Ridgewood NJ, Please watch this brief message from Jeff Voigt, Ridgewood Village Council candidate. Wednesday night’s meeting is at 7:30pm, Ridgewood High School – Student Campus Center. Hope to see you there! https://youtu.be/poBneHlVqtg
The Village Council Meeting of March 23rd will be held at the Campus Center of the Ridgewood High School, located at 627 East Ridgewood Avenue.
The March 23rd Work Session meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. During the Work Session there will be a Special Public Meeting for the Public Hearings and vote on the multi-family housing ordinances as well as a public hearing and vote on the bond ordinance to appropriate money for the Hudson Street parking deck.
The meeting will be streamed live using UTube. This location is not equiped to broadcast the meetings live on the cable stations. The meetings will be filmed and available both on UTube and the Village Public Access Channel (Cablevision 77; Fios 37) the following day.
VILLAGE COUNCIL FINAL VOTE ON HIGH DENSITY HOUSING
THIS WEDNESDAY, 3/23. 7:30pm at RHS CAMPUS CENTER
RIDGEWOOD NEEDS YOU… ONE LAST TIME!
Dear Neighbors,
This Wednesday night, 3/23, our Village Council, is set to vote on High Density Housing that is TOO BIG, TOO DENSE, TOO OUT OF SCALE and TOO OUT OF CHARACTER with the Village we love. Check out this video to see what the “new density” looks like: YouTube High Density Video.
All politicking, threats of lawsuits, and municipal studies and impacts aside… this comes down to a matter of “Vision” for Ridgewood. And right now, there is a huge disconnect between the vision for Ridgewood’s future held by the current powerholders in our Village Council and Planning Board, and that of a large majority of Residents. These powerholders see downtown Ridgewood as bigger scale, taller, denser, and much more bustling. They are planning a town center with a more urban look and feel, not a small town character. I don’t really know what is influencing them, as virtually every Resident CBR has spoken with – 1,000s of them over the past 4 years – wants Ridgewood to maintain its small town feel. Residents want to give their children and grandchildren the same wonderful town we enjoy. When we want more city, we know that Manhattan is a short drive away. Why doesn’t our Council majority feel the same?
Citizens for a Better Ridgewood (CBR) is for fitting and positive development. We are only naysayers to bad representation and bad planning. CBR believes that we can promote fitting development in Ridgewood by lowering the density of the current ordinances from 35 to 25 units per acre, which is already a 100% increase over current zoning, yet has solid precedent in our Village. Additionally, our planners must also limit Floor Area Ratio (e.g. building size), and enforce proper street setbacks and parking to make new buildings work. We feel it is our Council and Planning Board’s job to increase the quality of life value of our entire town, not just the property values of some developers.
Wednesday night is our last chance to try and stop this. Oddly, all three of the Council Members who support this over-scaled development are not running again. Why? We can only guess. But what we do know, is that in approving such unprecedented development as a Council Majority, but a Ridgewood Minority, they leave the mess to the next Council and to every Resident of this town… and to our children. Again, bad and unfair planning.
I know it’s a huge pain, and not a whole lot of fun… But Ridgewood needs you one more time. Please come, show your support for fitting development in OUR downtown. Tell the Council to VOTE NO to the current High Density Ordinances and let the new Council, coming in this summer help get it right.
RIDGEWOOD NEEDS YOU THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT… 7:30 at RHS! A failure to plan, is a plan to fail.
Thanks for your support over these four long years.
Dave Slomin
CBR Supporter
Ridgewood Resident (and father of 4th Generation Ridgewood Kids)
Ridgewood Nj, Garden Homes the developer of the proposed South Broad Street complex at the old Brogan Cadillac site known as the Dayton .”Garden Homes Development’s principal Scott Loventhal said his 1,000- to 1,800-square-foot units, proposed for a South Broad Street complex that could feature high-end appliances, WiFi café common areas and a doorman, would go for $3 per square foot, plus utilities. Proposing a more-than-100-unit development at the old Brogan site (The Dayton) that could incorporate affordable housing”, https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-developers-detail-housing-proposals-1.1196105?page=all
Garden Homes is one of the New Jersey’s largest real-estate developers recently,” agreed to pay $225,000 in federal fines and to preserve more than 100 acres of land to compensate for its alleged failure to prevent storm water from flowing off 10 construction sites, including residential developments in Elmwood Park, River Vale and Allendale. https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-developers-detail-housing-proposals-1.1196105?page=all”
This is not the first time , “When the EPA announced Garden Homes would be preserving 108 acres in the Highlands area of northwestern New Jersey, it pointed to the deal as a win for an environmentally sensitive region that supplies much of the state’s drinking water.
