SEPTEMBER 7, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2015, 1:20 AM
THE RECORD
Village to hear plansfor parking garage
Proposals for a potential parking garage in downtown Ridgewood will be discussed during a special council meeting that has been called for Tuesday night.
The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall, 131 N. Maple Ave.
Ridgewood officials said the meeting will include presentations from a number of the firms that responded to the village’s request for proposals.
The council will likely choose a firm to design a multilevel parking garage when it meets Wednesday night, with an official vote planned for Sept. 16.
Village residents will vote this fall on the proposed expenditure of $15 million for the garage, slated for a site within the central business district.
Glen Rock council to vote on S-2 zone , multi family high density housing
SEPTEMBER 4, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY RICHARD DE SANTA
STAFF WRITER |
GLEN ROCK GAZETTE
With a final vote on a new age-restricted housing zone in Glen Rock now pushed to Sept. 16, the measure and its purpose were again challenged at the Wednesday, Aug. 26 Borough Council meeting.
Resident and attorney Ron D’Argenio ramped up his public opposition to the pending “S-2” zone ordinance, arguing that the existing zone for multiple-unit senior housing (S-1) is sufficient and saying the new one was conceived and advanced chiefly to accommodate an individual developer’s plan.
Disagreeing with building regulations to be permitted in the new zone, D’Argenio had also assailed the council at an Aug. 10 work session for recently “downplaying” what he called obvious links between the S-2 ordinance and a senior citizen apartment development planned by Glen Park Village LLC – and calling that stance “intellectual dishonesty” and “deception.”
He also criticized the absence of public council conversation around the project or the zoning question, over the period when the borough Planning Board was drafting the S-2 ordinance for its consideration earlier this year.
Mayor John van Keuren and Councilwoman Joan Orseck are also Planning Board members.
AUGUST 26, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015, 10:10 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The village is moving forward with a financial feasibility study for a possible parking structure to be built at the Hudson Street lot while officials wait for responses to the request for proposal (RFP) put out seeking a building design.
The study will determine the levels of expected revenue as well as the cost of a new parking garage, said Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld at the Aug. 12 council meeting.
Included in the analysis will be proposed parking rate schedules for Hudson Street as well as the other village lots and on-street meters, projections for daily and annual income, debt service, cost and operations.
Sonenfeld said the village received proposals from three different firms. After a discussion with the steering committee, there was a recommendation to go with the proposal from New York-based Walker Parking Consultants, the same firm that performed the study to determine whether or not the garage should be automated or self-park.
A resolution to award a contract for the professional parking services was unanimously passed on Aug. 12. The amount in the contract is not to exceed $18,500 with expenses not to exceed $1,000, which will be expended from the $500,000 bond ordinance adopted in July.
Ridgewood NJ, Bike lanes are still major concern for safety at the Ridgewood rail underpass. Most observers failed to see the logic from the beginning of of the construction for changing from two lanes to one and adding extremely dangerous bike lanes under the trestle .
Like the ADA elevators to nowhere that proceeded it resident were quite skeptical at its introduction . Contrary to the elevators ,which seem good for a laugh , the bike lane presents a clear danger to bikers . Not to mention the slow down to emergency services through town .
Recent developments like the continued effort to fill the “east side” with sports fields have refocused a light on what may have been the real purpose of the so called ‘ “traffic calming”. Resident now speculate that it is another attempt to inhibit traffic into the west side of town making it more difficult for new residents living in the new high density housing to enter the west side . There also seems to be a movement growing to bus any new children to Hawes school and not to the select schools in the west side like Orchard and Willard .
Residents again speculate that the bike lane is being used as an excuse to further divide the town like Englewood , giving certain types of politicians a voting block to ensure their perpetual election.
Ridgewood NJ, News 12 reported that the Bergen County Fire Chief’s Association and other fire officials are calling for an update to New Jersey’s fire code. According to Bergen County’s Fire Chief Association the State of New Jersey is Still using pre-Avolon fire ,fire codes from 2006. Look at all the build being planned in Ridgewood alone then think about all the multi family high density units being built all over Bergen County .
News 12 cited fire experts claiming that would not be enough to prevent another massive Avolon type fire like the one in Edgewater in January . The new codes would ban buildings over three stories, firewalls between every ten units and sprinklers between floors.Under current building codes the entire Avolon apartments can be rebuild from the same plans .
I fully support using this structure for affordable housing. But it points out the problems with the spot zoning created by the planning board’s decision to open up downtown ridgewood to developers.. More and more property owners are going to seek to build apartments in downtown Ridgewood. If i owned a one story structure for which I got one rent from one tennant, i would be a fool not to want to build a four story structure and bring in 50 tenants like the developers have now been given the green light to do. This is the floodgate that the planning board foolishly or intentionally opened. While Gail Price said it wasn’t spot zoning, she was wrong on that issue as she has been on so many of her irrational decisions pro-development, pro-hospital rulings over the past four or five years.
AUGUST 21, 2015, 6:25 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015, 7:59 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Bergen County’s United Way is considering acquisition of the American Red Cross building on Godwin Avenue, having deemed the two-storied structure ideal for a possible affordable-housing project.
