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Time to Put and End to Forced Overdependent of Bergen County

CBD high density housing

Reader, “If people just read this and don’t share the information, nothing will change. Do people think change comes by people sitting on their duffs in the living room and doing nothing more? Go to the event and support her at this event, otherwise, leaving it to someone else just won’t cut it anymore. Progressives who want to change the face of all the communities are working to make it happen…what are YOU DOING? If you can’t go, call your legislator even if it’s Pascrell and tell him this will lead to blighted areas in your town, overbuilding which perhaps including taking people’s homes through eminent domain if you are in the area they want, higher taxes due to more schools being needed, more traffic and of course road repairs and infrastructure costs – sewer, water, etc.”

June 14,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paramus NJ,  Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi will initiate a series of statewide legislative hearings to address New Jersey’s affordable housing crisis. The first will be held on June 15 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Bergen Community College’s Technology Education Center room 128.

Schepisi will be joined by other invited guests, including fellow legislators, mayors, town officials and planners, engineers, traffic experts, board of education members, environmental groups and other interested parties.

She said the hearings will examine ways to provide a better way toward affordability for the residents of this state while protecting towns from a recent state Supreme Court ruling that could force the construction of up to 1.5 million unneeded housing units to satisfy a fictitious population increase of 3.35 million in the next nine years – while Rutgers projects a population increase of only 219,000.

“We have reached a critical juncture in the State of New Jersey. We are the most costly, the most densely populated with the highest number of outmigration because people can no longer afford to live here. Instead of smart discussions regarding how to implement change to reduce living costs for all of our residents, the legislature’s inaction is forcing communities to potentially double their housing population in just the next nine years, destroying all existing housing prices while increasing property taxes,” said Schepisi. “We need to stop the court’s action and fix this issue while we still can.”

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An average N.J. resident needs to make this much to afford a 2-bedroom apartment

CBD high density housing

Updated on June 9, 2017 at 4:54 PMPosted on June 9, 2017 at 10:07 AM

BY JEFF GOLDMAN

[email protected],

NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

As expensive as it is to live in New Jersey, the cost to rent an apartment here isn’t close to being the priciest in the nation.

Renters in the Garden State — where the fair-market rate for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,420 per month — pay the seventh most in the country, according to a new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Hawaii, Washington D.C. and California are the most expensive. Those three are followed by Maryland, New York and Massachusetts.

So while renting in New Jersey is cheaper than a handful of spots, it still requires more money than most make.

In a state where the minimum wage is $8.44 an hour and the average person makes $17.86 per hour, a New Jersey worker needs to be paid $27.31 an hour to reasonably afford a two-bedroom apartment. The report defines “afford” as spending no more than 30 percent of your gross income on rent.

That translates to an annual salary of $56,810 per year. To live in a one-bedroom apartment, you need to make $46,619 per year on average.

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/06/a_typical_nj_resident_needs_to_make_this_much_to_a.html#incart_river_home

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Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi to Hold Town Hall on Court Forced Overdevelopment in Bergen County

CBD high density housing

May 25,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paramus NJ, Under recent affordable housing rulings by the NJ Supreme Court, our communities are being forced to permit construction of up to  1.5 MILLION new units of unneeded housing in order to satisfy a fictitious population increase of 30 percent in the next 9 years.

Protect our State from ridiculous affordable housing court mandates (which may result in over 1.5 MILLION new units of housing in NJ) by supporting A-4666 and A-4667 to stop the Court actions and study the issue while we still can.

Many of our NJ residents are unaware that their communities will be forced to DOUBLE their housing population in just the next 9 years, destroying all existing housing prices.

Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi  is now asking of volunteers. “I’m going to need all volunteers willing to help. I’ve received permission to host a “town hall” session on June 15th at 5:30 at Bergen Community College in Paramus. If the NJ Legislature won’t hold meetings on housing affordability and court forced overdevelopment, I will. The intent of this meeting is to host an open hearing to gain thoughts, concerns and options from members of the public, Mayors and Councils, planners, engineers, traffic experts, board of education members, environmental groups, etc. I will personally pay for transcripts of this hearing and will have them delivered to the Legislature. This will be the first of numerous hearings held throughout the entire State. I will draft a formal letter tomorrow for distribution throughout the County. Anyone willing to help out in the circulation efforts would be greatly appreciated. If you have an hour or two to spare please call my office (201) 666-0881 and ask for Doreen.”