But the announcement also shed more light on an allegation that the company — owned by the Wilf family, including Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf, the principal owner of the NFL’s Minnesota Viking — had paid loose attention to construction site rules, polluting or potentially polluting water resources all over the northern half of the state.
Inspections turned up violations at three sites — mostly dealing with fencing or basins that are meant to keep stormwater from reaching nearby waterways. At another seven sites, the EPA alleges, Garden Homes failed to conduct weekly inspections meant to guarantee compliance with storm water rules. “https://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2015/06/where_did_vikings_owners_company_allegedly_pollute.html
Further investigation pointed to a New Jersey Supreme Court Ruling ,The judge, after a two-year trial, declared emphatically: “They robbed their partners!” The Wilfs now have to pay those partners at least $84.5 million. , ” Aug. 5, 2013 New Jersey Superior Court Judge Deanne M. Wilson found that the Wilfs cheated their partners in a Montville apartment complex. The judge excoriated the trio in uncommonly harsh language, finding they acted with “bad faith and evil motive.”https://observer.com/2013/10/big-bad-wilf-did-zygis-stardust-take-it-all-too-far/
The problem is that it is not the first time “studies” such as these that forecast no impact from some proposed “improvement” have been presented to the Village. Time and again, we have discovered significant impacts after these projects move forward. “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”. Many villagers are tired of these self-serving reports that don’t reflect reality which are designed only to check off some bureaucratic requirement. Building hundreds of apartments and claiming no impact on schools and infrastructure is just bull**** on the face of it. Some honesty on the other side would go a long way to fostering a constructive dialog.
Our Mayor has moved onto his own agenda..exclusively and Ridgewood is on the chopping block. Sleazy, self-centered government and years of scheming and plotting by some of our fellow residents has led our village down this dark hole. Ridgewood use to be a great town, under great stewardship for most of its history, until Aronsohn plotted and schemed to get the wrong people on the planning board and council. Collectively what is occurring right now will forever change the Village. A few will benefit from these sell outs, particularly Aronsohn in his bid for senator next year. All of this sleazy sellout of our village is what’s going to drive the good people away over the next decade, the decline will occur, and so the very thing you say you love you will have destroyed.
This is a shocking development on a couple of levels. First that Valley can sue us asserting that the needs of the region justify (in their estimation) such a profoundly negative impact on the town. Second, that Ridgewood can allow a Valley insider to negotiate a settlement when she had sworn an oath to represent the Village. It really is time for a citizens’ revolt at Village Hall since the Council majority are clearly using their remaining months in office to put their personal agendas in place. Shameful.
Ridgewodoo Nj, Aaccoring to readers ,Ridgewood is absolutely a magnet for parents with special needs children. We have great services.
I know a family that planned to move to a mega house in Saddle River. Their elementary school daughter was diagnosed, they looked around, and decided to stay.
Please read the key studies here on costs of students, special needs children have a different set of costs to support an excellent education. It is a fact and it is great we excel at it in our schools. As these reports show, one special needs student can tip the funding scales for an entire school. You have to plan for that as a village in all your housing studies. You can’t fail that child and family by not planning for it, and to plan for it you have to talk about it.
What makes Ridgewood different with respect to educating special need children is that we cover so much more, financially, than other districts. Fairlawn school district, as well as others, do not cover all the costs of ot, physical therapy, speech, etc. in a lot of cases, those costs are passed onto the families. To ignore the financial impact to the taxpayer when contemplating growing our population could potentially diminish these wonderful benefits to special need children currently living here. Cuts will be made in our schools when the school population grows. With a 2% cap, cuts will be necessary. It is a fact that families rent their homes in their towns, and find a rental here to take advantage of our school benefits. Our family is grateful for the wonderful services our children receive, including our special need child.
