December 6, 2014 , 9am to 1pm Santa at Columbia Bank, 60 S. Broad Street – gifts and pictures for children 10:30 Am Free Movie at Bowtie Warner Cinema – ‘Nightmare before Christmas’ Breakfast with Santa – Call for Reservation 201/652-1070
Breakfast with Santa
Chamber of commerce
December 13, 2014 , Breakfast with Santa – Call for reservation 201/652-1070 Visit Santa in the Park – 12Noon to 3PM
Breakfast With Santa – Visit Santa House
Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce
December 20, 2014 , Breakfast with Santa – reservations at 201/652-1070 Visit Santa in his house in the park Noon to 3PM www.experienceridgewoodnj.com
Saturday, NOVEMBER 29TH, 2014
Small Business Saturday is a national day to encourage people to shop at small businesses.
Saturday, November 29, 2014 is Small Business Saturday® – a day to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do in your community.
Please join the Ridgewood blog and organizations across the country in supporting your local small business by shopping at a small business.
Small Business Saturday is an American shopping holiday held on the Saturday after U.S. Thanksgivingduring one of the busiest shopping periods of the year. First observed on November 27, 2010, it is a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which feature big box retail and e-commerce stores respectively. By contrast, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. Small Business Saturday is a registered trademark of American Express corporation.
Free Parking available Friday and Saturday at the Park West Tavern
Free Parking on Friday and Saturday
The Park West Tavern is proud to announce that we will be offering free parking in a secured lot on Friday and Saturday evenings.
5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
Starting November 28th, 2014
The lot is located next to the Wells Fargo Bank at 41 North Walnut St, Ridgewood NJ, approximately one block away from the entrance to the restaurant. There will be an attendant in place as well as a sign clearly visible from the street.
Sounds Familiar : More development pressures in Bergen
News and commentary from Bergen County’s many municipalities besieged by heavy-handed development proposals underscores boiling dissatisfaction with plans for gross changes in heretofore cherished communities.
Ordinary residents can’t accept claims that big development won’t bring negative impacts, and they can’t understand why their elected and appointed officials and “experts” paid with local property taxes buy into those claims.
Montvale’s Hoboken-based “master planner,” who touts experience developed in Johannesburg and elsewhere in Africa, has told locals that state planners encourage denser development than has prevailed in Bergen traditionally.
That requires zoning changes blessed by planners and local officials alike. The blessings can lead to snags. Montvale’s mayor has told residents he testified in court for four days in a lawsuit brought by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.
In a case that has received virtually no public attention, A&P makes the thunderous charge that Montvale is guilty of “spot zoning” in favor of one family of local farmers and their development partners.
Whether or not the court agrees, proposals in Montvale and elsewhere in Bergen are pitting the few against the many.
Can social media do more to push Small Business Saturday?
NOVEMBER 24, 2014 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY JOÃO-PIERRE S. RUTH
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD |
THE RECORD
* Marketing push to harness the power of apps, social media
As North Jersey retailers gear up for Small Business Saturday this week, some groups hope to drum up extra foot traffic with the help of tweets and status updates on social media.
The Upper Main Alliance in Hackensack and the Englewood Chamber of Commerce are two of the many organizations that hope to draw customers on Saturday to local shops with a marketing push — which includes leveraging Facebook, Twitter and even Foursquare.
Small Business Saturday, now in its fourth year, is the brainchild of American Express to get more people to shop, ostensibly while using their credit cards, at local businesses across country. The idea is that small businesses will offer deals or discounts specifically for the day.
Albert Dib, executive director of the Upper Main Alliance, said some 166 retailers and restaurants in the city are members of the alliance, which is the core target of Small Business Saturday. Word will be spread, he said, across the different social media platforms about the deals being offered at shops in Hackensack for the day. The alliance is an advocate for the city’s business improvement district and works in conjunction with the city to address needs of the business community.
Reader says It’s absurd that we would be considering a Master Plan change that would allow such a monumental increase
The property owners are already entitled to develop their property, but within the current zoning regulations. At this moment, a residential development may have up to 12 units per acre. The Master Plan Amendment is proposing 40+ units per acre (actual # depends on which development they are talking about). Quite a jump, huh? It’s absurd that we would be considering a Master Plan change that would allow such a monumental increase. I don’t believe most people are against some downtown housing, but the proposal on the table is for 200+ apartments and could be (according to Blaise) expanded to 300-500 units.
