Special Public Meeting – Multi-Family Housing – January 8, 2016
Ridgewood NJ , There will be a Village Council Special Public Meeting held on Friday, January 8, 2016 @ 5PM in the Court Room at Village Hall. Various Consultants will be presenting proposals for the 4 Multi-Family Housing Studies covering; fiscal impact, traffic, education & municipal infrastructure.
The firms that are competing to conduct the special impact studies that residents overwhelmingly requested on September 30th. Â The question arises is ,”why would you schedule such a meeting at 5:00pm on a Friday unless you did not want residents to attend?”
Contrary to the view point promoted by the Deputy Mayor , most residents do have a jobs. Jobs are particular necessary to pay the enormous amount of federal ,state and local taxes . No one who can afford to live in Ridgewood who works in the private sector gets home that early .
The other issue that would make sense would be to delay any decision regarding the parking garage until the comprehensive studies are done. Â It makes absolutely no sense to hire an outside company to conduct the studies without including the proposed garage.
an article worth reading and so relevant to what Ridgewood is going through right now..
PUBLISHED BY LESLIE WRIGHT ON DECEMBER 22, 2015
At this time of year, when we gather with loved ones, often returning to, or remembering, the places we hold dear, the reflections of Orton Family Foundation Trustee Ed McMahon on the importance of place seem especially apropos. Ed is senior resident fellow at Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C.
We live in a world of rapid change: immigration, new technologies, global trade, instantaneous communication, changing consumer tastes, rapid movement of people, ideas, and goods, etc. However, if I have learned anything over 25 years in the community planning arena, it is this: change is inevitable, but the destruction of community character and identity is not. Progress does not demand degraded surroundings. Communities can grow without destroying the things people love.
Place is more than just a location or a spot on a map. A sense of place is a unique collection of qualities and characteristicsâvisual, cultural, social and environmentalâthat provides meaning to a location. Sense of place is what makes one location (e.g. your hometown) different from another location (e.g. my hometown), but sense of place is also that which makes our physical surroundings valuable and worth caring about.
Land use planners spend too much time focusing on numbersâthe number of units per acre, the number of cars per hour, the number of floors per buildingâand not enough time on the values, customs, characteristics, and quirks that make a place worth caring about. Unfortunately, many American communities are suffering the social, economic, Â and environmental consequences of being places that simply arenât worth caring about. The more one place (one location) comes to be just like every other place, the less reason there is to visit or invest. Just take tourism, for example: the more a community comes to look like every other community, the less reason there is to visit. On the other hand, the more a community does to enhance its distinctive identity, whether that is natural, cultural, or architectural, the more reasons there are to visit. Why? Because tourism is about visiting places that are different, unusual, or unique; if one place was just like everyplace else, there would be no reason to go anyplace.
Similarly, when it comes to 21st century economic development, a key concept is âcommunity differentiation.â If you canât differentiate your community from any other community, you have no competitive advantage. Capital is footloose in a global economy. Natural resources, highway access, locations along a river or rail line have all become less important. Richard Florida, a leading economic development authority and author of The Creative Class, has said, âHow people think of a place is less tangible, but more important than just about anything else.â
There will be a Village Council Special Public Meeting held on Friday, January 8, 2016 @ 5PM in the Court Room at Village Hall. Various Consultants will be presenting proposals for the 4 Multi-Family Housing Studies covering; fiscal impact, traffic, education & municipal infrastructure.
Our council lurches from project to project without a common theme or goal perhaps other than âif someone with money asks for it, then lets give it to them.â The majority on this council exhibit no sense of serving the Village of Ridgewood. Theyâve never shown that they looked into the future to ask or try to divine whatâs best for the Village as a whole. Instead, they appear only to react to and be driven by the demands of developers, land speculators, restaurant owners and other profiteers.
I have lived in town quite a few years now, and have had agreements and disagreements with many that always ended with a friendly handshake. Sadly, this crew has engendered an entirely different feeling. More sadly yet, they seem to smugly relish what the discord have sown.
I can think of two reason for this. One is payback to the supporters of the gang of three in the last election. The second is to secure votes and financial backing for the gang of three for the upcoming election. If our current Mayor chooses not to run next year then you can be sure that our Deputy Mayor will make a run for Mayor and Gwen will be Deputy Mayor. The plans are already in the works for this. Im sure Albert has already pick a candidate that will support his bid for Mayor .
