Several of the pictured signs were observed on lawns in front of private residences on Ridgewood’s East Side early this morning, including the Mayor’s home on Linwood Avenue and the Deputy Mayor’s home on Cottage Place.
Although the First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects a property owner’s right to display such signs, is it appropriate for both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor to be displaying their respective support for the garage not knowing 1) what the final price tag is, 2) what the design will be, nor 3) how the garage will be funded? In short, they both have little if any factual data about the project, but yet they support it? Duh?
Additionally, what taxpayer funded resources, if any, were used to design, print, and/or distribute these signs? The Mayor mentioned during a recent public meeting how pleased he was that promotional material in support of the referendum was being developed (perhaps an inappropriate comment for an official meeting); did the Village’s contribution to the endeavor stop there, or is there more?
They have zero idea how much taxpayers will be on the hook for this pie in the sky project, but they’re happy to be riding the train out of the station. ALL ABOARD!
Ridgewood NJ, If the current water storage tanks, wells, pumps, are not sufficient to meet current summer time peak demands (as Peak summertime demands are not the design standard, Average daily demands are the standard), what would happen with future growth as in the proposed apartments? There might not even be sufficient water supply for average household daily demands, let alone for firefighing. We can forget about outdoor irrigation of any kind completely, and become a cement city.
Additional larger capacity storage tank, wells and pumps, at another location in Ridgewood, should be addressed now. Other towns serviced such as Wyckoff has shown population growth, building expansion since the 1997 water study.
https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/water/08VVFAQs.pdf
Review of 1997 study referenced in 2008 “Valley View Storage Tank Replacement study, indicated “minor additional demand might occur in decade or over several decades, not focusing on future demand should it occur, saying future change would be minimal. The sizing of the Valley View Tank should be a viable solution for many decades into the future.”
“Population growth has not markedly changed in the last 30 – 40 years. The minor amount of growth that has occurred in the last two decades can be characterized as in-filling (e.g. one house is torn down and two or three are built in its place). There is little room for development of any significance throughout the entire system that will have any impact on typical daily demands.
“The project is for regional public good. True, the project more directly services a particular area, but that area houses numerous properties that service the general public good – Ridgewood High School, GW Middle School, Village Hall, the downtown area, Valley Hospital, etc.”
Reference was made to the E.Glen and N. Monroe as possible sight . Study shows there are 4 other tanks with larger capacity 2,000,000 gallons, and 1 tank with 2,5000,000.gallon at locations Wyckoff, Glen Rock, E. Saddle River Rd, Ridgewood. Referenced other locations with lesser capacities.
https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/water/08VVFAQs.pdf
All of this focus on Tito’s, but It’s Greek to Me gets a pass on those intrusive planters. I wonder why? Money talks, nobody walks. Support the right candidate for public office and you’ll be good to go too!
Mayor Paul’s friend Paulie V (Greek to Me)got away with that no questions asked. They are ugly, illegal, and dangerous (wall).
I agree, it is clean, it looks good. The colors are not outrageous. No neon green or anything wild. For heaven’s sake, DROP IT
I love Titos, great food, reliably delicious, nice employees, good prices. Leave them alone. Please!
Since when is the opinion of the historic commission binding ???
SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015, 10:54 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A discussion on Tito’s Burritos color scheme will have to wait until next month as the Planning Board announced the matter would be carried to the second meeting in October.
Planning Board attorney Gail Price notified the board that attorney David Rutherford had sent a letter requesting the application be carried until the Oct. 20 meeting, stating his client was still working on a few items.
Price said Rutherford’s email indicated they were “re-working” things and were going back for another meeting with the village’s Historic Preservation Commission (HPC).
Board alternate Isabella Altano and Councilwoman Susan Knudsen indicated that representatives from Tito’s had recently met with the HPC to discuss the situation and possible solutions.
A public hearing began last month as Tito’s co-owner Mike Caldarella admitted the dark blue paint job on the front entrance was done accidentally, but without permission from the town.
However, some members of the board took issue with the color scheme itself, as did the HPC, which believes the color is out of character with the surrounding buildings.
As you may or may not know, on September 30th the village council will be continuing the 2 night hearing and voting on the 5 ordinances regarding the high density housing. These ordinances would increase the density allowed from 12 units per acre (current) to 35 units per acre (UPA) in our downtown. Here’s a comparison as to what some other towns in our area allow: Fort Lee 50 UPA, Teaneck 28 UPA, Englewood 12 UPA, Hackensack 22 UPA. If passed, Fort Lee would be the only town in our area, similar in population, with a greater density per acre. I do believe the majority of the town is accepting of development, but on a smaller scale. Maybe 25 units per acre? Do we really want to be built up more than Teaneck? I certainly don’t want to be anywhere near Fort Lee’s density.
