Tag: multi-family housing

Ridgewood housing hearings to continue as planned

OCTOBER 9, 2014    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2014, 5:06 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Planning Board hearings on multifamily housing will continue moving forward as they have been.

The board announced on Tuesday that it would not be taking the mayor’s suggestion to bifurcate a proposed amendment that would allow for multifamily housing in four downtown zones.

Creating multiple amendments out of the one currently proposed amendment – to allow the board to vote to approve or reject multifamily housing in some but not necessarily all zones – is not totally off the table, but the idea is set aside, since it could have rendered some already-delivered testimony unusable.

The board will again consider amendment modifications, like bifurcation and other ways to split the amendment, once the current process comes to a close, following the village planner’s testimony at the next hearing.

The suggestion that the Planning Board should split the amendment into two – one that would consider housing in the Central Business District’s (CBD) “core” (East Ridgewood Avenue and Franklin Avenue) and another that would consider housing in the CBD’s “periphery” (south of East Ridgewood Avenue and north of Franklin Avenue) – was raised by Mayor Paul Aronsohn at a board meeting last month.

Aronsohn also suggested that the board reduce the proposed allowable density.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-housing-hearings-to-continue-as-planned-1.1106340#sthash.H5OkK9kA.dpuf

Reader says Any development proposal that is so severe that it requires a change to the town’s Master Plan SHOULD take time so all parties 

Reader says I’m relatively certain that it’s not within the Mayor’s power to advocate for amending the Master Plan at this point

I’m relatively certain that it’s not within the Mayor’s power to advocate for amending the Master Plan at this point. Nor is it within the power of his 2 running mates Mrs. Hauck and Mr. Pucciarelli – both of whom seem to have already made up their minds on the subject.

How about these 2 developers apply for variances just like anyone else that wants to build anything in this town. You want to be a little lenient with them, fine. Just keep it within the scope of the existing Master Plan. There’s your compromise.

Don’t allow 3 people who think they know better than the rest of us make such permanent changes to our town.

A little history lesson. We owe this master plan craziness to former Mayor Pfund and his desire to help out Valley bypass everyone in its over-expansion plan. Had he not pushed the change that allowed the hospital and developers to push for amendments, we would not be in this morass. I believe that if the master plan had not been changed to allow these cases, then Valley would have instead asked for exemptions on a building-by-building basis. They would have had something built by now. Smaller, yes. But one new building is better than nothing and looking like a fool in the process. Greed is getting the best of all of them.

And for this fine effort, Pfund was appointed our municipal judge for life.

 The problem as i understand the ordinance that exists is that we will be dealing with this over and over again even if we approve one or all of these proposals. That is the great fear…that if any of these projects is approved it will open the floodgates for other projects…all using what i will call the brother/sister argument (you let her/him do it so why can’t i?). And given that this has became such a legalized process, no one can assure that won’t sue to try to push through their proposals. I agree that something needs to be done but not with potentially open-ended litigation risk.

Reader says the current amendment proposal is doomed and the Mayor wants to make sure something gets through.

many on the planning board that night were skeptical of the mayor’s proposal that night. it clearly took many by surprise and you really have to question why he brought it up now. my best guess is that he sees the current amendment proposal is doomed and he wants to make sure something gets through. THAT ISN’T THE PROCESS!!

Let’s remember that the ordinance that allows these amendment proposals in the first place was pushed through by friends of developers (which includes their lawyers). They created a legal process that couldn’t be stopped or participated in by residents once it moved past debate at the council level (or so they thought – they didn’t count on something like the CBR). Recall how Al abruptly ceased debate on these and pushed the vote which brought them to the planning board. Now that the process isn’t working in their favor they are trying to split them up to make it look like a “compromise”.

Also remember this: The developers bought these properties knowing exactly what they were allowed to build. They were banking on being able to push through these amendments that quadruple the number of units/acre currently allowed. That’s just bad business decision making (unless you have some reason to believe your amendment will be helped along). Certainly helps explain why saraceno stormed out in the middle of the cross by his attorney of the CBR planner as it was clear he wasn’t going to rattle her.

If the current amendment proposals are voted down the developers have to go back to the drawing board and come up with a better plan. It is not the town’s job to tell the developers how much more they can get away with than is currently allowed – that’s like asking a cop how much faster you can drive over the speed limit while he’s writing you a ticket.

This is the process the developers and their attorneys created…stop whining because it’s not going your way now!!

Reader says So now the Master Plan is something to be tweaked and molded to meet any developers’ needs?

So now changing the Master Plan is reduced to a “regular” negotiable item on the table and is open to regular and frequent changes?

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Modifications to the Master Plan should be difficult to implement and should be considered only rarely – when absolutely necessary.

Apparently this mayor and council seem to consider a Master Plan change as one of the many “regular work-a-day tools” at their disposal.
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Clearly the ambitious plans of developers do not fit into the “essence” of RW – as evidenced by a need to change the Master Plan.

Changing the “proposed changes” to the Master Plan misses the function of the Master Plan and the problem at hand…
The problem IS NOT that the “original proposed changes” to the Master Plan were too severe.
The problem IS that the developers desires DO NOT FIT AND DO NOT BELONG in RW.

Readers debate cost of living in the Central Business District 

I went to their website and had problems with the “data” that they presented. They think that someone in stupid.

The P&I on my mortgage is $1,800. I have a large 5 br 3/3 bath home. My taxes are $2,500. I am not looking to downsize to a much, much smaller rental for a higher cost. This development does not solve my tax problem. It just gives me an expensive alternative. I think that I need a smaller house or townhouse, but not in Ridgewood.

BTW. How many parking spots do I get? We have two cars.

and ….

 How about your cost for lawn maintenance, snow removal, repairs and the set-aside for major repairs (new roof, new AC etc., etc.) I know a former Ridgewood resident who had a house that is probably similar in size to yours. He and his wife are empty nesters and they decided to move to an apartment in Manhattan. They have a 2br, 2bath unit with a doorman and pay $6000/mo. When I commented that it appears that it would have been less expensive to simply stay put in Ridgewood he laid out the cost for me and guess what they totaled about $6000/mo. The Ridgewood developers are talking about $3000/mo for 2br/2br. Granted Ridgewood does not compare with the Big Apple but for the difference in rent a couple could easily afford to go into the city several times a month …..and still have a few bucks left over.

https://downtownridgewood.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/RidgewodRumorVsReality.pdf