The primary driver behind this rapid legislative action is the threat of Builder’s Remedy lawsuits
photo courtesy of Boyd Loving
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
RIDGEWOOD, NJ — In a race against a looming December 31 deadline, the Ridgewood Village Council has moved to protect the community from “uncontrollable development.” During a marathon 3.5-hour special meeting on December 17, officials introduced five sweeping ordinances and approved two major resolutions to meet the state’s Fourth Round “affordable housing” mandates.
Critical Session December 17th Precedes Final Court Showdowns on 4th Round Mandates
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
RIDGEWOOD, NJ – The clock is ticking on a crucial legal and developmental matter for the Village of Ridgewood. The Ridgewood Village Council is holding an urgent Special Public Meeting , Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 7:00 PM, to address its 4th round affordable housing obligations.
Critical Session December 17th Precedes Final Court Showdowns on 4th Round Mandates
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
RIDGEWOOD, NJ – The clock is ticking on a crucial legal and developmental matter for the Village of Ridgewood. The Ridgewood Village Council is holding an urgent Special Public Meeting , Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 7:00 PM, to address its 4th round affordable housing obligations.
This meeting is not merely procedural; it is a required pre-cursor to the final two court hearings scheduled before the year’s end. This highly anticipated decision will shape the future landscape of the Village, affecting zoning, density, and housing availability.
Park Ridge NJ, In speaking to folks from town I’m often asked about the Sony case ( fighting to prevent 1,000 apartments being built), the building going up in the center of town and general question about development in ours and neighboring towns.
In almost ALL cases, I find that people don’t understand the driving force behind towns agreeing to these large apartment buildings. Sometimes folks don’t even know how many other towns are being forced to do it and how many have already started construction on more apartments than a town can EVER support. And I don’t blame them one bit. We’re too busy with our lives to keep up with all this stuff. Most don’t even know how many AH units FSHC is saying Park Ridge needs to add by 2025. Or what round of obligations we are in ( round 3 btw) and that there is round 4 coming in 2025.
Hoboken NJ, this could be the next trick in the forced over development /high density housing battle in Bergen County.
The Pulse with Peter B., northern New Jersey’s premier cable access show, hosted a forum on eminent domain abuse in Hudson County on Wednesday night, August 28th, in Our Lady of Grace School. The forum highlighted the Center St neighborhood of Jersey City and the NY Waterway ferry company marina property in Hoboken as examples of local government abuse of eminent domain powers to harm communities and help special interests. Forum panelists included Hudson County community advocates Natalia Ioffe, Mary Ondrejka, and Joshua Sotomayor Einstein. The forum was moderated by show host Peter Biancamano.
” Not only have our small town local leaders failed on the development front. The State has us screwed because they can override local towns if developers sue and get state judges to force development on us. You will also see that the State has a complex web of incentives where it tries to get certain kinds of development. Aside from the obvious, such as tax breaks to build or set up business in a blighted area like Paterson, they have a mind numbing number of other programs and incentives. Stupid things such as trying to incentivize building within walking distances to transit hubs because it is perceived of as good for the environment are part of why we see buildings going up next to train tracks (see the huge apartment building in Waldwick?) So it does matter that our State legislature has been pursuing an agenda for decades. see here= https://njgin.state.nj.us/OIT_BusinessMap2/ “
Upper Saddle River NJ, Toll Brothers and it’s apologists exposed in this shocking 5 minutes interview with Jeff Tittel – NJ Sierra Club Director. Jeff Tittel was investigating stormwater pollution violations companies like Toll Brothers had been committing in the state of New Jersey for over two decades. Last Friday he caught Toll Brothers red handed committing another stormwater violation live! Will Congressman Josh Gottheimer put stop to this environmental tragedy? Time will tell. His district Catherine Best contacted me and requested additional documentation which I provided.
River Vale NJ, Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi speaks with reporters at a press conference on Feb. 14, 2019, about why public opinion polls increasingly show that Gov. Phil Murphy is taking New Jersey in the wrong direction.
Schepisi says, “We must work together, put aside partisan posturing and implement policies to ensure affordability for the middle class. NJ’s tax increases and Governor Murphy’s policies are crushing our middle class.”
Upper Saddle River NJ, Derek Michalski offered us more insights into the “Pleasant Brook debacle “, Another said anniversary is passing by: “Derek Michalski also from Upper Saddle River recounted to the Ridgewood blog ,” in the case of USR two developers father and son “forced” rezoning Apple Ridge property on USR mayor and Council and after obtaining the “rezoning signature” re-sold the same property to Toll Brothers for $20-30milion quick gain. if the town did this deal for its own benefit(residents) we wouldn’t have to raise taxes for decades to come. Thus such chaos is creating enormous benefit to developers and leaving communities in fear.” – YES THIS IS THE SAME 100 acres of DESERT Toll Brothers is using to dewater muddy water laden with arsenic and lead into Pleasant Brook. theridgewoodblog.net/assemblywomen-holly-schepisi-forum-focuses-on-overdevelopement-and-affordable-housing-in-bergen-county/ feeling nostalgic with James J Foytlin. “
If you vote for Aronson’s people–who are the only ones running in opposition– You are voting for more massive building, a Garagezilla, and any other major commercial endeavor they can find to have us buy and pay for. I know you’re not happy with our present candidates but throwing them out can lead to many more Health Barn type places in inappropriate places. Susan and Michael have been working for laws that won’t allow that to happen again. Please, be patient and comb the woods for suitable candidates next time. Voting for the opposition is not just voting Susan and Mike out, it is voting disaster in to Ridgewood by letting more of Aronson’s clones in to continue destroying our Village.
Remember 2-5 years and the current Valley location will be a good number of affordable housing units
The same folks who vote for leaders who support these ideas seem to be shocked when it hits home
The new governor and team are all for this with Bergen County and towns like RW in the cross hairs
Valley will be missed and those who voted for all of this will seem shocked
Lawyers argued Monday over whether a former state judge who handled affordable housing cases should have at least one of his rulings overturned because of his relationship with a developer.
In Trenton, a lawyer for South Brunswick Township squared off against a half-dozen others representing developers and affordable-housing advocates. The township is seeking to have affordable housing rulings made by now-retired Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Douglas Wolfson vacated because of what it alleges is the appearance of a conflict of interest: Wolfson’s acceptance of vacations from, and current representation of, Edgewood Properties.
While on the bench, Wolfson handled litigation involving the township, but not Edgewood Properties, according to documents. And Wolfson recused from cases that came before him involving Edgewood.
Nevertheless, Wolfson for years has had personal and professional ties to Edgewood, and South Brunswick claims Wolfson’s decisions in other affordable housing cases could work in favor of Edgewood or its primary owner, Jack Morris, even though he has no projects pending in the township.
