME NOW!
Let’s stop the pussyfooting around and get on this immediately!
We need more than ever to put down our phones and Pokeman duties to take a walk up our commercial Zone and support our neighbors and their businesses for this event. These are real family businesses and some newer stores and services who voted with their bank accounts and invested in us.
We are all Ridgewood Citizens, so park the car far away,take a nice walk and enjoy a bargain new outfit accessory service offering or a meal ,,snack coffee , ice cream or fudge and bring the kids and a neighbor.lets show our commitment to supporting and buying local.
Forget about an arts center. The VH is not an ATM for special interest projects.
Walnut/Town Garage site was always the best place for a parking project. Central location to CBD & transportation. Ground level + 2 upper levels. Install a traffic light at the dangerous intersection of Franklin/Walnut.
If the VC wanted to get us out of the parking lot business, it should look into the owners of the Ken Smith & adjacent properties to do parking on the west side of the property & responsible mixed use on the east side.
As long as the VC is transparent and has no sacred cows to feed, it can be done.
Thanks for listening to your Residents last night and for engaging in thoughtful, open dialogue about the issues facing our town. All kidding in the subject line above aside, I wanted to share
My list of key points from last night. You all have been thrown very quickly into a fire that has been burning in RW for years. The way out that is best for RW will NOT be comfortable or easy. You are clearly already taking some steps to mitigate future problems from the prior Council’s mess. But to really help us, and to do the job really right, it is going to be somewhat uncomfortable for a while. As I stated, for the past four years your Residents have really been the ones dealing with much of the uncomfortable stuff (along with Mayor Knudsen and Deputy Mayor Sedon) – rallying the troops, writing endless letters, filing lawsuits, being verbally abused by developers agents as well as prior Council members, Planning Board Members and their attorney, being physically threatened, being shut up, ignored, derided, etc., etc.
So, please don’t be afraid of the uncomfortable. We’re not. To truly lead, whether in business, in our own families, or in Ridgewood, we all have to face the uncomfortable to get to what makes things work better.
Here’s my list.
#1. PLEASE SET YOUR OWN AGENDA: For the past for years the developer and their compatriots in our village governance have asserted their agendas, forcing us to follow, react and defend. It’s time to be as strong as them and SET THE AGENDA. Let them react and defend for once, even if some of that has to happen in the courts.
#2. 3066: Continue your work to undo Ordinance 3066. Keep this momentum going.
#3. RESOLVE PARKING QUICKLY AND SMARTLY: Continue to solve Ridgewood’s parking issues in a sensible and comprehensive way. If the Zabriske Lot Closed Session discussion is regarding a lease for parking, that is fantastic! Keep working to get a garage size and location right. Regarding angled parking and removal of the parallel spot buffers, please review this with Mr. Jahr, subsequent to Chris Rutishauser’s comments. AND PLEASE GET SOME SIGNAGE DIRECTING DRIVERS TO THE PARKING LOTS!
#4. REPEAL HIGH DENSITY ORDINANCES: Repeal the three high-density ordinances now. We appreciated this discussion last night. Kudos. There is no reason for these laws to remain on the Village’s books as an inspiration to neighboring owners or other land speculators who might buy up Village properties and seek variances or new ordinances for more high density housing.
#5. TAKE A CREATIVE LOOK AT MEETING AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEEDS: Take a real and creative look at ways to plan properly to meet our affordable housing needs. Perhaps you can amend some of the village property zoning on Chestnut St to allow for potential future Sr. Affordable Housing developments, a need clearly defined but not honestly met by the current developers. Look at other places where this can be done and include zoning for special needs.
#6. REDO THE MASTER PLAN REVIEW: Budget for a REAL Master Plan Review NOW and demand that the Planning Board replace the improper review done this year – where they even forgot to perform the necessary polling of residents for our views of Ridgewood’s future. Replace it with a real Master Plan Review, done by an unbiased 3rd party professional firm. I know you know we need this. We need a really planning bible, not a fake one. Please put the money aside now and start the RFQs.