Make no mistake readers Albert and Paul are smart people. We will not know this mystery candidate until after the election. We will again have four years of block votes and the systematic destruction of the Village . I would suggest to all voters to do their due diligence next year. Know your candidate and their history not just their talking points for the election.
Reducing lanes at Garber Square Has made congestion hard to bare Bike lanes to nowhere not so great This plus over development need not be our fate
The council has heard our many suggestions It’s not too late to change direction We love this town so charming and rare Let’s move forward with caution and care
Happy Holidays to all and a Happy New Year too May the spirit of the season last all year through For the good people  working so hard for us all Let’s hope they are listening especially Roberta and Paul!
Why all of a sudden all these crazy irresponsible planning boondoggles..
This is a serious management issue in the Town of Ridgewood.All these oversized non conforming parking decks and MIS sited ball fields / With Light Incursions into an existing neighborhood have a common theme..
Our Town is out of control with some pushing own Agendas and telling homeowners to just move over and suck it up. Despite serious impact to property Rights and values as well as dangerous mis planning. Who will pay the lawsuits for injuries fatalities for misplaced expansion accidents.
boon·dog·gle ËboÍonËdÀɥÉl,-ËdĂŽÉĄÉl/
NORTH AMERICAN Â
informal noun
1. work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value. “writing off the cold fusion phenomenon as a boondoggle best buried in literature”
verb
1. waste money or time on unnecessary or questionable projects.
Ridgewood NJ, Last night was a huge success for residents in that village , the Village council committed to doing the four studies on the high density issue. Without the pressure from residents, this would not have happened. The meeting went late and there were no big outbursts or excitement.
Village council agreed to 4 comprehensive, independent impact studies regarding the high density housing .The 4 comprehensive independent impact studies are financial, school, traffic, infrastructure.
Mayor Aronsohn made it clear from the git-go that all four studies would happen. Â Deputy Mayor Pucciarelli switched sides like a Gemini – while he was completely opposed to the four studies in September 30, now he is in full support. Â This is all good, and will delay the high density housing for awhile longer. Â The hearings on the housing ordinances are continued until February 10. Â In spite of Aronsohn’s early declaration that the four studies would happen, public comments went on for about 2.5 hours, with 20 people speaking against the housing and often tying it in with not wanting the garage. Â Seven others had spoken against the housing in the first 1/2 hour comments session.
Also the Village Council Public Meeting was the introduction of the Bond Ordinance supports the largest garage as depicted in the images and  as decided on by council majority (3-2). The garage details include parking for  405 cars (net gain of 305) totaling  136,550 square feet, height of  49â2â to the parapet and  the tower height at 68â4â. The garage requires the elimination of all on-street parking along Hudson Street, elimination of some on- street parking along South Broad Street and the rerouting of Hudson and Passaic Street traffic.
The introduction of the bond for the garage was 5-0 in favor. Â This, mind you, is just the introduction. There is a pretty good indication that Susan and Mike will vote it down then, forcing Atilla the Aronsohn to head straight to the county to float the bond. Â We shall see.
The public hearing and vote on the Bond Ordinance is scheduled to occur in January 2016. Â In the meantime, Â Council Woman Knudsen is seeking public input regarding the proposed Hudson Street garage as shown in the simulations [email protected] .
At the bitter end, From 12:02 until almost 1AM, the Schedler people spoke, 9 of them. Â They asked for studies to be done around Schedler as they are being done in the CBD. Â They want traffic studies, air quality, noise, etc. Â one guy had an audio tape that he played of the deafening noise there from 17. Â A cardiologist explained the serious health risks to children who exercise in polluted air. Â There was a funny exchange where Gwenn attempted to undermine the doctor’s assertions of respiratory risks when running around in bad air, and she even suggested that maybe no one should even live over there.
