It must be the same few people that have misquoted figures for the restoration time and again! There is a saying “you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts” The cost has been quoted from the Council time and time and time again and the County has publicly listed its grants to the town.
Maybe the author doesn’t care that across 17 is an area of thousands of taxpaying Ridgewood residents who have been marginalized. First they were cut off by the “improvements” on Route 17, which took away their ability to cross directly to Ridgewood; second their school was taken away; and third the only large parcel of land, 7 acres, was to be a 90 foot baseball field and a historic house torn down. Finally they gathered together and showed the town that they deserved better. They deserved a park; they agreed to a small playing field; they deserved a meeting place which will be the house; and someday maybe they will actually get their school back. The house which the author maligns is listed on the NJ Register of Historic Houses. The author and others keep coming to the mic at public meetings and ask for “proof”, which they have received time and again. Is one taxpayer more equal than others? Is his/her tax money more important than that of a resident of the East Side? Why doesn’t the author and his compatriots who seem to criticize everything, take his/her ire somewhere else? With all that is going on in this world, guns, nationalism, bombs, fires, why keep criticizing the restoration of one house. And I will sign my name, unlike the author.
there’s a running theme on this blog of having people minimize the significance of an event to try to make the conversation stop. (It seems to have the opposite effect.) Here’s a scenario that did NOT go down. A fervent resident presses a literally-pay-to-play-baseball check upon an official, who smiles, hands it back, and says, “We know how much you want this mondo field that the Schedler neighbors have good arguments against. If we go with it, believe me, we’ll come to you for a big donation. Until the council has voted to proceed, however, naturally you can see that we can’t accept any money. Think how that would look! And of course we wouldn’t be allowed to let it sit around without cashing it–there’s an ordinance against that–yet cashing it prematurely would give the wrong message about how the council makes its decisions. opening village government to valid criticism and potential lawsuits. That wouldn’t be good! See you at the Daily Treat!”
Ridgewood NJ, from the Friends of Schedler Facebook page :
Outline of Proposed Terms for the Development of the Schedler Property
1. In order to provide the Village with much needed passive park and recreational space, the field shall be no larger than 60’.
2. Any design will include a sound wall to block out the sound of the highway for the entire length of the property. In addition, to a sound wall near the highway, the park will include a berm on West Saddle River Road to block off the sound and view of the park. The berm shall include several rows of regularly maintained evergreens in order to provide the neighborhood with a “green shield”.
3. All demolition, including removal of trees (downed, diseased or otherwise) will not occur until completion of a development plan and budget approved by the Village Council. Demolition shall occur in conjunction with the overall project in order to avoid a gap between demolition and construction.
4. The plan and design of the park will be developed by an independent civil engineer and landscape architect specializing in park design with input from representatives of the neighborhood and the Village.
5. The development plan and budget will be based off of independent, comprehensive studies which would include:
* Addressing the issues already identified by environmental and wildlife impact studies
* The noise study to be conducted on the property and the surrounding area
* A third party traffic and safety study on West Saddle River Road and the surrounding side streets as recommended by the council committee. The traffic and safety study will include a determination of an adequate parking lot, as well as a review of potential ingress and egress into the parking lot from Rt. 17. In addition, the traffic and safety study will include a determination of appropriate parking restrictions on West Saddle River Road and, if practical, the surrounding streets off West Saddle River Road
6. Prohibition on the inclusion of (1) lights, both permanent and portable as required by the conservation easement, (2) a public address announcement system and (3) a concession stand.
7. The hours of the park will be from dawn to dusk.
8. Installation of police monitoring system to monitor any criminal activity.
9. Preserve the Schedler house by moving forward with registering the house with the historical society. The house will be used to benefit the entire community by, for example, providing meeting space for different community groups and providing restrooms for the park participants.
The attached terms posted are a proposal by the residents living in the vicinity of the Schedler property. These terms are a result of many meetings and discussions among the Schedler neighbors over the last 6 weeks. We have worked hard as a group to prepare this document which we believe considers the needs not just of the Schedler neighbors, but of the entire Ridgewood community. The terms demonstrate a park that we envision will significantly reduce the amount of trees to be removed, decrease the cost of the development and maintenance required of the proposed larger field and draw our fellow Ridgewood residents to visit and enjoy the east side of the Village. Charlie Nowinski
Outline of Proposed Terms for the Development of the Schedler Property
In order to provide the Village with much needed passive park and recreational space, the field shall be no larger than 60’.
Any design will include a sound wall to block out the sound of the highway for the entire length of the property. In addition, to a sound wall near the highway, the park will include a berm on West Saddle River Road to block off the sound and view of the park. The berm shall include several rows of regularly maintained evergreens in order to provide the neighborhood with a “green shield”.
All demolition, including removal of trees (downed, diseased or otherwise) will not occur until completion of a development plan and budget approved by the Village Council. Demolition shall occur in conjunction with the overall project in order to avoid a gap between demolition and construction.
The plan and design of the park will be developed by an independent civil engineer and landscape architect specializing in park design with input from representatives of the neighborhood and the Village.
The development plan and budget will be based off of independent, comprehensive studies which would include:
Addressing the issues already identified by environmental and wildlife impact studies
The noise study to be conducted on the property and the surrounding area
A third party traffic and safety study on West Saddle River Road and the surrounding side streets as recommended by the council committee. The traffic and safety study will include a determination of an adequate parking lot, as well as a review of potential ingress and egress into the parking lot from Rt. 17. In addition, the traffic and safety study will include a determination of appropriate parking restrictions on West Saddle River Road and, if practical, the surrounding streets off West Saddle River Road
Prohibition on the inclusion of (1) lights, both permanent and portable as required by the conservation easement, (2) a public address announcement system and (3) a concession stand.
The hours of the park will be from dawn to dusk.
Installation of police monitoring system to monitor any criminal activity.
Preserve the Schedler house by moving forward with registering the house with the historical society. The house will be used to benefit the entire community by, for example, providing meeting space for different community groups and providing restrooms for the park participants.