https://theridgewoodblog.net/assemblywomen-holly-schepisi-continues-to-push-for-a-sensible-housing-policy-for-bergen-county/

https://theridgewoodblog.net/assemblywoman-holly-schepisi-nj-supreme-court-is-forcing-our-communities-to-build-up-to-one-million-new-units-of-unneeded-housing/

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Ridgewood Planning Board holds off on Ken Smith Motors site vote

Last Chance for Ridgewood to Speak Up about Public Safety Threat Posed by New Apartments

Mark Krulish , Staff Writer, @Mark_KrulishPublished 3:32 p.m. ET May 16, 2017 | Updated 18 hours ago

RIDGEWOOD — A vote on the application for a mixed-use development at the Ken Smith Motors site was postponed Tuesday evening as concerns about the potential impact on an already overburdened roadway in downtown Ridgewood.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/ridgewood/2017/05/16/decision-expected-ken-smit/323342001/

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Last Chance for Ridgewood to Speak Up about Public Safety Threat Posed by New Apartments

Untitled presentation pdf

May 16,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Tuesday, May 16th is residents’ last chance to address the planning board about the massive new 66 unit, multi-retail store complex coming to Franklin and Broad from local developer John Saraceno. This high-density housing project sets off a chain reaction of public safety problems in Ridgewood. The hearing and vote is set for 8pm at village hall on Tuesday night. Between Saraceno’s 60+ families plus new stores on Franklin and the 40+ families moving in yards away at the new Chestnut street high-density development, the Franklin Ave corridor will likely be overwhelmed with hundreds upon hundreds of more cars and pedestrians creating an even bigger threat to public safety on an already dangerous road. The Franklin ave corridor has a long history of accidents and pedestrians struck by cars and busses.
High-density development downtown is allowed thanks to controversial laws championed by Ridgewood resident Saraceno and then-mayor Paul Aronsohn.
Screen Shot 2017 04 30 at 1.18.13 PM 1
In the zoomed in version of developer Saraceno’s “rendering” above we see the already congested and dangerous Franklin & Broad intersection which will be drastically impacted by the new 5 story building and the nearby 4 story Chestnut apartments. The archway on the right is one of two entry/exit for the 150 new parking spots on Franklin. The current lot is private and not open to the public. There will be a great deal of new traffic at one of the most important, dangerous, and crowded intersections in the village.
The new light at this intersection will cost $300k, Saraceno has offered to pay 25% [which is more than the law requires]. The bigger problem is how other, non-upgraded intersections will handle the traffic flow. By law, developers of Ridgewood’s 4 new high-density buildings have only to pay a small fraction of any needed new lights.
The planning board meets Tuesday the 16th at 7:30pm in Village Hall. The public is encouraged to attend.
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Many parts of New Jersey face stressed drinking water supplies

glass_of_water_privatisation

James M. O’Neill , NorthJerseyPublished 1:42 p.m. ET May 8, 2017 | Updated 18 hours ago

Residents in parts of New Jersey use tens of millions of gallons more water a day than their watersheds can safely supply – and other areas of the state could soon be in similar stress according to a state report.

Demand in much of Salem and Cumberland counties outstrips local supply by 70 million gallons a day. In Atlantic County, the deficit is 25 million gallons daily.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2017/05/08/new-jersey-has-many-stressed-drinking-water-supplies/310316001/?utm_campaign=new-jersey-politics&utm_content=2017-09-05-9569518&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics

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Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi Continues to Push for A Sensible Housing Policy for Bergen County

CBD high density housing

May 7,2017
by Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi

Rivervale NJ, I have been on the front lines fighting for the legislature to do its job and provide a legislative solution to recent Court opinions on affordable housing in the State. Even the NJ Supreme Court agrees that the legislature should do something, anything, on this issue.

As a result of recent court opinions, I drafted bills to stop the costly litigations currently taking place in every municipality so that all interested parties, including the NJ League of Municipalities, the Executive Director of the NJ Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, the Executive Director of Fair Share Housing, professional planners and members of the legislature can sit together and develop a better way to ensure affordability in this State for all people regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender. The current plan to have over 280,000 new affordable units or 1.5 million additional total units in a state that is already the most densely populated with a population growth rate of less than 0.3 percent, along with being one of the States that most people are fleeing, is irrational at best.

My bills have received support from Democratic mayors and councils, Republican mayors and councils and communities that are split between political parties. This is not a Republican or Democratic issue, this is one of the most important issues affecting every community in the State and if we, as legislators refuse to address it, we do not deserve to be legislators.

