Reader says the Village needs to seize the agenda from the developers
Answer – we need parking AND common sense. Unfortunately with the team we have running the show, we’re unlikely to get either.
Until the Village seizes the agenda from the developers, we will be in a state of continuous reaction. Developers want to build huge buildings because they make more money that way. Certain citizens are not in favor of huge buildings. Developers then say that if they can’t build a huge building then they won’t build anything. Then other citizens say that the town is is disrepair and we need to do something so let’s just build the huge buildings because what other choice do we have?
Come to think of it, I’d settle for some common sense and will drive around the block looking for a spot in the meantime.
Ridgewood News letter: Luxury housing will keep people in village
AUGUST 22, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2014, 12:31 AM Print
Luxury housing will keep people in village James D. Vaughan III
to the Editor:
Luxury apartments along the Ridgewood train tracks are good for Ridgewood.
Once the children grow and leave home, a luxury apartment in town is a very attractive alternative to Ridgewood residents. We raised our children here and our friends still live here. We would prefer to stay in Ridgewood rather than a neighboring town. However, we cannot justify the expense of the large home. Most of the readers of The Ridgewood News know a friend who moved to a townhome or apartment in a neighboring town.
The residents of the luxury apartments would be mostly Ridgewood residents who have sold their home, or young couples moving to Ridgewood. Many of the young couples would be our children.
Currently, the properties are industrial locations. A luxury apartment complex would bring new residents and pedestrian life to downtown. Adding ongoing Ridgewood residents to the sites along the train tracks would be tremendously beneficial to our town, our downtown and our property tax revenue.
Ridgewood News letter: Resident unhappy with actions of attorneys
AUGUST 22, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2014, 12:31 AM
Resident unhappy with actions of attorneys Nancy Currey
to the editor:
Frankly I was stunned while attending the Aug. 19 Planning Board meeting with the tandem display of incivility by the Mr. Bruinooge and Mr. Wells toward Open Space Committee chair Ralph Currey.
Currently, the Planning Board is considering amending the master plan so that developments such as The Enclave, The Dayton and Chestnut Village can be built in Ridgewood. In order to assess the widespread impact the addition of a significant number of new citizens would impose, the Open Space Committee was requested by the Planning Board to prepare a report.
The Open Space Committee is a largely all-volunteer citizen committee without funding. The report was prepared in the context of these limitations and posed as an advisory paper. We are fortunate, due in large part to the considerable efforts of these dedicated volunteers, to have Habernickel Park and the Schedler property.
Compared to surrounding towns, the Village of Ridgewood has far less recreational space even with the addition of Habernickel Park and the potential of the Schedler property. The essence of the report prepared by the committee is that Ridgewood is already lacking the fields and open areas that would be suggested for its current population using several guidelines. The addition of a significant number of new residents utilizing those same recreational facilities would only worsen the numbers.
This really is a matter of common sense. One does not need formulas to realize our parks are overcrowded and the competition for field space is fierce. Just drive to a park in our area and try to find a parking space. That is more telling than any stack of paper. The attorneys representing the developers harped on the calculus of the report and congratulated themselves on trying to humiliate the witness. The truth speaks for itself.
AUGUST 22, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2014, 12:31 AM BY LAURA HERZOG STAFF WRITER
The Village Council approved two ordinances last week that officials hope will have a positive impact on the Central Business District (CBD) and customer experience.
One ordinance establishes rules for restaurant valet parking. The other is an amendment to an existing ordinance on site plan procedural requirements, which the village manager hopes will speed up the process of building approval for business owners, as well as homeowners, who are doing minor work.
In the case of the valet parking ordinance, the village manager was pushing for a speedy approval; valet parking is already being done in the CBD by Roots Steakhouse. The new high-end eating establishment on Chestnut Street valet parks at some of its other area locations.
The new ordinance, which allows valet parking operators to “utilize the streets and public parking lots of the village… for performance of their services,” lists detailed operating requirements.
Among them, valet parking operators will need to buy an annual permit and show a valid insurance certificate.
Part of the push for the valet parking ordinance is related to the village’s parking woes. The village’s resolution notes that valet parking is being permitted to “help alleviate and minimize parking congestion.”