Tom Toronto, the president of Bergen County’s United Way, confirmed Friday his organization “is interested” in procuring the Red Cross site in Ridgewood, which recently hit the market following a reorganization of the non-profit’s real estate holdings.
Toronto said village officials approached him a few weeks ago to suggest the building as a potential location for a United Way-funded supportive housing project.
“Our interest would be to convert that building into housing, and there is some appeal to the structure: It lends itself to adaptation for housing relatively easily and efficiently,” Toronto said, mentioning that it’s asking price could be “a hurdle.”
Toronto said Bergen County’s United Way could end up making an offer on the Ridgewood parcel as soon as next week, but as of now “We’re in the process of assessing whether we can make a meaningful offer for the building,” Toronto said.
The Red Cross building needs an elevator, Toronto said, noting the building’s first floor would likely be devoted to living spaces for the physically and developmentally disabled. Other units in the building, Toronto said, could be allocated as senior-citizen residences, depending on the village’s affordable housing needs.
Here is a comment written by Al Pucciarelli when he was running for council regarding when you should recuse. After reading it, both Pucciarielli (his law firm does work with the developers of the Dayton and he is friends with the owners of the property) and Aronsohn (his wife works in one of the zones and benefits financially) need to recuse themselves.
It also shows Hauck (personal involvement that would impair her objectivity) and Pucciarelli (business and financial involvement) should recuse themselves from any discussions on the Valley issue
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Albert J. Pucciarelli May 06, 2012 at 09:43 AM
The very first time I spoke publicly about my candidacy – February 13, 2012 – I acknowledged my conflict regarding Valley. At Monday’s debate I said that because of the conflict I was uniquely suited to play a roll in bringing the hospital and the neighbors together in what I hope will be a meaningful dialogue. Only two days ago did I read for the first time that candidate Forenza’s wife works for Valley and he too has a conflict that would prevent him from voting. Finally now – two days before the election – I am seeing for the first time the candidate himself acknowledge this. I concluded that I have a conflict (and checked it with a lawyer in my firm who is an expert on such matters) because the state law on the matter is quite clear. I am surprised that for the past two months I have been asked about the conflict of interest frequently while Mr. Forenza, who may have enjoyed support of the Valley proponents, only now – just days before the May 8 election – is mentioned in connection with a possible conflict. Mr. Forenza, a non-lawyer, is not sure he has a conflict. Here is the relevant state law: “No local government officer or employee shall act in his official capacity in any matter where he, a member of his immediate family, or a business organization in which he has an interest, has a direct or indirect financial or personal involvement that might reasonably be expected to impair his objectivity or independence of judgment.” Albert Pucciarelli
Recommend
Ridgewood NJ, The Village Council has scheduled public hearings on five (5) ordinances which, if approved, would permit the development and construction of high density multi-family housing in Ridgewood’s Central Business District.
The Ordinance #’s are: 3489, 3490, 3491, 3492, and 3493. Full text of each ordinance is available via these links:
Ridgewood NJ, Any of readers notice the giant steel structure being erected next to the Ridgewood Park & Ride?Also, what are they doing at the Ben Franklin Middle School? They ripped up most of the grass around the front and side of the school.
In case you are unaware This bus stop is extremely convenient for anyone who commutes into work, or just wants to go into NYC for the day. The Shortline bus will pick you up here, and drop you off right at Port Authority, which is located in Midtown on 42nd St. and 8th Ave. The trip takes exactly 35 mins from Ridgewood Park & Ride to Port Authority, and vice versa as long as there isn’t heavy traffic.
If you take a bus before 7 AM it is a 35-40 minute ride on the shortline, however, if you leave even half an hour later at 7:30 AM you can probably tack another 10 minutes onto that (and probably another 5-10 minutes more if you leave around 8 AM). These times are for the bus ride only.
During rush hour buses going into the city have their own dedicated lane into the tunnel so you don’t have to deal with the traffic that someone driving a car does, but there is traffic at the entrance to the bus lane off of the turnpike as all of the buses merge into that lane. Hence the later you leave the more likely you are to get caught at the entrance to the bus lane and the additional time I quoted above. For what it is worth accidents in the bus lane are very rare so large delays are unusual if you are on a 7 AM bus .
You can find the link to the bus schedule online (coachusa.com/info/shortl…) or at the little trailer located at the Park & Ride, which is also where you can buy tickets. The tickets are $9 either way, though you can buy a month’s worth of tickets that amount to $6 per ticket. If you want to park your car here, you need a pass which I believe you can purchase at the same trailer. Otherwise, you can just opt to do metered parking with quarters. Either way, get here early in the morning on weekdays, since most of the parking spaces get taken before morning rush hour is over.
Also, we recommend you arrive at least 5 minutes earlier than the expected time on the bus schedule, because the drivers don’t always match the time correctly. Sometimes they run a bit late, but worse is when they get here early and decide to leave early. Just account for that if you’re on a tight schedule.
