The full page ad from the Garage Cabal was an insult. It had Roberta’s exasperated catch phrase “enough is enough”. Well, I am fed up to, but I am fed up with our local government. Look at the list of signers in the ad. I recognize many of the names of business owners and residents who make their living working for these businesses (architect, PR guy). We also have some Financial Advisory Committee and Historic Preservation members. And then there are the hangers-on Don, Tim and Rurick. They did not make the list alphabetical because you would be able to see that entire families signed the petition just to make it look like a ground swell of supporters.
We are on the cusp of overdevelopment and everyone is grabbing for what they can get. The businesses care only about themselves. If business was not profitable they would have moved on to another town. They stay because they make a buck – good for them. I did not move to Ridgewood 27 years ago for the restaurants and banking opportunities. I moved because I liked the community as a whole.
Build the right-sized garage in downtown Ridgewood and limit high density housing. Thankfully we will soon have a new council and I hope that they can slow things down. I am not against change. Planned development can be a good thing. We are a community first, not a shopping center.
Look carefully at those running for a seat on the council. Two are FAC members (we need a separate thread just about this group – what exactly is their function?) who supported the garage in its original form. A third person seems to have nothing to do with the garage/development issue (The Manchurian Candidate). He is bff with Vaggianos and would like to help out his friend on the development side.
That leaves us with three other candidates. They have posted things on this site and social media. They are explaining their positions. I am listening carefully. We don’t want Englewood and Montclair as our models for a downtown. We have something unique here and we have to be careful not to destroy it.