Tag: turf fields

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Ridgewood many tree lined parks to beat the heat

Twinney Pond Park

July 29,2016
the staff  of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, a park is also a nice place to beat the heat and Ridgewood many tree lined parks . Take advantage there are more parks than your realize ; the mission statement of the Ridgewood Department of Parks and Recreation is to preserve open space and provide facilities and year round recreational activities that meet the needs of all residents.

Parks
The Division of Parks is responsible for the maintenance of all Village owned parkland, athletic facilities, planting of flowerbeds (in cooperation with Project Pride) and landscaping throughout the community. In addition, the division is responsible for the preparation and maintenance of the Graydon Pool facility and grounds as well as all departmental special events throughout the year.

Shade Tree
The Shade Tree Division is responsible for the maintenance and care of approximately 15, 000 Village owned street trees on 100 miles of public ways, as well as additional trees and shrubs in parks and on other public grounds. This includes all aspects, such as removal, planting, and pruning. The Shade Tree Division does a tree planting for Arbor Day, which is usually the last Friday in April. The division currently offers a memorial tree/bench program to honor the memory of a friend or family member.

Citizen’s Park
Located at the corner of Godwin Avenue and North Monroe Street. Citizen’s Park includes a softball field, multipurpose field, a small sided softball field, an open play area, benches and gardens.

Dunham Trail
Located between Grove Street and Spring Avenue along the Ho Ho Kus brook and the public service right-of-way. Dunham Trail is one of the Village wildscape areas.

On Dunham trail look for:

Sycamores and a wild cherry tree with shiny gray bark.
Triassic Sandstone, like that used to build Manhattan’s brownstones.
A linden tree wrapped in Poison Ivy rope.
Springtime Dogtooth Violets, False Solomon’s Seal, Spring Beauties, Yellow Primroses, Pink Japanese Knotweed, and the biggest patch of Canadian Mayflowers in Ridgewood.

Graydon Park
Located on the corner of North Maple Avenue and Linwood Avenue. Graydon Park offers a hockey court, skateboard park, basketball courts, swimming, ice-skating, picnic area, shuffleboard, children’s playground, shelter, and restrooms. Click on the following link to find all that Graydon Pool has to offer – Graydon Pool website.

Grove Park
Located on the south side of Grove Street, just west of the Saddle River. This is one of Ridgewood’s wildscape areas, which include nature trails for walking.

In the 32 acres of beech forest and field that make up Grove Park, you will find:

Spring flowers that bloom between April and May before they disappear when the shade thickens.
The tulip poplars are the tallest and straightest trees in the wooded area.
You can look for the honeycombs located on top of the bee tree.
Turkey Tails and fungi can be found on fallen logs.

Kings Pond Park
Located off Lakeview Drive by the Midland Park border. Kings Pond Park offers a natural wildlife area, ice-skating, when permitted, and nature trails for walking. Kings Pond and Gypsy Pond offer a great variety of birds and mammal life.

In the parks you can also find:

Large glacial rocks at Park entrance are Canadian Shield Boulders.
Along the railroad track, wild azalea (pinxter) bloom.
Bracket fern and fiddleheads abound in the woods.
Ducks, Canada Geese and over 40 species of birds live here.
Wild garlic and mustard are abundant.
The general depth of the ponds is about 3 feet.

Leuning Park
Located on the corner of Northern Parkway and Meadowbrook Avenue. Leuning Parks offers an open play area.

Irene Habernickel Family Park
Located at 1037 Hillcrest Road in the northern most corner of the Village, this ten-acre park property has an abundance of mature trees. These trees help to define various areas of the property.

This special park property offers an opportunity for both passive and active recreation through the balance of wide open space, ball fields, natural areas, and a one-acre pond.
In the development stage; plans are to revive the dam and bridge area, install a children’s playground, multi-purpose fields, several walking trails and an arboretum complete with gardens.

This new park is soon to include nature programs as well as other passive opportunities as wildlife prevail such as mammals, reptiles and assorted birds.