Other Highlights for Last night:
ORDINANCES – INTRODUCTION
3515 â Bond Ordinance â Construction of Hudson Street Parking Deck ($12,300,000) â Appropriates this money for the construction of the Hudson Street parking deck
ORDINANCES – PUBLIC HEARING
3509 â Amend Various Salary Ordinances
3512 â Amend Valet Parking Ordinance
3513 â Non-Union Salary Ordinance
3514 â Management Salary Ordinance
ORDINANCES â CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING
3489 â Amend Chapter 190 â Land Use and Development – Establish AH-2 Zone District
3490 â Amend Chapter 190 â Land Use and Development â Establish B-3-R Zone District
3491 â Amend Chapter 190 â Land Use and Development â Establish C-R Zone
3492 â Amend Chapter 190 â Land Use and Development â Establish C Zone District
3493 â Amend Chapter 190 â Land Use and Development â Amend Various Sections â Multiple Zone Districts and General Affordable Housing Regulation
DECEMBER 7, 2015 Â Â LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2015, 11:11 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Planning Board members continued their review of the village master plan at last Tuesday night’s meeting, focusing much of the discussion on the housing element of the plan.
As part of his presentation, Village Planner Blais Brancheau explained the review process, noting that the state mandates that municipalities update their master plans at least once every decade.
“State law requires that planning boards, at least every 10 years, require a re-examination of the master plan of the village,” he said. “The purpose is to make sure that those documents are still current and not dated.”
However, he said that the plan should be updated more often than what is required.
Brancheau also went through Ridgewood’s master plan, explaining a few changes he recommended to the board.
“The purpose of the re-exam is not to identify every possible solution to the direction that we would like to pursue, but to identify what we can in the time that we have,” he said. “This doesn’t preclude identifying additional changes or issues when the re-exam is finished.”
THIS Wednesday, December 9th at 8:00 pm at Village Hall
PLEASE try to attend the meeting. Â The Mayor and Council will be discussing TWO very important issues that could change the character of our village forever: Â Multi-Family Housing and the Hudson Street Parking Garage. Â It is crucial that as many residents as possible attend the meeting to show the Mayor and Council that residents remain vigilant and demand responsible decision-making. Â On September 30, more than 600 residents turned out and our voices were heard when the Council voted 4-1 to perform studies to understand the effects of adding high density housing to the CBD before voting. Â Letâs continue to have a voice!
Agenda:
At approximately 8:30 pm, after presentations, Village Manager and Council reports, and comments from the public, a $12.3 million bond ordinance will be introduced to fund the Hudson Street Parking Deck. Â The parking garage discussion is relevant to the high-density housing debate. Â If the largest of the 3 parking garage options is approved (which is likely, as it is favored 3-2 by a majority of the Council members), the new parking garage could set a precedent for the height, size and bulk of future buildings in the CBD, and could have implications for the size of any new apartment buildings. Â See attached for photos of the proposed garage, particularly the view on Hudson Street.
The Public Hearing on Land Use and Development (High Density Housing) will continue, and the Mayor and Council will discuss the next steps to be taken with regard to the four independent studies approved onSeptember 30, including financial impact, comprehensive traffic, school impact, and infrastructure studies. Â We must demand Village Council members honor their commitment and hire an independent firm to conduct all of the promised studies, taking into consideration the effects of adding four multi-family developments, a 98-unit assisted living facility and a large parking garage all at once.
Please come to the meeting at 8:00 pm on Wednesday. Â Letâs show the Mayor and Council that we did not forget what they voted for on September 30th!
If you can not attend the meeting, you can watch the meeting on Fios Channel 34 or Cablevision Channel 77.
Ridgewood NJ, Mayor Aronsohn moves to recommend that we push back our consideration of the 5 housing amendments until February .
It is well documented that the Village council agreed to 4 comprehensive, independent impact studies regarding the high density housing .The hundreds of residents were present on September 30th and the thousands watching at home remember very clearly the council voting in favor of doing 4 comprehensive independent impact studies (financial, school, traffic, infrastructure). While Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli voted against the new impact studies ,Gwenn Hauck, Susan Knudsen ,Michael Sedon and the Mayor Paul Aronsohn all agreed to do the 4 comprehensive studies.
Other issues based on the September 30th meeting is the residents understanding that these 4 comprehensive studies:
1) will not be based on any previously done studies.
2) will include the 4 multifamily developments, the Hudson street Garage and the North Walnut Street redevelopment zone.
3) will be handled  by a single independent firm outside of the village’s jurisdiction.
The Mayor has since been walking back the vote and currently seems to feel he voted for 1 impact study with the possibility of the others or to study the idea of studies.Residents have become alarmed as to whether the Mayor and the Village council are committed to doing what he voted for on September 30th.