Unfortunately, many times elected officials are unwilling to step up to the plate to address the more difficult issues for fear of the backlash. It is exceptionally unfortunate that in today’s political climate, the immediate “go to” for those who disagree on an issue is to insinuate the other person is a racist or a bigot or a whole host of other items. Today I found myself just in that place. As a result of my trying to bring all parties to the table to properly address an incredibly complicated and difficult topic, the head of the Bergen County NAACP, provided a letter to the Bergen Record today accusing me of “fear mongering”, “trying to advance my political profile” and alleging that I am affirmatively trying to keep minorities out of our communities. Anyone who knows me knows how totally off base his letter is with respect to how I operate or what I believe. I have reached out to the State NAACP President to request a sit down to openly discuss this issue. If we want our State to succeed we better start having the tough conversations now, while we still can. Wanting to figure out a better way to govern this State is a quality we want in everyone who represents us.

Please call your Mayors and your legislators and ask them to protect our State from ridiculous affordable housing court mandates (which may result in over 1.5 MILLION new units of housing in NJ) by supporting A-4666 and A-4667 to stop the Court actions and study the issue while we still can. If you don’t see your town below ask your elected officials why they aren’t fighting for your community.

Here is a current list of towns that have passed resolutions in support of my legislation to provide relief to our communities in the fight against the threat of over 1.5 MILLION new units of housing in NJ. If you don’t see your town on here ASK WHY. Many of our NJ residents are unaware that their communities will be forced to DOUBLE their housing population in just the next 9 years, destroying all existing housing prices.

Closter
Demarest
Dumont
Emerson
Franklin Lakes
Harrington Park
Haworth
Hillsdale
Mahwah
Montvale
Norwood
Old Tappan
Park Ridge
River Vale
Upper Saddle River
Westwood
Woodcliff Lake
Bloomingdale
Wanaque
Wayne
Saddle Brook
Fair Lawn
Oradell
Rochelle Park
Hackensack
Lincoln Park

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Fights, arrests after 300 youths converge on N.J. downtown

CBD high density housing

James – you should post about the ruckus last night in village of South Orange by 300 ‘youth’

The future of the village of Ridgewood once the urbanists have had their way with downtown.

Fights, arrests after 300 youths converge on N.J. downtown

By Noah Cohen | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on May 02, 2017 at 2:46 PM, updated May 03, 2017 at 12:37 AM

SOUTH ORANGE — Police plan to boost patrols after officers from several departments were needed to disperse at least 300 young people who gathered in downtown South Orange late Saturday, sparking fights and blocking traffic.

South Orange Police Chief Kyle Kroll said Tuesday the crowd contained a mix of village teens and others from nearby communities, including Newark, East Orange and Irvington residents, who apparently arrived by public transportation.

The unruly crowd formed around 8 p.m. and kept officers busy until around midnight, according to police. Kroll said he requested assistance from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, Maplewood and Orange police as altercations broke out among the throngs of teens and young adults.

“We just didn’t have enough officers to handle a crowd that large,” the chief said. “The agreement we have with surrounding [police departments] worked out well.

https://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2017/05/fights_arrests_after_300_youths_converge_on_nj_dow.html

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Reader asks What could possibly go wrong by trusting a real estate developer and a disgraced politician?

Paul_Aronsohn_dunking_theridgewoodblog

Remember that the former Mayor and Mr. Saraceno conducted studies that showed that there would be LESS traffic and only 4 additional children in the schools as a result of this project. No really, they did – and expected us to believe it. The studies assumed that only empty nesters with no cars would be moving in to these apartments. They further assumed that apartment dwellers would simply walk to get everything they needed in Ridgewood and take the train everywhere else. What could possibly go wrong by trusting a real estate developer and a disgraced politician?

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Reader says The idea that we need a developer’s attorney to tell us what is and is not a fact is insulting, preposterous and condescending

high density housing Ridgewood

Members of the public suggesting that the proposed development project, when built, will produce unavoidable, intractable problems with vehicular and pedestrian traffic at the intersection of Broad Street and Franklin Avenue, reflect common sense and need not be deemed “out of order” by Saraceno’s henchmen. The idea that we need a developer’s attorney to tell us what is and is not a fact, and what to think of a given fact in terms of what it portends for our lives as Village residents, and that we can’t legitimately rely on our own minds and common sense, is insulting, preposterous and condescending. This is too reminiscent of the Valley travails before the planning board and we shouldn’t be so willing to put up with it now that we are familiar with the tactic.