Maple Park
Located on the corner of Meadowbrook Avenue and Northern Parkway. Maple Park offers one of Ridgewood wildscape areas as well as a community garden (Link to community garden page), part of the fitness trail (link to the parcourse fitness circuit page), benches, flowers, and nature trails. A regulation turf field hosts soccer, lacross and softball year round.
On the west and east banks of the Ho-Ho-Kus brook between Graydon Pool and Meadowbrook Avenue.

In Maple Park, look for:

A 70-year-old wisteria tree.
One of the largest stands of red cedar in this part of New Jersey.
A Porcupine (Sweet Gum) Tree.
A half dozen of different varieties of fern.
Fig-leaf magnolias with thin graceful leaves.
An herb garden.
On the east side of the brook, delicate grasses, berry bushes, and wild flowers that attract butterflies and birds of many descriptions.

North Road Park
Located on North Road, off of Glen Avenue east of Route 17. This is a natural wildlife area.

Pleasant Park
Located at the end of Stevens Avenue, behind Hawes School. Pleasant Park also offers one of the Village’s wildscape areas.

Pleasant Park offers a natural wildlife area, which includes:

Fallen “nurse” logs, nourishing many insects, lichens, ferns and fungi.
Green beggar ticks, jewelweed, ragweed, and purple loosestrife, all in the late summer.
Quaking aspen trees, with flat leaf stems (petioles) that quiver in the breeze.
New York ferns and lady ferns.
Grape vines.
Sassafras or “mitten” trees, whose name comes from the shape of the leaf.
A tree trunk shaped like a giraffe.
A wide variety of birds reside in this wooded community, which makes for excellent bird watching.

Schedler Property
This recent open space purchase is located between Route 17 and West Saddle River Road with development plans yet to be determined.

Twinney Pond Park
Located at the north end of Red Birch Court. Twinney pond offers a wildlife area, nature trails and ice-skating.

At Twinney Pond Park, this three foot deep kettle pond created by glaciers, you can see the following:

Sunfish as they sweep clean spots on the pond floor to make nests.
Shaggy Birches, Pin Oaks, and Locust Trees.
Veronica, they look like tiny orchids on the ground.
Button Bushes that will produce white pompoms this summer.
Dragonflies, with clear wings outspread, and Damsel Flies, with wings swept back and colored.
The life cycle of a tadpole.
Ice skating when the weather and ice permits.

Memorial Park at Van Neste Square
Located at East Ridgewood Avenue between Walnut Street and Oak Street. Van Neste offers a relaxing location in the center of town. Located in the park are the War Memorial Monument, benches, and gardens.

Veteran’s Field
Located at the corner of Linwood Avenue and Northern and Parkway. Veteran’s field is home to softball fields, hardball fields, multipurpose fields, running track, fitness circuit, amphitheater, open play area, and restrooms.

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Reader says We do not need to turf and pave every green space in Ridgewood

Graydon_Summerfun_theridgewoodblog

I think that the grass roots effort to elect an independent council and to petition a new garage vote have confused some people.

The annual “I want a cement pool” has begun. A woman posted on Facebook about the “filthy” water and the chorus joined in. They are demanding a cement pool. (And full day K)

They are unaware that the water is tested and their opinion is not fact. They think that clear pools are always sanitary. When they use words like disgusting and filthy they forget that other people actually swim there. They are insulting the Graydon swimmers knowingly or unknowingly. Lots of kide enjoy the swim team and summer camp.

Coxsackie disease is very contagious and spread from person to person. WASH YOUR HANDS. Cover your cough! Swimmers ear is not caused by Graydon, it occurs when water remains in the ear canal. I come from a family of competitive swimmers, many have had ear infections, none ever swam at Graydon. Anecdotal evidence does not point to cause. My peditrician thought that it was silly to blame Graydon for these illnesses

I brought my three children to Graydon for years. They loved it. Al of their friends were there and they made new friends every day.