AUGUST 15, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2014, 12:31 AM
Few believed a pedestrian plaza in Times Square would work, let alone become a permanent fixture in the middle of New York City’s Crossroads of the World. Both happened
In 2008, the American Planning Association bestowed its Great Public Spaces honor to the Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, Vt. There, pedestrians freely walk on store-lined Church Street in an outdoor mall setting.
CBD Discussion – Ridgecrest Senior Apartments – August 20th – All Are Welcome
The second open forum on the CBD will take place Wednesday, August 20, at the Ridgecrest Senior Apartments at 7-11 Ridge Road, Ridgewood, starting at 7:30 PM. From 7:30 to 8:00 PM, the microphone will be open to speakers who did not speak at the July forum. From 8:00 until 9:00 PM there will be a panel discussion among residents of ideas advanced to date. All are welcome, naturally subject to the meeting room’s capacity.
Readers says The fact is, people that take issue with our elected officials tend to be activists and serial volunteers.
I find it interesting that Council apologists assume that anyone that disagrees with them is lazy and ignorant. After all, we didn’t run for Council ourselves and we don’t serve on the Planning Board so therefore all we must do is put signs on our lawn and complain.
The fact is, people that take issue with our elected officials tend to be activists and serial volunteers. We tend to take enough time to formulate an educated opinion on the issues that face our town. We also tend to act on those opinions by attending meetings, participating in the process and yes, posting here. We tend to take enough time to formulate an educated opinion on the issues that face our town. We also tend to act on those opinions by attending meetings, participating in the process and yes, posting here.
the Pearl: After dinner, have Anthony make you a strawberry zabaglione tableside. We are the only restaurant in NJ to do this dessert tableside. Come see the show – the KING OF BROAD STREET!
Reader says businesses that are able to pay the rent and succeed will determine what you see in the storefronts.
The CBD tenants (of current buildings) change due to markets and the residents can piss and moan all they want, but the reality is, the businesses that are able to pay the rent and succeed will determine what you see in the storefronts. In my 45 years living in town, I have seen a few changes in ‘retail’.
No more Drapkins, no more Winchells, no more Al & Harrys, no more Sealfons, no more MacHughes, all of which were great stores and fell victim to the malls.
We used to have a liquor store on many corners.
Every corner on franklin had multiple gas stations (Phillips 66, Amoco, Texaco, arco, Texaco, mobil(2), exxon, Sinclair, etc, all of which are gone. (a few gone from godwin as well)
Who was foolish enough to pay the going rate for rent? Banks, nail salons, restaurants, or wives of rich residents who wanted to ‘play store’.
Its an ever evolving mix, and the market will determine things, not those who choose to opine on ‘what kind of stores are good for the CBD”.
Nadler Chevrolet, brogan Cadillac, ken smith Lincoln, and the buick dealer, all gone. (this IS one are that resident input should be welcomed if the property owners request zoning changes) If I owned a retail store, I’d take advantage of the foot traffic generated by the restaurant trade at nite. Unfortunately, most of these dummies are closed!
AUGUST 17, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 2014, 11:31 AM BY KATHLEEN LYNN STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
In a sign of the housing industry’s rebound, two large North Jersey redevelopment projects — in Wood-Ridge and Cliffside Park — are picking up momentum after being stalled during the real estate downturn.
The steel framework is going up at the Towne Center project in Cliffside Park, and developers Fred Daibes and James Demetrakis of Edgewater now expect the project to open around September 2015.
And at the Wesmont Station redevelopment, on part of the old Curtiss-Wright factory site in Wood-Ridge, Pulte Homes has begun work on a section of 217 town houses, while nearby, land is being cleared for 104 affordable apartments.
The Wood-Ridge and Cliffside Park redevelopments are moving forward at a time when home building — especially multifamily building — is on the rise again in New Jersey, after falling to post-World War II lows in the wake of the recession and housing bust. This year, New Jersey home construction approvals are running at their strongest pace since 2006, about 29 percent ahead of last year’s level.
“You’re seeing a convergence of long-term trends toward more multifamily, transit-oriented residential development and the housing market emerging from the deep recession that the industry was in,” said Christopher Jones, vice president for research at the Regional Plan Association.
“There’s a pent-up demand for housing, and builders are getting into position to meet this demand,” said Ralph Zucker, head of Somerset Development, the master developer at Wesmont Station.
