Tag: Ridgewood Planning Board

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A decision for a lawsuit filed by Ridgewood Citizens for Reasonable Development Inc. should be made soon

Ridgewood 3 amigos

file photo by Boyd Loving

BY ALEXANDRA HOEY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The fate of a lawsuit that claims “conflicts of interest” by multiple former planning board members paved the way for high-density development proposals, has been rescheduled to Monday.

The suit, which was filed in May by attorney Kevin Mattessich on behalf of a resident’s grassroots organization, Ridgewood Citizens for Reasonable Development Inc. (RCRD), was supposed to be decided by Superior Court Judge William Meehan on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/rcrd-lawsuit-decision-should-be-made-soon-1.1680800

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RIDGEWOOD PLANNING BOARD MEETING – OCTOBER 18, 2017

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PLANNING BOARD AGENDA – OCTOBER 18, 2017

PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Village Hall Court Room– 7:30 P.M.

(all timeframes and the order of agenda items below are approximate and subject to change)

  1. 7:30 p.m. – Call to Order, Statement of Compliance, Flag Salute, Roll Call – In accordance with the provisions of Section 10:4-8d of the Open Public Meetings Act, the date, location, and time of the commencement of this meeting is reflected in a meeting notice, a copy of which schedule has been filed with the Village Manager and the Village Clerk, The Ridgewood News and The Record newspapers, and posted on the bulletin board in the entry lobby of the Village municipal offices at 131 North Maple Avenue, and on the Village website, all in accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act.Roll call: Knudsen, Voigt, Altano, Joel, Reilly, Patire, Scheibner, Torielli, McWilliams
  2. 7:35 p.m. – 7:40 p.m. – Public Comments on Topics not Pending Before the Board
  3. 7:40 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. – Committee/Commission/Professional Updates for Non Agenda Topics, Correspondence Received by the Board
  4. 7:45 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. – Appointment of Traffic Engineer
  5. 8:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. – Motion to Planning Board
  6. 8:30 p.m. – 9:15 p.m. – Continuation of Riverside Pediatric Group d/b/a Riverside Medical Group, Minor Site Plan and Variance Application, 74 Oak Street, Block 2009, Lot 6
  7. 9:15 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. – Two Forty Associates, Preliminary and Major Site Plan, 150-174 Chestnut Street, Blocks 2005, Lot 3
  8. 10:30 p.m. – 10:35 p.m. – Adoption of Minutes: May 03, 2016
  9. 10:35 p.m. – 10:45 p.m. – Unfinished Business and New Business – Scheduling of Meetings and Applications and Discussion of Open Items
  10. 10:45 p.m. – Executive Session (if necessary)
  11. AdjournmentIn accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, all meetings of the Ridgewood Planning Board (i.e., official public meetings, work sessions, pre-meeting assemblies and special meetings) are public meetings, which are always open to members of the general public.

    Members: Susan Knudsen, Jeff Voigt, Joel Torielli, Melanie McWilliams, David Scheibner, Richard Joel, Kevin Reilly, Isabella Altano, Debbie Patire

    Professional Staff: Blais L. Brancheau, Planner; Christopher Martin, Esq., Board Attorney; Christopher J. Rutishauser, Village Engineer; Michael Cafarelli, Board Secretary

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Judge to decide future of suit claiming conflicts of interest regarding Ridgewood master plan changes

CBD high density housing

BY STEVE JANOSKI

STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — A Superior Court judge will decide Wednesday the future of a lawsuit claiming several conflicts of interest tainted both the Planning Board’s and Village Council’s review and approval of several contentious master plan changes this year.

The suit, filed in May by attorney Kevin Mattessich on behalf of the grassroots group Ridgewood Citizens for Reasonable Development, seeks an order from Superior Court Judge William Meehan voiding four ordinances.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/judge-to-decide-future-of-suit-claiming-conflicts-of-interest-regarding-ridgewood-master-plan-changes-1.1677457

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Ridgewood Planning Board Meeting at 7:30pm

CBD high density housing

Dear Friend,

Please come tonight, 7:30pm at Village Hall, to help remind the Planning Board who they really represent.