The problem right now is that the PB has been stringing these developers along for 2 years now and no one has the guts to just say no and rethink the whole issue from the viewpoint of “What do WE want Ridgewood to be in the future?” If we want it to be multigenerational, then how do we want to accomplish that? What can we do to assure that the intrinsic character of Ridgewood will remain? These are the conversations that need to take place. Instead, we are reacting to a proposed Master Plan change requested by DEVELOPERS. These developers are trying to maximize their return. That’s understandable, but it is up to our PB and our Village Planner to guide this conversation and protect OUR RETURN (the interests of the tax payers) and the character of our Village.
Reader says the first requirement for a town planner is to care about the town
The first requirement for a town planner is to care about the town and what it is and why residents don’t want high density development.
Blais has no affection for Ridgewood. He sings Ridgewood like a robot, comparing him to Bruce Spingsteen singing Rise Up.
If I were making plans for anything I CARED about I would not say the proposed huge change would benefit on one side of my mouth and on the other say the devil is in the details and there will be some (unknown) impact. I wouldn’t recommend unless I was damn sure for something so truly lovely, and charming as Ridgewood. Why turn Ridgewood into a high density town, Blais and company?
Ridgewood residents grow frustrated with planner’s housing testimony
NOVEMBER 21, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014, 10:29 AM BY LAURA HERZOG STAFF WRITER | THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Frustration with a lack of certainty was the theme of Monday’s Planning Board hearing on a master plan amendment that would allow high-density apartments downtown.
At the meeting, which at one point attracted more than 70 people, about 20 members of the public continued questioning Village Planner Blais Brancheau about the proposed amendment.
That questioning first began at a meeting earlier this month.
This Monday, many residents related their concern to the “speculative nature” of the benefits expected from the amendment – like an expected boost to business in the Central Business District (CBD) and the belief that many local seniors would want to move from a home to an apartment.
These concerns came in combination with what many consider to be a biased decision on the village’s part: to say that, on the other hand, factors of speculative concern to the public either were unlikely or should not drive the decision-making process for the Planning Board.
Some of these concerning factors for the public included the maximum units that could be built with the proposed amendment and associated costs. On Monday, Brancheau revised an estimate he offered at the last meeting – 500-700 units – to 325-545 units, calling this an unlikely scenario and a “very, very rough guess.”
“I just would like to know what the real numbers are … We have not yet heard any numbers in terms of extra costs, much less the projected revenue of the taxes on these buildings,” said resident Felicia Angus.
Gymboree on East Ridgewood Avenue now shuttered November 20,2014 Boyd A. Loving 9:22 PM
The Gymboree retail children’s clothing chain closed its store located at 234 East Ridgewood Avenue late last week. The building is owned by Milridge Realty, LLC of Tenafly, NJ. No word on whether the building owner has a new tenant scheduled to move in.
The Gymboree Corporation is a specialty retailer operating stores selling high-quality apparel and accessories for children under the Gymboree, Gymboree Outlet, Janie and Jack, and Crazy 8 brands, as well as play programs for children under the Gymboree Play and Music brand.
The nearest Gymboree store to Ridgewood is at the Paramus Park shopping mall
Reader says Previous Reports make it obvious that the densities being proposed in ridgewood are too dense.
So Brancheau doesn’t consider the extensive report prepared by CBR’s attorneys to be adequate planning? CBR spent tens of thousands on hiring a well respected law firm which prepared a 25 page report comparing densities of the most desirable municipalities in Bergen, towns comparable to Ridgewood, which have maintained densities per acre in line with, or just slightly higher than Ridgewood’s current master plan which allows for 12 units per acre in the business district…This report analyzed regs of 72 municipalities in Bergen..a quick review of this report makes it obvious that the densities being proposed in ridgewood are too dense.
The board also heard testimony from and received an 18 page report from professional planner Brigitte Bogart…who was also hired by CBR..this report details how the proposed development/amendment to the master plan would affect our schools, traffic, open space deficiency, need for additional resources such as police, fire, etc.,…Bogart also discusses in detail how any proposed amendment to the master plan should be reviewed with respect to open space and recreational facitilites…
Doesn’t sound like poor planning to me…I hope the board is considering this evidence it has before them and acts responsibly. We will remember come election time..in 2016 and for years to come… whether or not they acted to protect and preserve Ridgewood.