Ridgewood NJ, Thanks to Valley Hospital’s major donor and Ridgewood lawsuit and mediation member Councilwoman Hauck, the tsunami of inappropriate developments in Ridgewood has just intensified tenfold. This could become ‘Black Spring’ for Ridgewood. Pitchforks, anyone?
Valley Mediation – “reduced” from 995,000 square feet of building to 961,000 square feet, reducing by 34000 sq feet. They also forgot to mention there will be a 5 story 200,000 + sq feet parking garage on the corner of Van Dien and Linwood!.
Guess who represented us (Ridgewood) in this mediation? Final public hearings before this plan goes in effect on 3/30, 3/31, 4/4, 4/5 and 4/7.
Ridgewood NJ, here is a video of Village Council Candidate Jeff Voigt, regarding his views on the high density issue. Jeff’s perspective is thoughtful and I believe reflective of how many of us see it.The video was filmed by resident Dana Glazer .
It’s so important that people understand what is at stake here and how important it is for all of us to be present at Ridgewood High School on the night of March 23rd for the vote on this issue.
It doesn’t matter where new residents come from. It doesn’t matter if they are here for years or here for just one year. What is important is our town’s ability to provide a great education for each and every student, no matter how new or how old that student is to our district. With a state imposed cap on our school budget that is only allowed to increase by 2% per year, our district may not be able to handle a large influx of children without stressing already large class sizes. More kids does not lead to the hiring of more teachers and additional classrooms, the 2% cap won’t allow for this. If these new zoning approvals to build at 35 units an acre are the beginning of a new development trend in Ridgewood, then the residents deserve to know how this new trend will impact our schools and how will we pay for it? The good news, your taxes won’t go up because the state-imposed 2% cap will not allow for a tax increase. The bad news, you will pay for it with larger class sizes. 200 plus units today will look like a drop in the bucket 5 or 10 years from now when all of this expands throughout our CBD.
Ridgewood NJ, The Village Council has planned a public hearing and possibly a vote on March 23rd on High Density Housing Issue. It’s widely expected the three outgoing council members are going to vote to increase the residential density in some downtown lots from the current 12 units per acre to 36 units per acre, while the residents have asked them to consider 20-24 units per acre.
This is a big change for Ridgewood, which will probably alter our village forever. The local newspapers have so far reported from the press releases issued by the village administration or from the commentary of what happened at the meetings. Proactive journalism on this issue has been missing so far.
Residents have asked the reporters:
1. When are they going to cover the conflict of interest on the garage vote by Tony and Jim at HPC?
2. When will they be talking to taxpayers ahead of the 3/23 vote to measure opinions?
3. When will they be asking the candidates for VC office to state their positions on the 3/23 vote?
4. When will they talk to the superintendent about class sizes at the middle schools and high school which were not covered by the studies?
5. When will they ask Orchard and Ridge School principals if they can accept the increased class sized?
6. When will they ask the consultants (Ross Haber Associates) on how did he reach to a conclusion of 63 new kids from 4 new developments, while similar sized apartments in the village and the number of school aged children from those apartments suggest that it can be close to 225 new children in the Ridgewood schools?
7. When will they ask and report on the question of ‘what happens to all the 1 acre or more lots that are available in Ridgewood downtown and are waiting for these first four to be approved”?
8. What are the financial impacts to the taxpayer (police coverage, etc.?)?
If you would like our local reporting to question our village government on these very important questions, before next Wednesday’sMarch 23rd VOTE, see below for contact information.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood high density housing issue is upon us again. The Village Council will be meeting at the Campus Center of the Ridgewood High School.
The Village Council Meetings of March 23rd ,Work Session meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.During the Work Session there will be a Special Public Meeting for the Public Hearings and vote on the multi-family housing ordinances as well as a public hearing and vote on the bond ordinance to appropriate money for the Hudson Street parking deck.
The meetings will be filmed and available both on YouTube and the Village Public Access Channel (Cablevision 77; Fios 37) the following day. According to a March 10th update “streaming on YouTube from this location on March 9th proved successful and will be again be done for the March 23rd meeting.