Statement of Compliance with the Open PublicMeetings Act
Roll Call – Village Clerk
Flag Salute and Moment of Silence
Acceptance of Financial Reports
Approval of Minutes
Proclamations
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over â 2015 Year End Holiday Statewide Crackdown
Presentation â Update – Lead in Drinking Water â David Scheibner, Ridgewood Water
Comments from the Public (Not to exceed 5minutes per person – 30 minutes in total)
Manager’s Report
Village Council Reports
ORDINANCES â INTRODUCTION
3515 â Bond Ordinance – Hudson Street Parking Deck        ($12,300,000)
3516 â Amend Chapter 265 â Vehicles and Traffic –             Establish Stop Signs â California                    Street/Fairmount Road and Highland               Avenue/Gardner Road
3517 â Amend Chapter 265 â Vehicles and Traffic â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Parking Restrictions – Hillcrest Road
3518 â Water Bond Ordinance â Rehabilitation of Water          Tanks ($1,312,500)
ORDINANCES – PUBLIC HEARING
3509 â Amend Various Salary Ordinances
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3510 – Amend Chapter 105 â Animals â Cats â Establish a    3-Year Cat License
3511 – Amend Chapter 145 Fees â Fees for 3-Year Cat        License
3512 â Amend Valet Parking Ordinance
3513 â Non-Union Salary Ordinance
3514 â Management Salary Ordinance
ORDINANCES â CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING
Â
3489 â Amend Chapter 190 â Land Use and Development –Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Establish AH-2 Zone District
3490 â Amend Chapter 190 â Land Use and Development      â Establish B-3-R Zone District
3491 â Amend Chapter 190 â Land Use and Development      â Establish C-R Zone
3492 â Amend Chapter 190 â Land Use and Development      â Establish C Zone District
3493 â Amend Chapter 190 â Land Use and Development      â Amend Various Sections â Multiple Zone Districts     and General Affordable Housing Regulation
RESOLUTIONS
15-Â Approve Village Cash Management Plan
15-Â Designate Official Newspapers for 2016
15-Â 2016 Annual Meetings Statement
15- Establish Interest Rate for Non-Payment of          Taxes, Assessments or Other Municipal Liens           for 2016 and Set Grace Period
15- Establish Interest Rates for Delinquent                  Payments to the Water Utility for 2016 and            Set Grace Period for Payment of Water Utility     Bills
15- Establish Interest Rates for Delinquent                  Payments for Significant Sewer Discharge          Bills for    2016
15-Â Approve Budget Transfers
15-Â Â Â Â Â Approve 2016 Temporary Budget
15- Title 59 Approval â Servicing and Repair of    Electric Source
15- Award Contract â Servicing and Repair of Electric   Source
15- Title 59 Approval â Furnishing and Delivering  Sludge Dewatering Polymer
15- Award Contract â Furnishing and Delivering Sludge   Dewatering Polymer
15- Title 59 Approval â De-Silting and De-Snagging of        Ho-Ho-Kus Brook and Saddle River
15-Â Award Contract â De-Silting and De-Snagging of
    Ho-Ho-Kus Brook and Saddle River
15-Â Title 59 Approval â Laboratory Analysis Services â Â Ridgewood Water
15-Â Award Contract â Laboratory Analysis Services â Â Â Â Â Ridgewood Water
15- Title 59 Approval â Dewatered Sewer Sludge Hauling  Services
15- Award Contract â Dewatered Sewer Sludge Hauling     Services
15-Â Award Contract â Financial Computer Software
15- Award Contract â Preparation of 2016 Village        Council Meeting Minutes
15- Award Contract â Valley     Hospital, Department        of Community Health â Public Health and           Nursing Services
15-Â Award Extraordinary Unspecifiable Services Contract â Field Investigation Study and Purchase of Replacement Parts for Non-Potable Water System â Water Pollution Control Facility
15- Authorize Shared Services Agreement –               Municipal Court Teleconferencing (Northwest          Bergen Shared Services)
15- Authorize Shared Services Agreement â Health   Officer Services (Fair Lawn)
15-Â Authorize Amendment to Contract â Pipe, Â Â Appurtenances and Materials for Water Distribution Maintenance
15- Authorize Change Order â Cleaning of Concrete  Water Storage Tanks
15- Approve Cancellation of Grant Balances â 2012 Fire  Safer Grant
15- Accept Ridgewood Water Annual Maintenance           Fee â
15- Revise Special Service Charge for    Voluminous/Extraordinary OPRA Requests
15-Â Authorize Execution of Forestry Grant
15-Â Appoint Clean Communities Coordinator
15- Appoint Joint Insurance Fund Commissioner     Â
15- Appoint Public Agency Compliance Officer            (P.A.C.O)
15-Â Appoint Risk Management Consultants
15- Appoint Members to Community Relations                   Advisory Board
15-Â Appoint Members to Project Pride Committee
Comments from the Public (Not to Exceed 5 minutes per person)
December 1,2015
Ridgewood the staff of the Ridgewood blog
NJ, Planning Board Meeting  tonight 7:55 p.m. â 9:15 p.m. â Continued discussion of the reexamination of the Master Plan and development regulations – Residential Land Use.