Reader says Some really bad decisions are being made because the town is looking for a buck
I do think that is a factor right now. Think about it, the ridiculous bike lane was done bc the town received outside money , a study is being funded by the freeholders (not the town) to study parking, Blais said at the meeting the other night that no independent studies have been/would be conducted on housing bc we don’t have 100k to spend, etc, and they want developers to take over so they can fund traffic improvements that we can’t. Some really bad decisions are being made bc the town is looking for a buck.
Reader says When the developers financial interests matter more than the increased burden on residents they are no longer representing our best interests
Our government should absolutely be representing our best interests, and repealing the proposition that lead to the multi-family housing and Valley expansion fiascos would be a great start. When the developers financial interests matter more than the increased burden on residents they are no longer representing our best interests. If I owned a 3 bedroom home right now in need of any updating, I would be very worried about my home value decreasing too ( all values might go down a bit but that would seem the hardest hit).
Reader asks an increase of 300-500 new residential units how might affect Village Services ,Schools ,Water ,Recreation and so on
To ask them how an increase of 300-500 new residential units might affect their dept. Would they need to hire more staff? Would they need more equipment? What might these additions cost? Can our parks, both passive & recreational. handle more residents effectively? Would we need additional water treatment facilities? Would we have to float another bond to expand our schools? Would we need to hire more teachers? All of these departments are impacted by a potential increase of 300-500 apartments. Sure, our downtown would get more foot traffic, but we should also be researching how it will affect the village as a whole. That’s why you need reports.
Readers says the council can issue a non-binding referendum to get a sense of whether residents like the Idea or Not
Reader also suggests the Village Planner should other opportunities of employment
The council can issue a non-binding referendum to get a sense of whether residents like the idea or not (this is what Upper Saddle River just did, when it was voted down 11-1).
There is also a way for residents to petition for a referendum vote of the ordinance that made this whole process possible, 3066.
What I would love to know is a way to petition to get Blais fired. He was almost incoherent last night, answering few questions, and admitting that no independent studies were done (all studies on impact were paid for by builders). We have no sense of the financial burden to the town nor is it relevant in his opinion. Traffic, number of new school children are also not a problem…well, because the builders say so.
That snippet of an article does not represent at all just how clueless Brancheau sounded. We have no concrete numbers on anything basically: the number of units, number of new schoolchildren, costs to village, new traffic/accidents, burden on facilities, etc. All figures to date have been derived from the builder’s research and there have been 0 independent studies. If there is ever a transcript available it should be required reading before deciding what is or is not a fair minded report.
About Brancheau and his research abilities: You all need to remember back during the first round of the Valley expansion when, after many hearings, it was suddenly revealed that the project was hundreds of thousands of feet larger than they had been discussing — Brancheau had failed to count the basement floors!
Brancheau said it was difficult to predict the future, but that his numbers suggested that for every five units built, there would be one additional child signing up for instruction.
“There will be some impact,” Brancheau explained. “The schools are at capacity now
Reader asks Why can’t the officials in Ridgewood seem to look at these applications with a critical eye?
Doesn’t anyone in this town have any balls?!?!?! No one with a village job wants to be on the record as having an opinion on this stuff. It’s crazy! Blaise talks out of both sides of his mouth.
The superintendent of schools does not speak up on behalf of our schools (except once over a year ago). Where is a report from the police? The fire dept? The sanitation dept? Where is a report from Parks & Rec? And you know Rutishauser will tell you that there’s plenty of capacity in our water & sewer system to handle 500 new apts AND an expanded hospital.
Why can’t the officials in Ridgewood seem to look at these applications with a critical eye? They should be questioning everything a developer is telling them. They should be researching what other towns are doing and figuring out what Ridgewood wants to be.
They should be asking for resident input. Instead, they attend meeting after meeting and talk in circles. The developer tells them everything will be great and the residents have to hire lawyers to prove them otherwise. While I appreciate the time the Planning Board members sacrifice to be on the Board, I think it’s time for them to work smarter, not longer.
