Essential to understand that everything proposed and pushed for under the Aronsohn regime, including his years on the council before becoming mayor, and no doubt before he ran in the first place shortly after moving here, was a Lego block in his long game to power. All along he was advised by paid marketing professionals who cared nothing for the populace but were paid to further one person’s career (sound like the Bridgegate trials?).The connections, machinations, and deals could fill a book. It’s left to us to disentangle what happened and to rescind and nullify any progress made in that direction, because it never corresponded with what was best for our village.
RE: October 4th,the Ridgewood Planning Board will be discussing the Conflict of Interest complaint
Get out and speak up. No, get out and shout. If the Aronsohn projects go through, our downtown may never recover and the Aronsohn blight will spread through town over the next decade. We’ve all spent a lot of tax dollars to maintain this town, let’s not give it up to a handful of land speculators who have to be laughing gleefully at the stupidity of the Aronsohn council majority.
More importantly, the conflict issue raised by these citizens calls out to all of us. Is this how we want our local government to be run? If these allegations are true, we need to put that truth into the light of fay and take appropriate action. If we don’t, what message do we tell the next generation? Just as importantly,, what message do we send to the next round of land speculators who want to take over another section of town for their own profit? Do we want that message to be: “Sure, get some friends placed on our planning board and walk all over us.”
So,email or call your planning board representatives. Show up at the meeting. Write tot he town council, especially those we just elected and tell them you want action.
Please also consider sending the following note to the Planning Board and our Mayor via email:
Dear Mayor Knudsen, Chairman Joel and Planning Board Members,
I am aware that a group of concerned residents delivered a Motion of Complaint to the Ridgewood Planning Board, under By Law Sections 2.13 and 7.21, dated September 16th. Their motion brings to light a series of conflicts of interest and unacceptable mistakes that impacted the high density housing votes. It spotlights the truly defective process by which these highly unpopular ordinances (3489, 3490, 3491 and 3493) were passed. It is not right for Ridgewood residents to have such important decisions made, and the future of our village impacted, by a forum influenced by potential personal conflicts and/or mistakes. Preventing such actions is clearly the intent of the Planning Board’s own By Laws.
Therefore, I fully support the motion made by these residents. I ask that the Board stop all current high density site plan reviews and promptly begin a complete review of the residents’ complaints. Should any conflicts or mistakes be found, the Ordinance votes and Ordinances themselves should be rescinded and reevaluated via a proper and untainted process.
Secretary Cafarelli, please forward/print this email to all Planning Board members.
I can’t believe it was a year ago today that over 600 of us went to Village Hall to stop the Village Council from moving forward on the High Density Housing issue. It was truly a remarkable night that brought people together and made an incredibly clear statement: We do not want high density housing in our Village!
So, here we are, a year later and we need your help yet again.
As most of you know, last March the previous VC majority passed an ordinance allowing these massive multifamily dwellings to be built – and make no mistake – once the shovels go into the ground, our schools in particular will be impacted.
What many of us didn’t know then is that the Planning Board and then the Village Council process was riddled with possible conflicts of interest. A few weeks ago, several residents and I filed a formal complaint requesting that the current Planning Board cease their high density site plan process immediately and investigate.
On Tuesday, October 4th, at 7:30pm in Village Hall the Planning Board will be discussing this formal complaint. I would urge you, for the sake of our kids, to attend so that the Planning Board is encouraged to make the right choice. If you do plan to come, please email me to help better coordinate the evening.
Please also consider sending the following note to the Planning Board and our Mayor via email:
Dear Mayor Knudsen, Chairman Joel and Planning Board Members,
I am aware that a group of concerned residents delivered a Motion of Complaint to the Ridgewood Planning Board, under By Law Sections 2.13 and 7.21, dated September 16th. Their motion brings to light a series of conflicts of interest and unacceptable mistakes that impacted the high density housing votes. It spotlights the truly defective process by which these highly unpopular ordinances (3489, 3490, 3491 and 3493) were passed. It is not right for Ridgewood residents to have such important decisions made, and the future of our village impacted, by a forum influenced by potential personal conflicts and/or mistakes. Preventing such actions is clearly the intent of the Planning Board’s own By Laws.
Therefore, I fully support the motion made by these residents. I ask that the Board stop all current high density site plan reviews and promptly begin a complete review of the residents’ complaints. Should any conflicts or mistakes be found, the Ordinance votes and Ordinances themselves should be rescinded and reevaluated via a proper and untainted process.
Secretary Cafarelli, please forward/print this email to all Planning Board members.
