Ridgewood NJ, the Council discussed the Hudson lot options . Bob Rooney Village CFO gave the following options 1) sell the lot on Hudson Street, 2) lease property to garage builders . Which is only available for non profit s 3) Award a contract for design 4) declare Hudson Street as a redevelopment zone with no restrictions.
The Village Council chimed in with both Bernie and Jeff said own and build , the Mayor said redevelopment seemed impractical.
A new “Walker Study ” was needed due to the all the new development projects and on going urbanization of the Village adding additional traffic and congestion. Bob Rooney said “Walker” would not have to start from scratch but revise their numbers .
Councilwomen Walsh tackled the elephant in the room by stating the parking garage will end up being filled by Central business district tenets instead of shoppers and commuters . Bob Rooney pointed out that the previous Walker report had already laid out the allocations for how many spots must be allocated to what type of parking .
Of course the district can re-assign students at any moment, and of course they are going to have to once the reality of all these new students hits home. Do you seriously think the developers are not going to market these apartments to young families with children? And, if you were a family of any age, wouldn’t you go for the cheapest way to obtain the best education for your family.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And when he was mayor, he went out of his way to give away the Village to others.
The apartment projects are going to attract good solid people, just like those who built the Village and those who work so hard to maintain the quality of life. But, people beget more people, and that’s the fact of life. Its not that we don’t want these people, in our Village – – we absolutely do. Its just that we can’t afford that many new people. We don’t want this number of new people.
The Aronsohn projects will bring in 300 to 400 families when all is said and done. You can expect your taxes to go up to take care of their schooling, lights for their roads, water & sewage infrastructure improvements, etc.
And now that this round of housing is done – – look for the developers to buy up more properties and say they should be able to build the same number of units. And ask this council what the hell it is doing to stop this nonsense, now that the word is out it is easy pickings for developers to zero in on Ridgewood.
Blah blah blah , all you care about is VALUE meaning MONEY. That’s why we have this multi family fiasco in the first place and it doesn’t matter if there is a Godzilla garage anymore.
You don’t care about what will be irretrievably lost in Ridgewood, the small town character , feel , charm, that special personality…. that I moved in for in nineteen seventy- eight and that yes, by and large remained, and that idiot planning board member, who said RIDGEWOOD IS A BUSY PLACE, so it’s NOT SO BAD that there will be all this multi family mess, is an example of the majority mind set and lack of aesthetic sensitivity. What in the HELL does he mean a BUSY PLACE. Everyone in the world , basically, raises a family, works a job, does that mean we have to live in an ugly overcrowded , polluted environment. All beauty and charm gone. I spoke at many meetings about keeping Ridgewood THE SAME, wrote many letters. To no avail. You will all be overjoyed to know that this is my goodbye to the blog and to all town meetings. James does a great job with the blog, but the town, as I have known it will soon be transformed into another crowded Joisey mess and I no longer want to be involved. One last point, Earth Day also means living in a pleasing environment without tons of traffic and pollution resulting from traffic. Earth Day is ruined in Ridgewood as far as I am concerned.
you are wrong and you bought into the fake arguments raised by Arohson, Pucciarli and the developers. Yes, we have requirements, but no, we did not need to line Saraceno’s and the other developer’s pockets in order to address these issues.
We were sold up the river, pure and simple, by a mean spirited and self-serving duo of public officials – – remember, they voted to make these projects the law as they were leaving office. They are carpetbaggers who have no place in our Village life.
We have now entered a new phase for life in Ridgewood thanks to the duplicitous duo. And we need to be ready for it. We are now going to much more like New Brunswick than a Ho-Ho-Kus or Glen Rock. We need to work hard to maintain the value of our properties, our schools and other public services as we deal with an influx of people that will totally drain our infrastructure.
Regrettably, it is not clear what the “new” council is doing to address and deal with the issues that lay ahead. Attention must now be focused on bringing them into focus, but as others on this thread have said, that ain’t going to happen if we all stay home and silent..
Nicholas Katzban , Staff Writer, @NicholasKatzban7:03 p.m. ET June 27, 2017
RIDGEWOOD — The Planning Board approved an application Monday night to build a five-story mixed-use development on the former site of Ken Smith Motors. Though board members and residents alike shared concerns regarding the project’s effects on the village’s downtown, a more than 30-year-old legal battle out of North Brunswick sealed the 6-1 approval.
The project would include 66 residential units, 5,500 square feet of retail and 150 parking spaces, all of which fall well within permitted ratios under the village’s master plan, which forced the hands of several board members, otherwise wary of the plan as submitted.