AUGUST 15, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2014, 12:31 AM Print
Parking, housing needed in downtown Bill Rahal
To the Editor:
After nearly three years of filings, meetings, testimony and public hearings, I feel compelled to write. As the Village of Ridgewood continues to debate development in downtown, stores are closing and vacancies are on the rise.
These delays are not good for anyone who loves our village and wants to see it prosper.
Such a lengthy timeline hurts local business and inhibits the growth and investment that our downtown needs to thrive. A quick walk through town reveals too many “going out of business” signs and vacancies. This threatens the long-term health and attractiveness of the entire village.
As a downtown business and property owner, I see consequences of this stagnation first hand. Any plan to reinvigorate the downtown should include not just parking but also modern multifamily housing. It will expand housing options for people wanting to move to town, create jobs and bring new pedestrian shoppers to the village.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-parking-housing-needed-in-downtown-ridgewood-1.1067890#sthash.rRWY8rsN.dpuf
Readers Question residential to commercial Zone change for Goffel Road
Two immediate concerns come to mind – (1) Boscarino, a realtor is putting this forward and he is indicating neighbors have no compaints, I’d like to be very sure to get input from the neighbors and surrounding neighbors (2) Boscarino stated in the linked article “Developers would come in and build whatever the community needs, office buildings, mixed-use …” I am concerned about that “mixed-use” development. Boscarino in full article is quoted as “The heavily traveled county road noise, freight train in the rear, [and] no sidewalks, contribute to low values,” Boscarino wrote. “It is not favorable for children. You cannot carry on a conversation in front of your home during peak travel periods. The Goffle Road thoroughfare is a major provider of services traveled by buses, all-sized trucks and vehicles of all kinds, and a massive amount of passenger vehicles at 40 [miles per hour].” Why develop NEW (partial residential) mixed-use properties if it is such a negative place to live, and you are making it even more commercial? I would be more favorably disposed to new commercial use as opposed to mixed-use zoning.
Central Business District Discussion – August 20 at Ridgecrest Senior Apartments – All Are Welcome
The second open forum on the CBD will take place Wednesday, August 20, at the Ridgecrest Senior Apartments at 7 Ridge Road, Ridgewood, starting at 7:30 PM. From 7:30 to 8:00 PM, the microphone will be open to speakers who did not speak at the July forum. From 8:00 until 9:00 PM there will be a panel discussion among residents of ideas advanced to date. All are welcome, naturally subject to the meeting room’s capacity.
AUGUST 12, 2014 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2014, 1:21 AM BY CHRIS HARRIS STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — The Village Council plans to create a committee of residents, business owners and officials who will be charged with taking a long, hard look at Ridgewood’s master plan.
The decision came during a lengthy discussion at a recent council meeting, spurred by Councilwoman Susan Knudsen’s suggestion that an ordinance — known as “3066” — be modified.
That ordinance requires that developers requesting changes to the village master plan cover the costs associated with those changes, including, for example, the retention of experts to testify on the proposed changes.
Residents opposed to three high-density, multifamily housing developments proposed for downtown contend the ordinance, adopted in 2007, has made it easier for developers to propose changes to the master plan. Some residents, who suggested the ordinance be repealed, said it limits master plan amendment requests to those who can afford to pay for the process.
Readers comment on Village “controversial” ordinance 3066
3066 states “Upon completing its review of the application, the Village Council or Planning Board, as applicable, shall take whatever action it deems to be appropriate under the circumstances and advise the applicant in writing of its decision.”
Under current ordinance, try responding to a developer that has spent money developing an application and preliminary analysis, “this is a no-brainer”, we aren’t having a hearing. Maybe, I’m wrong. Perhaps it is all just coincidence that 3066 was passed and we now have had this flurry of development applications.
This ordinance was pushed through when Pfund was mayor in the months leading up to Valley Hospital Master Plan proposal before the Planning Board. If you want find the author of this then look to Mr Collins and the other Valley attorneys and the Ridgewood Village attorney. It might have been Brancheau who was tasked to prepare #3066, but it was others who were pulling the strings. Remember that at the opening Valley Hospital presentation to the Council on Sept 27 2006, it was Pfund who told Audrey Meyers “off camera” (but still amplified for all to hear), “I do not see a problem with this”.