Well this is off subject but I do not know where else to post it. The Ridgewood News today has a great article about the high density housing fight. A lawsuit indicates that Pucciarelli should have recused way earlier than he did. When asked by the reporter to comment Mr. Pucciarelli declined. Love it. Mr. Big talker who could not shut up ever when he was on the dais now has his mouth shut. Have a crappy weekend Big Al the Developers Pal.
the concern is that the lot slopes from one side to the other and that when developers like these start building they can play games with the grade from which the building is measured. By measuring from the high point of the property, they can get away with more building.
The problem here is that just as they were being chased out of office, Aronson & Co. passed laws allowing for these multi-unit, multi-family complexes to be built throughout Ridgewood. We are all struggling with the legacy of these laws. This site, for instance, could potentially add a few hundred cars, students, etc to our budget. It is only one of several sites already in the works. Undoubtedly other land speculators and profiteers are lining up to try and build more. Saurabh and others are doing their best to try and either prevent the monstrosity from moving forward or keep it as curtailed s possible.
You should go to the planning board meetings where these projects are being discussed. See if there is anything you can do to prevent the damage that is about to happen. First and foremost you can write your council people and the planning board members to use the means available to them to undo these monstrosities before they are built.
Reader explains, “Actually, its not a petition but a formal motion asking the planning board to take action and correct the problems caused by the prior planning board. Those problems included conflicts of interest by board members and dramatic mistakes in the planning board hearings. In short, it is apparent that the residents of Ridgewood were denied due process because of transgressions. The new planning board has the opportunity to make amends.
The motion is not “in support” of the RCRD’s lawsuit. That lawsuit is independent and it seeks to undo the Aronson ordinance allowing multi-family housing.
In any event, while the motion is not a petition, any interested party can join in the request to the Board by signing on to a copy of the motion paper.”
On July 20, 2016, The Ridgewood Blog posted a link to an Opinion Editorial written by former Ridgewood mayor Paul Aronsohn in which Mr. Aronsohn endorsed the construction of additional multi-family housing in Ridgewood, and also defended his active involvement in promoting the erection of a now contentious, multi-level parking garage at the intersection of Hudson and South Broad Streets in Ridgewood’s Central Business District.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Aronsohn’s editorial failed to include several key facts with regard to his tenure in office as they relate to multi-family housing and the proposed parking garage.
Firstly; public records available on line from the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission reveal that in 2012, Mr. Aronsohn accepted an “in kind” campaign contribution from a local real estate developer, Mr. John Saraceno, whose firm (Onyx Equities, LLC) has applied to construct new, high density, multifamily housing in Ridgewood. Undoubtedly, Mr. Saraceno, will profit handsomely once construction is complete and all units in his building are rented.
Secondly, Mr. Saraceno’s firm owns a large commercial/retail establishment located within the very block as the parking garage Mr. Aronsohn and his supporters wanted to build (exact address is: 54 East Ridgewood Avenue). In my opinion, the value of Mr. Saraceno’s property would have increased substantially if a several hundred space parking garage had been constructed within the same block as his property.
Finally, if you think that all of this wasn’t enough to raise the eyebrows of Ridgewood’s voters this past Spring, may I remind you that on July 3, 2013, Mr. Aronsohn, along with four (4) members of Ridgewood’s Village Council, attended a $1,000-a- head campaign fundraiser for Governor Chris Christie with free tickets to the event provided to them by Mr. John Saraceno. This incident subsequently became the subject of a lead editorial in The Record on July 17, 2013.
Personally, I’d had enough of Mr. Aronsohn many, many months ago, and the results of a local election held in May, in which all of the candidates supported by Mr. Aronsohn for election to Village Council lost heavily, suggest that the vast majority of Ridgewood’s voters who cast ballots agreed with me that it was time for a big change in local government.
Glen Rock NJ, the Ridgewood Revolution is spreading . A group of Glen Rock residents has had enough and is petitioning Mayor Bruce Packer and the Borough Council not to approve an ordinance that would rezone Prospect Street.
Sound familiar , the ordinance would permit a developer to build 53 rentals unit housing complex on the street ie high density housing .
Prospect Neighbors started the online petition. The group claims the ordinance is “poor urban planning,” and sets a negative precedent for “high-density, multi-family rental development in all other residential areas of Glen Rock.”
People who commented on the petition homepage made statements we are all well to familiar with in Ridgewood starting with “its a small town and should stay that way we don’t need high density housing ” , others claim the project would increase traffic , ruin the single family charm and otherwise negatively impact the town.