The AirBrook shuttles to Newark Airport also run from the park and ride there is the ticket trailer all the way in the back behind the parking lot.
Please note to be careful when you’re driving in to the Park & Ride, because the entrance is also right next to the Park & Ride exit; and just before that, is another ramp that leads onto route 17. People often dart out onto Route 17 without even checking so be very careful when entering/exiting.
One more note ,the helix that approaches the Lincoln Tunnel is going through a multi-year construction project. The delays magnify during construction periods which is thankfully not often rush hour . Rush hour for NYC is traditionally thought of as 6:30 am to 9:30 am.
AUGUST 18, 2015, 3:36 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2015, 3:36 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — The village and its Zoning Board of Adjustment are named in a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the owners of the Exxon Mobil station on Route 17.
The suit, filed in Bergen County’s Superior Court, seeks a court order “restraining” the development of a nearby parcel of land.
The land being developed is now the site of a Shell filling station, but the owners want to raze the property and install updated gas pumps and construct a 2,000 square-foot 7-Eleven convenience store.
Those plans received approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustment seven months ago. The suit seeks to reverse the board’s decision.
AUGUST 17, 2015, 7:26 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2015, 6:31 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — A grassroots citizens group long opposed to any change to the master plan that would permit the construction of high-density multifamily housing projects downtown is suing the village and its Planning Board.
The lawsuit — filed by Citizens for a Better Ridgewood on Aug. 10 in Bergen County’s Superior Court in Hackensack — seeks a judge’s order reversing the Planning Board’s June 2 decision.
Ridgewood officials — including Mayor Paul Aronsohn, a member of the Planning Board — refused to comment on pending litigation.
The board’s June vote to raise the number of allowable housing units per acre in four of the village’s zones to 35 from 12 ended five years of meetings, public hearings, and expert testimony on the master plan amendments, which were first requested by developers keen on building in town.
The developments pitched include The Dayton, a 106-unit luxury garden apartment complex at the site of the former Brogan Cadillac dealership; the 50-unit Chestnut Village, on Chestnut Street; and the 52-unit Enclave, on East Ridgewood and North Maple avenues.
The suit alleges board members and village professionals met privately with the developers requesting the master plan revisions, violating the state’s Open Public Meetings Act.
The lawsuit calls the Ridgewood Planning Board’s decision “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable,” and contends two of the board’s members should have recused themselves.
Ridgewood NJ, During what could only be described as one of the most bizarre Village Council meetings I’ve attended in quite some time, Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck publicly accused the “Friends of the Schedler House” organization of turning down a $45k donation from an unnamed individual.
However, according to an officer of “Friends of the Schedler House,” no $45k donation was ever offered by the “unnamed individual.” What did happen was during a recent meeting between members of the organization and selected Village officials, Councilwoman Hauck merely suggested that a particular individual might be willing to donate the sum.
As you might expect, even though she was publicly corrected, Councilwoman Hauck offered no public apology for her erroneous accusation.
UPDATE: Village Council predicted to vote 3-2 on 8/12 to demolish Schedler House to facilitate construction of a 90 foot baseball field with concession stand.
Despite voting in support of spending up to $500k in “preliminary costs” for the design of a parking garage with a currently unknown shape, size, and final cost, Aronsohn and Hauck object to spending $45k to save the Schedler House. Pucciarelli is on his honeymoon, so he wasn’t there to make a fool of himself too.
So there you have it folks. The Three Stooges will have one of the most historic buildings in Northwest Bergen County demolished just to secure the Sports Council votes next year.
AUGUST 4, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2015, 11:14 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ordinances dealing with the amendment to the village master plan will soon be headed back to the council after a consistency review was performed by the Planning Board.
At the July 21 Planning Board meeting, members undertook the review required by Municipal Land Use Law and found the ordinances were consistent with the master plan amendment that was adopted in June.
A letter reflecting this determination will be sent to the village clerk and council, said Planning Board Chairman Charles Nalbantian.
The Planning Board as a whole will review the letter with Nalbantian at its next meeting on Aug. 4. Then, the council will take up final discussions, culminating in a final public hearing and vote.
After a lengthy public hearing process, the Planning Board approved in June zoning changes to allow multifamily housing in the Central Business District (CBD).
The AH-2 zone was created purely for housing and is intended to require affordable housing in new development. The B-3-R and C-R zone ordinances are also written to incentivize affordable housing, but allow mixed-use development.
A fourth zone, the purely commercial C zone, was also adopted.
We live in the Hawes district but on the other side of Rt 17N. The school is so crowded that our new neighbors have been told that their Kindergarten daughter cannot go to Hawes but will be bussed to yet another school. If Ridgewood is so overcrowded WITHOUT those apartments, what will happen when they come in? And the school children inventory was not done in any of the garden apartments in town, just the one high rise on Maple. We all know the reason for that!
Taking a population count in the garden apartments would prove that the builder’s have no idea how many children would live in the new apartments, as a good number live in the garden apartments. I really don’t understand why our Planning Board, and now our Council, have not bothered to make our town Planner do something other than” the devil is in the details.”