Our Master Plan has not had a thorough re-examination in 30 years. According to our Village Planner, Blais Brancheau, 90% of the language needs to be re-written. This is a huge undertaking for our planning board. Please attend.
Ridgewoodâs VC needs to follow Hawthorneâs lead. Â If every town builds high-end or affordable housing there will be a glut of housing to fill. Â The only ones benefiting from all these projects are the developers. Â What a scam! Ed
Hawthorne zoners reject housing development of Wagaraw Road property
NOVEMBER 23, 2015, 9:12 PM Â Â LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2015, 9:12 PM
BY MINJAE PARK
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
HAWTHORNE â The zoning board on Monday night rejected a plan to build high-end apartments on Wagaraw Road, concluding an 11-month application to develop a long-vacant property that was once proposed as the site of a Walmart supermarket.
Board members said they werenât persuaded by the case made by the property’s owner, the Bedrin Organization, that apartments designed for New York City commuters suited the site, which lies in an industrial and commercial zone, next to a beverage distributor. The vote was 6-1 against.
âWhile we are certainly disappointed, the real losers here are the hardworking taxpayers of Hawthorne,â said Gerald Bedrin, a partner in the organization.
The 8.6-acre property on the southern end of the borough remains the borough’s largest undeveloped property. Walmart planned to build a 42,000-square-foot supermarket there until lawsuits by borough residents delayed the development, and the retailer withdrew.
At last month’s zoning board meeting, about 20 residents spoke out in support of the project, many showing up with blue âRivergate YES!â stickers.
NOVEMBER 25, 2015, 3:28 PM Â Â LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015, 8:58 PM
BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD â Votes by village officials on zoning changes that would clear the path for high-density, multifamily housing downtown will likely be delayed until January while officials gather more information about the controversy-raising proposalâs potential impacts.
Also, Mayor Paul Aronsohn said Monday. the public will be allowed additional sessions to comment on the five introduced zoning ordinances at the councilâs Dec. 9 public meeting. The changes would increase the number of allowable housing units per acre from 12 to 35 in four zones in the central business district.
The Village Council, however, wonât vote on them that night. It will await results of a yet-to-be-commissioned financial impact study, which Aronsohn has called the âmissing piece of the puzzle.â The study âwonât answer every question, and it may leave a lot of questions unanswered that we need to address,â he told the council at a meeting this month. But at least the questions would be raised, he said.
NOVEMBER 13, 2015 Â Â LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Additional studies needed for CBD housing issue
To the editor:
On Sept. 30, hundreds of residents attended the Village Council meeting to tell our council members we do not want them to approve high-density housing at the 35-unit-per-acre density level and that further studies were needed. A vote was taken and the council passed, by a 4-1 vote, a measure for a “traffic and infrastructure study, financial study and school impact study.” The traffic study was further outlined as “surrounding neighborhoods, the entire Village” as the prior studies had not looked at this area.
At the council meeting on Monday, Nov. 9, the council agreed to move forward and examine finances but Mayor Paul Aronsohn said it is “still inconclusive if we will do additional studies.” It appears they may try and push these ordinances through without ever doing the additional full analysis they are duly bound to do by their 4-1 vote.
Please write them and urge them to keep their word and perform the new studies they committed to in September. Again, those studies are a comprehensive traffic study, school impact study, infrastructure study and financial impact study.