The planning board spent approximately 3 years in discussions and 1 1/2 years in a public hearing before voting. The village council had a small portion of their Sept 16 meeting devoted to this and now the council will be coming to the sept 30th meeting with their written statements prepared on how they are voting and why. The Ridgewood News had an editorial last week about “what’s the hurry?”. I have to agree with them. While I don’t want this to drag out, I do want the council to do their due diligence and get all of the facts before they vote. During the Valley hearings at the council level, the council brought in the traffic expert, planner, geotechnical engineer, etc and each council member asked questions of these experts and based their vote on what was discussed at council.
It appears that the majority of the council does not want to bring in any experts. They are ready to vote without asking any questions of any experts as to how this will effect Ridgewood. At the planning board level, a concern about the increase this would bring to our taxes was brought up several times by residents. The discussion was always shot down, because “it is not in the purview of the planning board to consider finances.” In fact, the village planner stated, “residential housing almost always increases taxes, we should not be doing this if we think taxes will go down, but there are other benefits to residential housing.” The council has a much broader scope of items they can discuss, finances being one of them. You may remember that Tom Riche voted yes to the Valley amendment at the PB level, but no to it at the council level. That is because the council is able to look at a broader range of issues. Finances should definitely be discussed.
I would like to see the council bring in several experts in addition to a financial expert. Water must be discussed. I know this year is an exception with the lack of rain, but we have mandatory water restrictions every year. Can you imagine an additional few hundred apartments to supply? I can’t.
Schools must be discussed. The planning board did not have a member of the BOE at their public hearings. The council needs to ask Dr Fishbein to appear at the council hearing to answer questions.
The traffic expert, the engineer, the planner, etc should all be questioned. I do hear the planner will be there, but that’s it.
I don’t know how anyone could possible vote on something so monumental without questioning all of these experts to see what the impacts will be for Ridgewood.
I urge you to e-mail our council and ask them to have these experts at the hearing, get the facts first hand, and then vote.
These people are our elected officials, and we have a right to make sure they have done their due diligence before they vote.
Whether you are for or against the increase to 35 units per acre, I think we can all agree that each council member needs to be able to ask questions of the experts to help them in their decision making process.
Below are the e-mails of all the council members. Please send them an e-mail today and forward this to friends. Thanks
We’ll have a nonbinding, ignored referendum on the garage at Hudson and Broad…but perhaps unwittingly demonstrating just how real that building already feels to those in power, the Village Manager announced at Wednesday’s council meeting that they are soliciting suggested NAMES for it. Once you name a thing, they know, it becomes real.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2015, 11:34 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015, 11:36 PM
BY LINH TAT
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
For months after a five-alarm fire ripped through a massive apartment complex in Edgewater and left a pile of debris in its wake, residents, firefighters and lawmakers called for changes to state regulations that dictate building standards and requirements, in hopes of improving fire safety.
Many provided input to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, which happened to be in the midst of updating the state Uniform Construction Code, a process that takes place every three years.
On Monday, the newly revised code will take effect. But absent are the changes that so many had been pushing for after the Avalon at Edgewater fire.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015, 2:11 PM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Village Council is moving ahead with a design for a parking garage at the Hudson Street lot, selecting Desman Design Management as the firm to provide architectural renderings for the governing body and the public to review.
The council voted 3-1 on Wednesday evening to award the contract for professional architectural and engineering services for the design of a multi-level traditional self-parking structure to Desman Design Management in an amount not to exceed $295,350.
A special public meeting was held last Tuesday by the governing body for the purpose of hearing presentations from four different companies as they pitched their ideas on a downtown parking garage.
The next night, during the Village Council’s regular work session, Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said the steering committee decided to recommend either Desman Design Management or Timothy Haahs & Associates Inc.
During the ensuing discussion, three members of the council gave a similar opinion while two others stated a preference for Desman, with all five members eventually agreeing on Desman as the choice for the garage.
Councilman Michael Sedon noted that Desman had focused on the “bones” of the structure more than other presentations, broaching topics such as firewalls and keeping some space between the garage and surrounding businesses.
“They had one design that was interesting with ramps outside the building and a lot of their designs had space between the shops on Hudson Street in the rear of it,” said Sedon. “They would maintain that easement outside the garage, which was different than all the other presenters.”