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NJ on Hook for 280,000 Affordable Housing Units, Study Says

Projects theridgewoodblog.net

By Salvador Rizzo • 04/13/17 1:13pm

New Jersey towns are on the hook for 280,000 affordable housing units through 2025, according to a new study by the Fair Share Housing Center.

To put the number in context, it averages out to 496 new units for each of the state’s 565 municipalities, although not all towns face the same requirements.

The affordable housing debate is as wonky as it is politically fraught in New Jersey, pitting Democrats against Republicans and local officials against judges. A small army of lawyers always seems to be in court somewhere fighting over how many units to build.

https://observer.com/2017/04/nj-on-hook-for-280000-affordable-housing-units-study-says/

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Reader says The NJ State Supreme court has ruled on the issue of affordable housing and EVERY municipality must comply

CBD high density housing

Why would a private developer build 100% low and moderate income income housing if their cost to build exceeds their projected revenue from the project.? The NJ State Supreme court has ruled on the issue of affordable housing and EVERY municipality must comply, so the choice for the Village is to either build it themselves in which case the existing taxpayers end up footing the entire bill or they can offer an incentive to private developers via a reasonable “set-aside” for an affordable housing component in their proposed development. So the choice is simple, the residents can either pay for the whole thing themselves or they can partially subsidize someone who will. DUH !!

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South Brunswick Attacks Judge Over Affordable Housing Rulings

CBD high density housing

By Salvador Rizzo • 04/07/17 2:13pm

Things are getting personal in the seemingly endless legal fight over how much affordable housing to build in New Jersey.

After South Brunswick lost a court case seeking to tamp down its affordable housing obligations, the township’s attorney, Jeffrey Surenian, filed court papers last week attacking the judge who issued the ruling.

The allegation is that former Superior Court Judge Douglas Wolfson had a conflict of interest because earlier in his career Wolfson represented and befriended a developer, Jack Morris of Edgewood Properties, who allegedly stood to benefit financially from Wolfson’s rulings last year calling for more affordable housing units to be built than some towns wanted.

https://observer.com/2017/04/south-brunswick-attacks-judge-over-affordable-housing-rulings/

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Reader says supporting simple, low-cost, low-impact, high-ROI programs undermines their entire narrative of over-developing Ridgewood

ridgewood train station parkiong

The crowd who loves high-density CBD housing, massive hospital expansions, and giant money losing garages hate adding more parking to the train station and CBD in a simple and low-cost manner. Why? Because supporting simple, low-cost, low-impact, high-ROI programs undermines their entire narrative of over-developing. Is Sears failing from a lack of parking? Is Englewood, NJ struggling with store-front retail due to a lack of parking? We have the parking, the very well done Walker and Maser reports show we don’t use what we have. Why don’t we try maximizing all the space we have already dedicated to parking first, then think about building. The garages all lose money even while requiring huge fee increases and are really subsidies for the local developer and a couple land owners in the CBD.

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The “roach” approach: Developers swarming over emerging neighborhoods

CBD high density housing

From Queens to Fort Lee, developers are targeting “affordable” price points: panelists

By E.B. Solomont | March 15, 2017 03:00PM

What’s a New York developer to do when renters are priced out of neighborhoods? Turn to emerging areas in Queens, the Bronx, New Jersey, Westchester and Long Island.

“We’re like cockroaches, we try to figure out what’s needed next,” said Jan Burman, president of Long Island-based Engel Burman Group, a developer of assisted living properties.

He was speaking Wednesday at a panel on residential real estate trends hosted by the newly-launched Fordham University real estate program. Moderated by Madison Realty Capital’s  Michael Stoler, Burman was one of 10 panelists assembled, along with Madison’s Josh Zegen; Benjamin Stacks of Capital One Bank; RXR Realty’s Seth Pinsky; KABR Group’s Kenneth Pasternak; Kushner Companies’ Laurent Morali; Jeff Levine of Douglaston Development; SJP Residential Properties’ Allen Goldman; the Beechwood Organization’s Steven Dubb and TD Bank’s Roy Chin.

“Prices have increased dramatically in core areas, pushing people out to areas that were formerly peripheral,” said Pinsky, who is heading RXR’s investment in “emerging markets” like New Rochelle and other suburban enclaves. “If we want to get ahead of this problem, the ultimate solution is to have supply meet demand.”

https://therealdeal.com/2017/03/15/the-roach-approach-developers-swarming-over-emerging-neighborhoods/