Just because you want something different does not mean that the village must provide it. You can join another pool, go to a neighbors pool or even build your own. The options are there.

We do not need to turf and pave every green space in town.

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A Perfect Storm in Ridgewood Developed and Pushed the Council majority to the Curb

3 amigos in action Ridgewood NJ
May 16,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, readers continue to takes issue with Gwenn “drunken tiriad” at village hall after the humiliating defeat of the Aronsohn slate .Many residents can’t get over the fact that Gwenn lost it the night everyone met at the Community Center to hear the election results.  She certainly had been drinking but that really is a non issue( Many drunks are nice!) .

Gwenn literally went into the face of a resident screaming and cursing and saying, ” Are you fucking gloating” and other curses.  Her extremely rude husband who,is known for his rudeness, grabbed her to take her away all the while smiling and saying, ” we have freedom of speech, she can say anything she wants!” A classy act .

All three of the outgoing council members have demonstrated serious narcissistic rage issues. So many have witnessed these rants or have been the victim of them.

They have held these anti free speech civility meetings for two years basically attacking everything and everyone but themselves.

If the new council is only better in this department, we are most definitely in a better place.  The behavior has affected so many areas of village government including not allowing for real conversation about problems in the departments.

Add that to the fact that the village manager acted as a 6th council member and was encouraged to do so made it impossible for Susan and Mike to have the impact they tried so hard for.

Fortunately, for residents a perfect storm developed:  so many citizen groups with a variety of issues speaking out at once.  There was no way they were going to beat that and that it is why they tried to push everything through in such an aggressive manner so quickly.

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Readers take on Ridgewood’s East Side vs West Debate

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“Ms. Hauck got elected last time because the West side of Ridgewood voted and the Eastside did not. Check the records. I believe this “committee” came into existence after that election. Most of those in administration, on the board, and doctors from Valley that live in Ridgewood are also from the West side, and, I would be willing to bet, most of this front they call a Financial Advisory Committee live on the West side. Get it ? It is nothing more than a power play by a relatively small group of people with big money and egos that could care less about the overall well being of Ridgewood. And you are right 1:44, that could easily happen, but not just to that neighborhood.”

While others say , ” please don’t make this a West v. East thing. That tears a community apart and it’s insulting. I happen to live on the West side, within spitting distance of the East side – the argument that we are 2 separate groups doesn’t fly.”

Lets face it , “that has been the undercurrent for several years and now with all of the disputes going on, especially with the so called “crown jewel”, a lot of people are making this an east side west side thing… and some postings implying people living near the hospital are suckers, selfish, nimby etc. has done wonders to cement that feeling…and yes it is unfortunate but it is becoming a huge reality…”

“I’ll stick to my original comment for which I think I’m entitled after 33 yrs. It’s a power play, pure and simple. I have not said anything that people who have resided here have not said privately, trust me. But if nothing else, maybe it will get the people in this town to wake up, vote these people and their friends out, and stop the train wreck. That’s what the statement was intended to do. Sometimes being “politically correct “”does not work.”

“I live on the west side and I have email from Gwenn saying the previous administration did not take care of the west side and she and the current administration are making sure that west side is not neglected. So, she definitely tried to play that card.”

 

 

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Outline of Proposed Terms for the Development of the Schedler Property in Ridgewood

Save Our Schedler Members & Friends at the Schedler House3

file photo by Boyd Loving

April 18,2016

Ridgewood NJ, from the Friends of Schedler Facebook page :

Outline of Proposed Terms for the Development of the Schedler Property

1. In order to provide the Village with much needed passive park and recreational space, the field shall be no larger than 60’.

2. Any design will include a sound wall to block out the sound of the highway for the entire length of the property. In addition, to a sound wall near the highway, the park will include a berm on West Saddle River Road to block off the sound and view of the park. The berm shall include several rows of regularly maintained evergreens in order to provide the neighborhood with a “green shield”.