If you cannot attend, please consider emailing the secretary of the Planning Board, Mike Cafarelli, (mcafarelli@ridgewoodnj.net) to share with the Planning Board that we need these questions formally investigated per the complaint filed on September 20th:

Why didn’t our former deputy mayor recuse himself from March 23rd’s vote on High Density Housing, when, as a member of the Planning Board, he had previously recused himself for the same issue?

Why was an unvetted/unsubstantiated letter from the Fair Share Housing Center written into the record as fact/evidence by the former Planning Board Attorney?

Lastly, on the same day a resident complaint was filed against the Planning Board, one of its members who was named as having a conflict of interest, should happen to resign. Is that just a coincidence?

These are questions that we as residents deserve answers to. According to their By Laws, the Planning Board has the right to stop the pending high density housing site plan review and investigate these matters. Let’s hold them to doing so.

Thanks for doing your part to protect Ridgewood.

Dana

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Ridgewood Planning Board Meeting October 4th : Residents Deserve Answers

Ridgewood Planning Board

Friends and Neighbors,

Why didn’t our former deputy mayor recuse himself from March 23rd’s vote on High Density Housing, when, as a member of the Planning Board, he had previously recused himself for the same issue?

Why was an unvetted/unsubstantiated letter from the Fair Share Housing Center written into the record as fact/evidence by the former Planning Board Attorney?

Is it coincidence that on the same day a resident complaint was filed against the Planning Board, one of its members who was named as having a conflict of interest, should happen to resign?

These are questions that we as residents deserve answers to. According to their By Laws, the Planning Board has the right to stop the pending site plan high density housing review and investigate these matters.

Please join me on Tuesday, October 4th, 7:30pm at Village Hall to help remind the Planning Board who they really represent.

If you cannot attend, please consider emailing the secretary of the Planning Board, Mike Cafarelli, (mcafarelli@ridgewoodnj.net) to share with the Planning Board that we need these questions formally addressed.

Thanks for doing your part to protect Ridgewood.

Dana

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October 4th the Ridgewood Planning Board will be reviewing resident complaint alleging serious conflicts of interest in prior vote for high density housing

3 amigos

September 26,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, once again a group of residents is gathering signatures , “Please add my name to the Motion of Complaint against the Planning Board”. October 4th the Planning Board will be reviewing the resident complaint that could challenge the prior vote for high density regarding several serious conflicts of interest.

We need your help once again with protecting our Village from high density developers.

On Tuesday, October 4th the Planning Board will be reviewing the resident complaint that could challenge the prior vote for high density regarding several serious conflicts of interest and we need to keep the pressure on.

If you haven’t already, it is important to take the time to read the complaint and add your name to the petition. You can do so by:

1) Using the below dropbox link to open up the complaint.
2) Print out the signing page of the attached petition letter and sign it.
3) Either scan or take a jpeg snapshot of the autographed signing page with your phone and email it to: myself, Mayor Knudsen, Planning Board Secretary Cafarelli and Planning Board Attorney Christopher Martin:

leeda325@gmail.com
sknudsen@ridgewoodnj.net
mcafarelli@ridgewoodnj.net
CMartin@morrisonmahoney.com

4) In the subject heading write “Please add my name to the Motion of Complaint against the Planning Board”
5) Forward this email/attachments to everyone you know in town.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4aqjdr4jc06gx44/Motion%20to%20Planning%20Board%20Under%20By%20Law%20Sections%202.13%20%26%207.27.pdf?dl=0

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Reader says Ridgewood Planning Board lawsuit indicates that Pucciarelli should have recused earlier

Ridgewood 3 amigos

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.

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Reader Explains , “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”

dayton_102811_rn_tif_

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.”