Next CBD Forum – September 23 at 7:30PM – Village Hall
Our Central Business District Forum will resume next Wednesday, September 23, at 730 PM, in the Village Hall Courtroom. We will discuss the new garage planned for Broad and Hudson Streets. No longer just a nice idea, the garage is moving into the design phase. We have already seen some exciting design possibilities that will be offered to our residences for their consideration. The Mayor will attend the forum and he and I will bring everyone up to date as to where the process stands and where it is headed, including a look forward at the all-important referendum on November 3. Please join us and invite your friends and neighbors to attend.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015, 9:35 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
With the prospect of a parking garage on Hudson Street and a vote looming on the fate of multifamily housing in the village, things are heating up downtown as summer comes to an end.
Last Wednesday, the council revived the subject of the North Walnut Street redevelopment zone and the potential future uses for the site, namely the possibility of housing for seniors in need of long-term personal care.
Preliminary negotiations have begun with Kensington Senior Development, which pitched an assisted-living facility for the Town Garage site at a council meeting in March.
One of the goals of redeveloping the North Walnut Street zone is to bring additional parking spaces to Ridgewood’s Central Business District (CBD).
The request for proposal (RFP) put out by the village stated a parking garage built on the site would have to result in a net gain of 100 spaces for village use. That number is beyond the spaces currently available and any spots reserved for the development.
Kensington proposed a 60-foot-high facility with 98 assisted-living units and retail space on the first floor for the 1.1-acre site, along with a parking garage to be built and donated to the village.
It’s been said before and should keep being said, we all want seniors to be able to stay in town if they would like. Apartments currently exist for that purpose and a few more can and maybe should be built within the current density levels.
But the worst thing that could happen to seniors who would like to stay in their homes would be for hundreds of new apartments to be built. Either families would occupy those apartments OR the homes vacated by seniors moving into apartments. Either way the result is MORE children in school AND HIGHER taxes for services to support those children (school budget is by far the largest % of our tax bills). We NEED to find ways for people without children in school to stay in their homes and increasing the school budget is not the way to do it.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog and Photos by Boyd Loving
Ridgewood NJ, it was a beautiful fall evening to host the Annual Fall Car Show, presented by the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce. The Village was buzzing with energy and filled with a wide variety of cars, from muscle cars and hot rods to current models and unique designs , with cars ranging from the years 1930 to 2015!
The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce dedicated the 2015 Car Show to the memory of those who died on 9/11 and a special “Memorial Award” was given out by Duxiana of Ridgewood.
The huge American flag suspended between two hook and ladder fire trucks! The Ridgewood High School Marching Band gave their first performance of the season and the RHS Maroon Men acapella group started the evening off with the Star Spangled Banner.Many of Ridgewood’s fine restaurants were open for business.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2015, 9:26 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Village Council held a special meeting Tuesday to continue the discussion on a parking garage for Hudson Street.
Six firms responded to the village’s request for proposal (RFP) for the garage; that number was narrowed down to four before the meeting began.
“We went through talking about each firm’s strengths, weaknesses and fees, and we’ve come down to four firms that are most qualified to serve the village,” said Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli. “They’ll be presenting their concepts, their designs, their thought processes on what this parking garage will look like.”
The governing body will now deliberate on the proposals, and should narrow its choices by the next council meeting, officials said.
Here is a look at what the council will be discussing.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2015, 12:33 PM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
In response to a request by a local grassroots organization, village officials have decided to extend the public hearing on multifamily housing in Ridgewood’s Central Business District (CBD) to a second evening.
A statement submitted to The Ridgewood News on Thursday by Citizens for a Better Ridgewood (CBR) called for the Village Council to reschedule its public hearing on the ordinances that would approve the changes made to the master plan passed by the Planning Board in June.
The public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16, which is the same night that four village schools – Hawes, Ridge, Somerville and Willard elementary schools – have their annual back-to-school nights scheduled.
On Friday morning, representatives from CBR sent the statement along with another message urging the mayor and council to reschedule or add more opportunities for residents to voice their concerns for the ordinances.
Mayor Paul Aronsohn replied that village officials could not have known about the conflict when the hearing was originally scheduled in June and noted residents were encouraged to speak on the topic at any meeting during the two months between introduction of the ordinances and the scheduled hearing.
The Ridgewood News editorial today highlights in the importance of the September 16 Village Council meeting for the future of our village, and asks the Mayor and Council, “What’s the Hurry?” (see link below)
The Ridgewood News approached CBR to make a statement about how the Village Council intends to rush the vote to approve ordinances that would allow high density housing, and asked our opinion on holding the public hearing on a night that conflicts with many Back-to-School nights. (see our statement to the Ridgewood News below)
We have asked the Mayor and Council to reschedule the meeting. We urge YOU to also email the Mayor and Council and ask them to either reschedule the public hearing, or to schedule additional opportunities for public comment in the future on this very important matter. The email addresses are below. Also, please continue to reach out to friends and neighbors and encourage everyone to attend this vital meeting on Wednesday, September 16.