According to the previous meeting the high density housing will have “No impact” on traffic, schools, water ,sewers in the Village .
The current council majority know on this blog as the three amigos , have all declined to run for reelection for various reasons , so the fate of the Village of Ridgewood will be settled by parties who are no longer vested in the Village.
RIDGEWOOD — It’s a proposal that’s raised hackles in this prominent community for several years: the possible rezoning of portions of the village’s quaint downtown to accommodate high-density, multifamily housing developments.
Proponents, including village Mayor Paul Aronsohn, say five introduced zoning ordinances that would increase allowed housing units per acre from 12 to 30 or 35 in three zones in the central business district would help create housing for young professionals and empty-nesters looking to stay in town minus the sizable house and accompanying tax bill.
Ridgewood NJ, to say last nights meeting was a disappointment is an under statement .
1. During the discussion about Ordinance 3523 to Establish Guidelines for Audio/Video Recording of Public Meetings – which was penned by Albert Pucciarelli – the subject of body cameras came up. Councilwoman Hauck described these cameras as “surreptitious,” which for her information means “kept secret.” Having stated this, she then went on to say that she has seen what a “body camera looks like and it looked like actually a terrorist with an explosive chest.” Ummmm….. Councilwoman Hauck, how can something be at the same time secretive and also look like a bomb strapped on the chest? Her ridiculous characterization elicited laughter from the audience, so much so that Mayor Aronsohn had to reprimand the public to quiet down. Seems that laughter is not considered civil.
2. Real Estate developer John Saraceno who stands to make a major bundle on all the development in the CBD, went to the microphone and stated that he is a father of school children and yadayada and that he is “a resident first and a developer second.” Yep, that rings really true.
3. Rurik Halaby once again went on about how the Village of Ridgewood is in a steady decline, same tired and untrue song. Ummm….Rurik….how can the village be in such a terrible decline if there are supposedly no parking places due to all the consumers who pour into town to shop and dine? Really? We need parking so desperately because there is so much traffic in town, but the town is in decline. Hmmm, doesn’t really add up Mr. H.
4. The impact studies were described with power points and charts. The take away is that none of these developments will have any impact on the schools, the water usage, the sewers, the fire department, the police department, the ambulance corps, etc. Just amazing, isn’t it?! Plop these great big buildings down all over town, fill them with people, and no one will even notice. Wow. What reality is this we are living in?
5. Residents were not allowed to ask any questions of the developers, but reportedly will be able to do so on March 23.
Ridgewood Nj, last nights meeting seem to resemble more of a trip to the land of make believe than serious planning for Ridgewood’s Future . Readers claim it was a complete farce. Once again. They did not allow any public members to question the experts behind the studies. The experts described the developments in butterflies and rainbows terms and could only see positive impacts. Farce.
One expert boldly stated , NO impact from high density housing. Yep. He really said that.
One of the highlights of the evening for Gwenn Hauck was when she referred to resident Dana Glazer’s GoPro harness as resembling a ‘terrorist.’ That was fun.
RIDGEWOOD — The results of studies on how zoning to allow high-density, multifamily housing downtown would affect the village will be presented to the public Wednesday night at Ridgewood High School.
The four studies, commissioned by the Village Council in mid-January, will explore the possible impacts of five introduced zoning ordinances on local schools, traffic, community services, infrastructure and finances.
Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said Saturday three firms were contracted to do the work: Ross Haber & Associates to look at the schools, the RBA Group to review traffic, and BFJ Planning, in partnership with Urbanomics, to study local infrastructure and financial impacts.
Experts from those companies will present their findings to the public Wednesday night at the Ridgewood High School Campus Center. The public will be able to comment on the reports afterwards, and a final public hearing and possible votes of adoption are slated for March 23.
The ordinances, approved by the Planning Board by majority votes last June and introduced by the council a month later, would increase the allowable number of housing units per acre from 12 to 30 or 35 in three zones in the central business district. Proponents of the master plan amendments say the resulting housing complexes would provide homes for young professionals and empty-nesters; opponents claim they would strain local infrastructure and forever change the character of the village’s quaint downtown.