3. All demolition, including removal of trees (downed, diseased or otherwise) will not occur until completion of a development plan and budget approved by the Village Council. Demolition shall occur in conjunction with the overall project in order to avoid a gap between demolition and construction.

4. The plan and design of the park will be developed by an independent civil engineer and landscape architect specializing in park design with input from representatives of the neighborhood and the Village.

5. The development plan and budget will be based off of independent, comprehensive studies which would include:

* Addressing the issues already identified by environmental and wildlife impact studies

* The noise study to be conducted on the property and the surrounding area

* A third party traffic and safety study on West Saddle River Road and the surrounding side streets as recommended by the council committee. The traffic and safety study will include a determination of an adequate parking lot, as well as a review of potential ingress and egress into the parking lot from Rt. 17. In addition, the traffic and safety study will include a determination of appropriate parking restrictions on West Saddle River Road and, if practical, the surrounding streets off West Saddle River Road

6. Prohibition on the inclusion of (1) lights, both permanent and portable as required by the conservation easement, (2) a public address announcement system and (3) a concession stand.

7. The hours of the park will be from dawn to dusk.

8. Installation of police monitoring system to monitor any criminal activity.

9. Preserve the Schedler house by moving forward with registering the house with the historical society. The house will be used to benefit the entire community by, for example, providing meeting space for different community groups and providing restrooms for the park participants.

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Valley Construction Impact on Benjamin Franklin Field Use

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photo courtesy of “it takes a village” group on Facebook

April 3,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ , the Attached please find a picture of a typical Saturday at BF. middle school. Students from across the county participating in track and field events OUTSIDE.  Hundreds of kids use the field on a regular basis .

Valley construction will involve noise , and dust

Whats will be the impact on out door activities at  Middle school during the long construction phase at Valley Hospital

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In Ridgewood ,Some can’t see the forest for the trees

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In Ridgewood ,Some can’t see the forest for the trees

To the editor:

Maybe some members of the Ridgewood Town Council along with Chris Rutishauser, Village Engineer and Tim Cronin, Director of Parks and Recreation, “Can’t” see the forest for the trees.”

I live on the East Side of Ridgewood and have been fighting passionately, along with many of my neighbors, to protect the large number of healthy trees in the small forest that encompasses the Schedler Property along West Saddle River Road. One of our key arguments for not building a 90-foot baseball field on this Schedler Property, is that it will require the clear cutting of these large healthy trees that beautify and protect our neighborhood and especially protect us from the noise pollution of Route 17.

I just finished reading an article in the March 11 edition of the Ridgewood News, entitled, “Presenters to reinforce value of trees.” I immediately said to myself, how can these be some of the same individuals that are not only ready but also willing to clear cut the trees from the Schedler property in order to build a huge baseball field? Why are these same people not fighting to protect the trees that are so important to the citizens who live on the East Side of Ridgewood is very disturbing to me and I am sure my neighbors?

This article in the Ridgewood News reinforces so many of the arguments that we have all been stating before for the Village Council, asking them not to clear-cut this property to build a 90-foot field. The clear cutting of these trees for such a large field will have a devastating effect not only on our neighborhood, but in the end all of the neighborhoods of Ridgewood.

Everyone who lives in this great Village of Ridgewood should read this article. You will then see why we must all join together to fight and protect all of the trees that have taken so many years to grow. These trees surround our Village and are very important to the health, safety and quality of life of all Ridgewood residents.

Alan Dlugasch

Ridgewood

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/ridgewood-news-letter-some-can-t-see-the-forest-for-the-trees-1.1529883

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Ridgewood Environmental groups in Ridgewood spread missions, recruit

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FEBRUARY 5, 2016    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

RIDGEWOOD – Leaders from various village environmental groups held a “meet-and-greet” event recently, hoping to inform the public about their respective missions and to solicit new members.

Angela Leemans, chair of the Ridgewood Environmental Advisory Committee (REAC), welcomed everybody to the event last month and explained what REAC is all about.