 

https://theridgewoodblog.net/last-minute-petition-circulating-to-stop-the-ridgewood-planning-boards-high-density-housing-review-process/

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High Density Housing : Max Height from the Lowest Grade

Dayton_theridgewoodblog

September 21,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Resident Saurabh Dani gave us his take on the Planning board meeting last night , “This new Dayton building they are discussing at the planning board has 34.8 units per acre. We were told by ex deputy mayor in council meetings multiple times that because of the set backs and floor plan ratios, they will never go beyond 28-29, even if the ordinance allows 35. That was a big lie.

Also max height at some places (four units to go that height) is 58 feet from AVERAGe grade.
I asked what is the max height from the lowest grade level, not averaged grade, and they would not answer it. How difficult is it to ‘grade’ a slope by adding a few truck loads of dirt?”

Since there was not a vote last night on the petition nor high density housing, there is still more time to collect names.

see ;https://theridgewoodblog.net/last-minute-petition-circulating-to-stop-the-ridgewood-planning-boards-high-density-housing-review-process/

 

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UPDATE : Last Minute Petition Circulating to Stop the Ridgewood Planning Board’s high density housing review process

Dayton_122311_rn_tif_-300x148
September 20,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
There wasn’t a vote last night re the petition nor high density, so we have more time to collect names!
Ridgewood NJ, a last minute petition is making the rounds looking to forestall any decision on development in the Central Business District . The petition in support of a law suit brought against the planning board  in May by Ridgewood Citizens for Reasonable Development claiming that “mistakes” were  made which corrupted the entire planning process.

Dear Friends,

Please review the attached petition/testimony and consider adding your name to it. Supporting this petition is our best chance at stopping the Planning Board’s high density housing review process which COULD GO TO A VOTE TONIGHT!!

In order to add your name to the petition:

1) Print out the signing page of the attached petition letter and sign it.

2) Either scan or take a jpeg snapshot of the autographed signing page with your phone and email it to: myself, Mayor Knudsen, Planning Board Secretary Cafarelli and Planning Board Attorney Christopher Martin:

leeda325@gmail.com

sknudsen@ridgewoodnj.net

mcafarelli@ridgewoodnj.net
CMartin@morrisonmahoney.com

3) In the subject heading write “Please add my name to the Motion of Complaint against the Planning Board”
4) Forward this email/attachments to everyone you know in town.

Thanks for doing your part to protect Ridgewood.

Sincerely,

Dana

 

 

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Ridgewood Planning Board Appoints New Attorney

Clock_Ridgewood_theridgewopodblog
September 14, 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  Ridgewood’s planning board has appointed Chris Martin, of Morrison Mahoney, as the new planning board attorney during the Sept. 6 meeting. Martin replaces Gail Price, who worked for the Village of Ridgewood for many years . Price had been criticized by residents for a perceived all to cozy relationship with Valley Hospital and was challenged when her husband Richard Brooks ran for council.

According to the Morrison Mahoney website , “Chris is the Liaison Partner for the Parsippany Office and has tried numerous cases to verdict involving products, professional and commercial liability matters. Chris has argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court pertaining to construction matters and before the Appellate Division on insurance coverage issues. He has had numerous trials as a Prosecutor and has also worked in the Office of the Attorney General for the State of New Jersey.”

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Ridgewood Planning Board Attorney Gail Price Has Submitted her Resignation

village Council election
August 24,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, looks like Gail Price the Ridgewood planning Board attorney who came under a lot of scrutiny for her over the top Facebook posts and seemingly all too cozy relationship with Valley Hospital has submitted her resignation.  Things came to a head during her husband Richard Brooks’s failed campaign for Village Council where she took a lot of heat for conflicts of interest and seemed to undergo a social media melt down.

The Ridgewood blog had heard that she did not submit a proposal in response to the RFQ and that she personally hasn’t attended a Planning Board meeting since her husband declared his candidacy for Village Council.  At that time we had no resignation per se but it did appear that she’s done.