Does this all sound familiar; “This type of housing doesn’t belong in this town. If Glen Rock has tough building regulations for homeowners wanting to expand their homes. Building this kind of apartments is hypocritical”
“This is just the thing that I expected to occur when Amy Martin was elected to council, followed by the election of Bruce Packer and democrat friends. The emphasis here should be on the rehabilitation of the Rock Road business district, not more rental housing down the street from the new Bottle King!”
Ridgewood NJ, The Village Council repealed an ordinance that has in many residents eyes opened the door to unpopular village master plan amendments that included clearing the way for The Valley Hospital’s expansion and construction of high-density housing downtown.
The ordinance, No. 3066, was adopted in 2007 and states that “any interested party” can formally request amendments to either the master plan or its development regulations. The requests must be reviewed by the village, and the ordinance also outlines how a party must file such requests, as well as the fee structure for doing so.
Village Planner Blais Brancheau authored the ordinance nine years ago and has steadfastly claimed it was to “establish a clear procedure” for handling amendment requests and let the village charge the requesting party the cost of the professionals involved. Brancheau claims that without the ordinance, those costs would be carried by Ridgewood taxpayers.Critics of 3066 have long felt the Village had lost control of the planning process.
It was introduced by the Village Council under Mayor Pfund in 2007 (https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/minutes/07RPMJUN13.pdf ). Chapter § 190-143 of the amended Village Code is the kicker; it established procedures for interested persions (i.e. developers) to request amendments to the Village Master Plan or development regulations.
Council members Mancuso, Ringler Shagin, Wiest, and Pfund all voted in favor of the ordinance. Chapter § 190-143 is here https://ecode360.com/6694062 .
Over the years many residents argue that this should be repealed to ensure that we don’t see overdevelopment at Valley and in the CBD in terms of densities and building scale. It’s felt this will better protect our property values.
But last night the council agreed to repeal Ordinance 3066 once and for all in all its glory which will allow the Village to once again gain control of its own destiny and close the door on incongruous non conforming development. The final repeal will come in the August public meeting.
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.
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.
Reader says, “Too big. Just like everything else being proposed. I don’t mind if Mr. Saraceno improves his property – just do it within the rules set forth in the existing Mater Plan. Same rules for everyone right? I could make a ton of money by tearing my house down and putting up high density housing too. Thanks to Mr. Pfund’s ordinance I could petition the town to change the Master Plan because it would be good for me financially. I could conduct a study that would conclude that there would be no adverse impact on traffic or infrastructure. I could conduct another study that would conclude that there would be no additional children in the school system because I’ll only rent to “empty nesters”.
Why is Mr. Saraceno any different from the rest of us? Why should he be entitled to change the laws to suit his own financial interests? Not a single person has made any credible argument that Mr. Saraceno’s apartments will be good for anyone other than Mr. Saraceno.”
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood asked for some feed back from the candidates on the March 9th “informational ” meeting with the Village Council on the high density housing projects for the central business district .
Council Candidate Jeff Voigt said , “I am concerned there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty around the school children projections. The analysis done by BFJ planning makes the assumption that the mix of units in the new buildings will be the same as existing apartment inventory and then uses this assumption on what the number of students will be moving forward. Since the builders can build whatever they want, this assumption should not be made. As I had suggested at the meeting a sensitivity analysis should be done on the best and worst cases. it is a relatively straight forward process and would provide us with the risk and costs of various scenarios and the likelihoods of these happening. ”
Jeff brought to mind another issue , “Another concern is that once these ordinances are approved, my guess is that the developers will start ASAP on building, considering their concern about the potential make-up of a new council. This will make downtown a mess – with 4 potential large developments going up at once – the parking garage plus 3 multifamily developments. In particular, the S. Broad St area is going to be impassible. It would be nice to see the developers understand this and do their best to ensure the downtown is not disrupted. ”
Jeff went on to say that , the real estate agent (who stood up) expressing his concern about 55 students coming out of 70+ apartments. This type of relationship also holds in the Ridge Apt’s where 37 children come out of 40 (2 bedroom) apartments. Since Ridgewood is a magnet town for education I can see many families moving into these apt just for the education – even in the one bedrooms. If either of these scenarios plays out with the new developments – we could have 100+ children in our school system. Not good.
He also added that , “The planning board needs to scrutinize the site plans for each of these developments very carefully considering each site plan should have a plan for how daily life/traffic is going to function while they put up their rather large edifices. Stipulations made by the planning in their approval is going to be extremely important.”
Jeff also echoed the sentiment of many residents when he said the meeting ,”Overall, very disappointing”
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.