“It’s really centered on promoting sustainability and working for a sustainable Ridgewood,” she said. “It’s all about protecting the environment, protecting the ecosystem … and doing what we can to prevent climate change.”

Leemans explained that REAC wants Ridgewood residents to get involved in preserving the environment by accepting “a call to action,” and complying with ordinances regarding the environment. She also noted that REAC is made up of members of different groups around the village, allowing people of various skills and ideas to advance its goals.

She stressed that two of REAC’s most important activities are hosting the annual Earth Day celebration, as well as hosting informative lectures to teach sustainable behavior.

Leemans said that REAC hopes “to enable Ridgewoodians to go green,” and “to actualize sustainability,” making the town a better place to live.

“The main message that I’m trying to say here is … we need more help,” she said. “We would love to have more (REAC members).”

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/clubs-and-service-organizations/groups-spread-missions-recruit-1.1506631

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Readers say Village of Ridgewood Should Protect The Schedler Bald Eagles

bald eagle

Their natural habitats are shrinking and they are looking for nesting places all along the busy highways, turnpikes etc. where the can gather dead wood. They build huge nests. They check an area out long before they lay their eggs and maybe noise isn’t one of their concerns.

Thank you James for this article. Ever since I’ve learned about The Schedler Bald Eagles I have been reading up on them. In 1782 the Bald Eagle became the national/ bird symbol of the USA. It was chosen because it was native to North America and known for its ” majestic beauty, great strength and longevity.” In 1940, the Bald Eagle was protected under the National Emblem Act . During the years of DDT use, their numbers shrank at an alarming rate. They are now on the endangered species list and cannot be ” hassled, sold, killed or disturb their nesting sites.” I don’t know a single kid/ young adult who would choose a 90 foot field if it meant the loss of the woods that have become a possible home for two pairs of American Bald Eagles. We can have a smaller field, save the woods, protect the neighbors from noise and particle pollution and protect our national bird at a cost of nothing! What a great deal. Now to convince the council majority and the village manager.

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Empty Kmart in Paramus to become indoor sports practice facility

indoor training facility

Empty Kmart in Paramus scores a new use

DECEMBER 28, 2015, 6:23 PM    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2015, 6:44 PM
BY JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The vacant, cavernous Kmart store in Paramus has been carpeted with artificial turf and been given a new, if temporary, lease on life as an indoor practice facility for North Jersey sports teams.

On Monday morning, the 91,000-square-foot, hangar-like building, which used to be crowded with store shelves and shoppers, rang with the shouts of two dozen youngsters kicking soccer balls and running drills.

The unusual arrangement meets two separate goals: a Bergen County entrepreneur’s need for a location with enough floor and ceiling space to accommodate several practice fields; and the landlord’s need for a short-term tenant until development plans for the shopping center are finalized.

Scott Vandersnow  of Upper Saddle River this month opened the building as The Arena, an indoor training facility, and has begun renting the space out to youth sports teams. This week, the building is being used for youth soccer and lacrosse camps that Vandersnow is offering for parents who want their kids to stay active during the winter break.

Vandersnow, 41, grew up in Washington Township, has a background in finance and currently works in commercial real estate lending. He is also a soccer dad who has logged many hours watching or running practices for his 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son. He said he saw the need for more practice space in Bergen County and was looking for locations when he spotted the Kmart building.

The Kmart, which was built in 1979, closed a year ago after its lease expired. The building is in a strip shopping center owned by the Stop & Shop supermarket chain, and that also houses a Stop & Shop store.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/empty-kmart-in-paramus-scores-a-new-use-1.1481534

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Reader says Videos BIG eye opener for Schedler development

Save Our Schedler Members & Friends at the Schedler House

file photo by Boyd Loving

The video evidence is a BIG eye opener, ear opening exposure of the unsafe location for a kids sports ball field to exist. A big strong crash resistant wall would have to be built along that stretch of route 17, and the responsible parties pushing for this ball field location should pay for that wall. A sound barrier wall would not be strong enough. How could anyone think of putting kids in potential harms way so closely adjacent to busy death highway route 17 heavily traveled by tracter trailer trucks? Are they out of their minds? One big accident lawsuit waiting in the wings. It would be like a ball park adjacent to an airport runway. I agree its not only dumb, its downright irresponsible!

