My 8-Point Plan for a Happy Ridgewood
Dear Village Council,
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.
Dave Slomin, Concerned Resident