#7. SETTLE LAWSUITS WITH YOUR RESIDENTS QUICKLY: Initiate discussions to Settle the lawsuits brought by your fellow citizens on the High Density and Valley matters. This is your decision to make, not the decision of the Council Attorney, or the Planning Board attorney. Regarding High Density, you can tell Matt now, that you want him to initiate settlement discussions this week with your fellow citizens. It is fully within your power to set that agenda. And don’t fear objection or intervention by the applicants. That’s great as it will bring the parties together. Be strong and bring them to the table too. Right now, nobody’s talking. If needed, ask Matt to have the court to appoint a mediator to oversee a settlement. But let’s get this done now. Let’s stop the need for citizen groups to continue to litigate the preservation of our Village. And please note that #8 below will help you settle these negotiations more quickly, because so much was wrong with the process.
#8. INVESTIGATE THE DEFECTIVE PROCESS THAT LED TO BAD ORDINANCES: Take Councilman Voigt’s Investigative Committee proposal very seriously… and please do it. The Village of Ridgewood, through its Council owes Residents clarity on the matter of how these very unpopular and defective high-density ordinances got passed. You don’t have to make this a witch hunt. Just as your Residents have done in their legal filings, take a look at the most serious issues, while also reviewing some aspects of the aggressive politicking and keep it short and sweet. But don’t avoid it because it is uncomfortable. For the past four years, your Residents have not avoided anything uncomfortable in our efforts to save Ridgewood. We will do our part to help by supporting you and providing you with a list of questions we have regarding the concerns, conflicts and issues with the defective and oft abusive process that led to passing of the high density ordinances. Again… we support a focused investigation towards clarity and eventual closure.
And last, please have Roberta and the Village’s tech staff get all the planning board minutes and transcripts back up on the website in a manner that can be found.
Thanks again for doing the right thing for Residents.
Location: Kilwins Ridgewood, 121 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
In-store specials all day on August 6, 2016 only!11am-12pm
free single scoop of ice cream-l pp in a dish12pm-2pm
Free 2oz bag of fresh caramel corn –
first 200 customers
2pm-4pm
$2.00 off a traditional caramel apple
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4pm-6pm
Free sundae toppings with any ice cream purchase
I am very concerned that newly formed committees/boards/councils etc. (arts, access, more) will consider part of their mandate to come up with countless expensive projects to propose to the council, who should bravely but firmly deflect like mad and say NO to all of them. We do NOT need a performing arts center, etc.–like many things, that was another Aronsohn plan to get his picture in the paper. It didn’t happen in time for that, so let’s scrap it. Even if partial grants can be applied for, such things always involve big bucks from property taxes. We have to stop working so hard to attract more people to visit and move here, because that just creates more problems. We cannot absorb more traffic, for one thing.
Too much regulation steals our freedoms in Ridgewood.
The cost of maintaining this over regulation is boundless.example
Overnight parking limitations call in requirement is another freedom taken away
from homeowners of small houses.Kids have cars now to get to colleges and jobs.a simple VOR car rear window sticker would solve the concerns of police on identifying any loiterers or stalkers late at nights.
Meantime the large houses on the heights have endless driveways.
A friendly village with coffee and ice cream hangouts, a bustling downtown with great restaurants that is a cycling and a tourist destination. Sounds like Nyack — but that description also fits Ridgewood, NJ, too. Nyack native and recent NHS graduate Peter Henry offers this ‘compare & contrast’ of these two suburban NYC villages.
by Peter Henry
Nyack is special. Or, at least, so I think. I’ve grown up in Nyack, and ever since I can remember – perhaps because of some combination of the village’s diversity, its proximity to New York City, and its vibrant arts scene – Nyack has felt sui generis. Recently, though, I’ve been wondering whether Nyack is one of a kind, or if, perhaps, there are other towns and villages, far or near, that offer a similar package, and to which residents have similar feelings. So, I went to Ridgewood, a quaint, charming village in Bergen County, New Jersey.
I was first introduced to Ridgewood three years ago by Kelly, a friend who lives there. Recently, she took me around again.