Why Making The Schedler Property in Ridgewood Into A Ball field Is Dumb https://youtu.be/pIm_0V8mkYY

Charlie Nowinski at Ridgewood Village Hall – December 9, 2015  https://youtu.be/H6ezGJa9elU

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Schedler property in Ridgewood : Any solutions should benefit entire village

Schedler Park

DECEMBER 11, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Any solutions should benefit entire village

To the Editor:

The “Officials face open space shortage” article on the Schedler property (The Ridgewood News, Dec. 4, page A1), exposes the perennial “zero sum” thinking that plagues village politics. It concludes: “…an unpopular decision in the eyes of one [or the other] group of people will have to be made.” The absence of a community-wide vision for our village perpetuates endless acrimonious interpersonal and intergroup relationships. Rather than focusing on special interest groups’ differences, we need a holistic approach that compares our community to surrounding ones, to North Jersey, and to our nation as a whole.

The obvious characteristics of our town are stark and too often ignored: 1) As this article states, we have the largest school system in Bergen County; 2) Ridgewood is one of the wealthiest communities in New Jersey with the one of the highest tax burdens; 3) We are universally [yes, the Internet] seen as a schooling magnet community so families move here; and 4) We have zero public policies designed to retain empty nesters, zero availability of over-55 housing, and zero assisted living facilities in the Central Business District.

We may want to believe we are “Lake Wobegon … where the men are strong, the women good-looking, and that all our children are above average,” but our denial of aging results in social engineering that ignores life stages and destroys a multigenerational family community.

Saying Ridgewood is exclusively a nuclear family-child raising community, lacks both a historical perspective and a desire to imagine the future. Well into the 1930s, smaller New England towns practiced “home relief” where aging homeowners unable to support themselves in retirement were maintained at the town’s expense, and when they died the sale of their homes reimbursed the town’s costs. Into the 21st century, Ridgewood is a powerful draw for upper middle class families from world cultures in which multigenerational families are the norm. Furthermore, a slower growth economy means all of our children will carry elder care obligations which are outside the range of what Social Security or Medicare can provide.

The Open Space worries reported here pale in the face of wider community concerns. Where 2,000 youths get to play baseball in a community of 25,000 is a valid special interest concern. Saving a complete forest as a barrier between a quiet neighborhood and Route 17 is also a valid special interest concern.

In reality, all the wooded areas closer to residential properties could be preserved while limited commercial development could take place preserving older growth trees. Taking up opportunities for commercial development that bring down taxes for all residents and help reverse the “aged cleansing” social engineering practice that characterize our town is the right thing to do for the majority of Ridgewood families. This is what leadership in a democracy should be all about.

Martin Walker

Ridgewood

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/ridgewood-news-letter-any-solutions-should-benefit-entire-village-1.1472086

 

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Reader says It’s all about updating the fields for soccer and lacrosse.

Schedler Park ball field

It’s all about updating the fields for soccer and lacrosse. We already have three (3) 60×90 fields.

https://sitebuilder.capturepoint.com/RBSA#/page/486

Take a look at the RBSA website. There are only eight (8) Rec (Bonvarlet Senior and Junior) teams in town. Most of the Senior games this year were forfeited due to not having enough players.

As the demographic changes, the trending for the last 8+ years shows that baseball and softball particpation is way down. This past year there were only 5 travel teams that needed 60×90 fields. They usually play 2x week with one maybe two home games per week.

Those three fields are more than adequate for covering home field assignments.

So we’re left with conclusion. The Rec Comm wants to upgrade their facilities and showcase soccer and lacrosse.