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Ridgewood Planning Board Meeting

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PLANNING BOARD AGENDA – AUGUST 30, 2016

PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Village Court Room – 7:30 P.M.

(all timeframes and the order of agenda items below are approximate and subject to change)

  1. 7:30 p.m. – Call to Order, Statement of Compliance, Flag Salute, Roll Call – In accordance with the provisions of Section 10:4-8d of the Open Public Meetings Act, the date, location, and time of the commencement of this meeting is reflected in a meeting notice, a copy of which schedule has been filed with the Village Manager and the Village Clerk, The Ridgewood News and The Record newspapers, and posted on the bulletin board in the entry lobby of the Village municipal offices at 131 North Maple Avenue, and on the Village website, all in accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act.Roll call: Knudsen, Voigt, Altano, Joel, Reilly, Patire, Thurston, Scheibner, Torielli, McWilliams
  2. 7:35 p.m. – 7:40 p.m. – Public Comments on Topics not Pending Before the Board
  3. 7:40 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. – Committee/Commission/Professional Updates for Non Agenda Topics, Correspondence Received by the Board
  4. 7:45 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. – Executive Session
  5. 9:30 p.m. – 9:45 p.m. – Appointment of Legal Counsel
  6. AdjournmentIn accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, all meetings of the Ridgewood Planning Board (i.e., official public meetings, work sessions, pre-meeting assemblies and special meetings) are public meetings, which are always open to members of the general public.

    Members: Susan Knudsen, Jeff Voigt, Joel Torielli, Melanie McWilliams, David Scheibner, Richard Joel, Kevin Reilly, David Thurston, Isabella Altano, Debbie Patire

    Professional Staff: Blais L. Brancheau, Planner; Gail L. Price, Esq., Board Attorney; Christopher J. Rutishauser, Village Engineer; Michael Cafarelli, Board Secretary

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RIDGEWOOD PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA

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PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Senior Lounge – 7:30 P.M.

(all timeframes and the order of agenda items below are approximate and subject to change)

  1. 7:30 p.m. – Call to Order, Statement of Compliance, Flag Salute, Roll Call – In accordance with the provisions of Section 10:4-8d of the Open Public Meetings Act, the date, location, and time of the commencement of this meeting is reflected in a meeting notice, a copy of which schedule has been filed with the Village Manager and the Village Clerk, The Ridgewood News and The Record newspapers, and posted on the bulletin board in the entry lobby of the Village municipal offices at 131 North Maple Avenue, and on the Village website, all in accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act.Roll call: Knudsen, Voigt, Altano, Joel, Reilly, Patire, Thurston, Scheibner, Torielli, McWilliams
  2. 7:35 p.m. – 7:40 p.m. – Public Comments on Topics not Pending Before the Board
  3. 7:40 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. – Committee/Commission/Professional Updates for Non Agenda Topics, Correspondence Received by the Board
  4. 7:45 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. – Executive Session
  5. 9:30 p.m. – 9:45 p.m. – Appointment of Legal Counsel
  6. AdjournmentIn accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, all meetings of the Ridgewood Planning Board (i.e., official public meetings, work sessions, pre-meeting assemblies and special meetings) are public meetings, which are always open to members of the general public.Members: Susan Knudsen, Jeff Voigt, Joel Torielli, Melanie McWilliams, David Scheibner, Richard Joel, Kevin Reilly, David Thurston, Isabella Altano, Debbie Patire

    Professional Staff: Blais L. Brancheau, Planner; Gail L. Price, Esq., Board Attorney; Christopher J. Rutishauser, Village Engineer; Michael Cafarelli, Board Secretary

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Justice Department investigating Toms River’s zoning laws

VillageHall_floods_theridgewoodblog

file photo by Boyd Loving

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Toms River’s zoning laws affecting religious land uses, including the Board of Adjustment’s requirement that a rabbi obtain a use variance to continue operating his Church Road home as a house of worship. Jean Mikle, Asbury Park Press Read more