The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Westwood NJ, New Jersey lawmakers are set to vote on two controversial bills—S2974 and S1408—that could dramatically change suburban communities across Bergen County and Pascack Valley. These bills, expected to go before the NJ State Senate on March 24, 2025, would:
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TEANECK NJ, Mayor Mark Schwartz has removed Councilwoman Hillary Goldberg from her Class I (Mayor’s Representative) seat on the Teaneck Planning Board, not due to performance issues in her Planning Board role, but in direct retaliation for her independent vote as a Council member on March 11, 2025.
Continue reading Teaneck Planning Board Member Removed in Retaliation for Vote
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Paramus NJ, the borough of Paramus, New Jersey, has officially accepted the state-mandated requirement to add 1,000 new “affordable housing units” over the next decade—the largest obligation of any town in Bergen County. While town officials acknowledge the necessity of meeting state housing laws, they are also seeking ways to reduce this number to 250 units through a study of available land.
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Hackensack NJ, Bergen County is advancing a transformative project at 133 River St. in Hackensack, aimed at providing affordable housing for public service workers and modernizing the Hackensack Bus Terminal. This development replaces the former Bergen County probation building, now a vacant lot, and will revitalize one of New Jersey’s busiest transit hubs.
file photo
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Montvale NJ, New Jersey’s affordable housing mandate will move forward in 2025 after a state Superior Court judge denied a motion to pause a new law aimed at enforcing the Mount Laurel Doctrine. The ruling, made on Thursday in Mercer County by Judge Robert Lougy, dismissed a legal challenge brought by over two dozen municipalities seeking to delay the implementation of the legislation enacted earlier this year.
Continue reading New Jersey Judge Upholds “Affordable Housing” Mandate in Big Win For Developers
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Paramus NJ, North Jersey’s development landscape shows no signs of slowing down. From multifamily housing to sprawling warehouses, the region is transforming rapidly to adapt to economic shifts like the rise of remote work and the explosion of on-demand delivery services. While some developments breathe new life into blighted areas, others replace beloved landmarks, altering the character of local communities.
Continue reading Massive Development Scheduled For North Jersey in 2025
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Montvale NJ ,a bipartisan group and growing list of New Jersey mayors, led by Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali, has filed a lawsuit against the recently enacted housing law, P.L. 2024, c. 2. This action, brought by the Local Leaders for Responsible Planning (LLRP) coalition, challenges the new housing mandates and aims to protect local communities’ right to manage their growth responsibly.
Parsippany-Troy Hills which was named as one of the best places to live in America and the Garden State, has now approved the resolution to join the coalition. This lawsuit was the only way that we could get officials in Trenton to pay attention to the issues and concerns that we and our residents have about this brand-new process that was imposed upon us. This lawsuit is not about delaying or obstructing affordable housing, it is about advocating for a coherent, statewide strategy for building affordable housing that reflects modern development patterns and allows for responsible local planning without the fear of developers leveraging every large parcel in town for high density housing.
Continue reading List of Towns Fighting the Bogus “Affordable Housing” Mandate Continues to Grow
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Trenton NJ, A proposed “Affordable Housing” law aims to establish the required amount of affordable housing for towns to protect against developers bypassing municipal approval processes. The law suggests using a formula outlined in a 2018 court opinion by Judge Mary Jacobson, which initially applied to Princeton and West Windsor. The Department of Community Affairs would calculate the town’s affordable housing number by Dec. 1, 2024, or seven months within the bill’s effective date, avoiding the need for three regional court-appointed special masters, as proposed in the previous session’s draft.
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Trenton NJ, Senator Joe Pennacchio and Senator Anthony M. Bucco voted against legislation today that they warned would lead to higher-density housing developments in many New Jersey towns.
Continue reading More High Density Housing Heading for Ridgewood and Surrounding Towns
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Glen Rock NJ, a new mixed-used development at 175 Rock Road in Glen Rock was rejected 3-2 by the Glen Rock Planning Board on Friday, with the opposition citing traffic and safety concerns. “As a cop, you go with your gut instinct,” Police Chief Dean Ackermann said, “and my gut instinct is that this will be a public safety nightmare.”
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Teaneck NJ, Stop & Shop in Teaneck at 665 American Legion Drive will not be closing anytime soon. In a effort to dispel persistent rumors, Stop & Shop and the township of Teaneck have released a joint statement saying there are no plans to shut Teaneck’s only supermarket. The memo posted on the township website states that Teaneck “never asked or pressured” the store to close and that Stop & Shop is not looking to close or move.
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Ridgewood NJ, Urbanization it is predominantly the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more people begin living and working in central areas.
Continue reading Candidate Paul Vagianos Promotes More Urbanization for Ridgewood
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Paramus NJ, every available inch of land for “overdevelopment” , giving Paramus the feel of an outer borough of New York City and not a suburban New Jersey town. In its latest move the borough of Paramus is looking to eliminate the last vestiges of family farms that used to inhabit much of the area .
The borough targeted nurseries in a 2019 ordinance that had designated nurseries in town areas “in need of rehabilitation”.
Continue reading Joy’s Farm & Garden Center in Paramus Up For Development
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Ridgewood NJ, included in the Democrats infrastructure plan is a provision to provide $213 billion for affordable housing . The bill would encourage public housing and encourage local governments to do away with zoning practices that limit affordability.
Continue reading Democrats Infrastructure Plan Promotes High Density Housing and Urbanization
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Ridgewood NJ, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson today announced the Department will ultimately terminate the Obama Administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation issued in 2015, which proved to be complicated, costly, and ineffective— so much so that Secretary Carson essentially removed its burden on communities by suspending the regulation’s 92 question grading tool in January 2018.
Continue reading Trump Administration Ends Obama Forced Development Rule