The idea that they lost a field when BF was converted to a track facility is rubbish. They were desperate to get turf at the HS and play on Ridgewood Avenue and in front of the HS building. You can’t have your cake and eat it too…

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Quality of Life Issues Abound in Bergen County

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Battle over Northern Highlands Regional district’s field lights heading to court

NOVEMBER 15, 2015    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2015, 9:59 AM
BY MARINA VILLENEUVE
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

ALLENDALE — The Northern Highlands Regional High School Board of Education is going to court to defend the new electric-powered light trailers on its athletic fields.

Three neighboring residents are suing the school district, claiming it’s unlawfully using the mobile trailers with lights up to 72 feet tall in defiance of state and local statutes and past court rulings.

On Thursday, the school board, the Northern Highlands Regional High School Sports Association and the Allendale Planning Board and Board of Adjustment filed a civil action in Superior Court in Hackensack asking a judge to dismiss the neighbors’ lawsuit and declare that the school’s use of the lights is legal.

The school has been using mobile, diesel-powered light trailers ever since the late 1990s, after the Planning Board denied the sports association’s application to build permanent 70-foot-tall light towers with a concrete foundation.

The board is arguing that mobile light trailers don’t require any kind of zoning variance or site-plan approval because they don’t fall under state and local definitions of “structure,” “fixture” or “development.”

The school says that it’s used the new electric-powered light trailers about 30 times since they were delivered in September, and that they’re less noisy and smelly than the previously rented diesel-powered trailers.

“As a result, hundreds of children have been able to safely use the turf field at Northern Highlands after dark,” reads the counterclaim filed Thursday.

The school “shall continue to utilize mobile light trailers in connection with its lawful lighting of the athletic fields on the property,” reads the counterclaim, which seeks compensatory, consequential and punitive damages.

In two counts of the neighbors’ eight-count lawsuit filed in October, they claim the new lights will be a public nuisance harming neighbors and that the Board of Education will be liable for damages.

“The development will give rise to a continual invasion of adjoining property by reason of light trespass and light and noise pollution,” reads the lawsuit, which also claims the taller lights will lead to lowered property values and a worse quality of life.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/crime-and-courts/battle-over-northern-highlands-regional-district-s-field-lights-heading-to-court-1.1455826

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Schedler property needs to be preserved

Save Our Schedler Members & Friends at the Schedler House3

file photo by Boyd Loving

Ridgewood parcel needs to be preserved

The town in which I live, Ridgewood, owns a 7.5-acre parcel known as the Schedler property in the northeast corridor directly abutting Route 17.

It represents the last large piece of green acres in Ridgewood. Schedler serves as a buffer for the community, defending us from the noise of the highway and the pollution. The town is determined, with the insistence of the Ridgewood Baseball Association, to build a regulation-sized baseball field there. So what’s wrong with that? The answer is everything.

For one thing, the location. It has been shown that increasing levels of noise are associated with increasing incidence of strokes, especially in the elderly. Playing fields also facilitate flooding whereas woods act as a deterrent.

Second, it is very well documented that exercising along busy highways increases one’s chances of developing respiratory disease, cancer and cardiovascular disorders. This problem is particularly worse in children, who have a more susceptible physiology. Recently, News 12 reported a new medical study that showed increased incidence of leukemia in children under the age of 15 who played in proximity to busy thoroughfares.

Lastly, in a time of constrained fiscal budgets, it would cost a lot less to leave nature alone. A field for our children would be great, but can’t it be built in a place that does not jeopardize their health?

Decisions that affect the health and well-being of our citizens, especially our children, should be guided by the facts. Not every piece of land needs to be developed; on the contrary, nature needs to be preserved.

We should take a page from the book of Theodore Roosevelt, who in his great wisdom, when entrusted with the stewardship of our great beautiful land, decided to conserve portions in their natural state for his time and posterity.

We, the citizens, must demand that our government behave just as responsibly.

Salvatore Infantino

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/the-record-letters-saturday-nov-14-1.1455383