Ridgewood NJ,Cornered by the deal former Mayor Paul Aronsohn cut with developers including resident John Saraceno, Monday night the village planning board had no legal choice but to approve Saraceno’s site application at the former Ken Smith Ford lot on Franklin. Now Saraceno will build a 66 unit, 5 story apartment complex at one of the village’s busiest, and most dangerous intersections. Taxpayers will be on the hook for the massive upgrades to traffic signals that result through the CBD, those costs could total more than $1,000,000.
Saraceno’s apartments at Maple and E. Ridgewood Ave. are up for discussion next.
The massive over-development of Ridgewood is supported by former village manager Roberta Sonnenfeld and 2015 failed council candidate Evan Weitz. Both are thought to be considering runs for village office in 2018.
Folks have tried to change the Aronson laws that were passed to allow these projects to go forward. The basic enabling law was repealed by the new council. Other attempts were made. But, frankly, due to a lack of backbone on the Council, the Aronson Apartment projects are going forward.
This council and planning board could have done a whole lot more, but they chose not to for reasons only they can explain – – ask them. let them know how you feel. And, don’t forget to let Aronson know how you feel as well about the changes he made to our community in his pathetic pursuit of his personal goals.
Bottom line, however, is that if people don’t speak up, nothing is going to be done to stop the next round of over-development.
New Jersey’s almost 9 million residents make this state denser than India or Japan. And the population is projected to grow to 10.2 to 10.4 million by 2040. Will we have enough water for our residents, farmers, businesses, industries — and the environment — now and in the future?
That question is front and center following the release of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s draft 2017-2022 update of the New Jersey Statewide Water Supply Plan — the first update in 21 years.
“While I know this is Somerset, it is obvious that with the exception of District 39 and District 40 leadership, the crickets from District 36, District 37 and District 38 are becoming more incessant. When will the leadership of NJ Legislature stop playing this “partisan card”? “, Edward Durfee
Affordable housing mandate threatens quality of life, mayor says
Updated on June 20, 2017 at 3:31 PMPosted on June 20, 2017 at 3:30 PM
BY DAVE HUTCHINSON
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
MONTGOMERY TWP. – Mayor Ed Trzaska is concerned that a potential court mandate requiring the township meet an affordable housing unit quota will put an overwhelming burden on the municipality and negatively effect the quality of life.
At issue is a state Supreme Court ruling in March of 2015 that opened the door for municipalities to be sued for not providing a “fair share” of affordable housing units. The ruling also allows a municipality to demonstrate in court that it has met the requirement to provide affordable housing.
The township, which has a population of some 23,000, has been in the forefront of providing affordable housing units, said Trzaska. Currently, he said the township has 300 affordable housing units, of which more than one-fourth are vacant.
Under a possible court ruling by the Fair Share Housing Counsel, the township could be forced to build between 501 and 1,000 additional affordable housing units, as well as 4,000 market-rate units, said Trzaska. The township has yet to be given the exact number of affordable units it must build, he said.
Ridgewood NJ, The Fair Share Housing Center expected the Mercer County Superior Court to affirm it’s projected affordable housing obligations; but are now saying those numbers are a lie after Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi used them to paint a picture of over-development.
Fair Share, which has taken towns to court to enforce its calculations, said in April that the state needed 146,000 units to cover a 16-year gap period when the state failed to calculate obligations, and another 140,000 to fulfill housing quotas from 2015 to 2025.
The group submitted those figures to Mercer County Superior Court to help determine the housing obligations of five municipalities that have not reached settlements. Its executive director Kevin Walsh said at the time, “We expect the courts to affirm this study.”
However, contrary to positions taken before the courts, Walsh reversed course and called Fair Share’s housing numbers a lie in his letter to Schepisi.
In a letter Thursday, Walsh wrote, “our organization is not taking the position that municipalities must develop hundreds of thousands of new affordable homes by 2025.” He further argued that any claim “that municipalities are being required to provide 280,000 affordable homes is a lie.”
For decades state courts have relied upon Fair Share’s methodology to establish municipal obligations under the Mount Laurel doctrine. Cases involving more than 350 municipalities are either currently before the courts or have been settled. Most of the disputes between municipalities and Fair Share have been over the size of prospective need.
“Their deceptive practices are similar to certain retail clothing stores that used to raise their prices by 40 percent immediately before a 30 percent sale,” Schepisi (R-Bergen) said. “Towns I represent in Bergen and Passaic counties have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on professional fees just trying to comply with Fair Share’s mandates that they now admit should be significantly less.”
The center is seeking a court order blocking Edgewater from issuing occupancy certificates for non-affordable housing units, as well as a mandate that any construction related to non-affordable housing cease until it completes building 75 promised affordable housing units.
Econsult Solutions, a Philadelphia consulting firm hired by more than 200 municipalities, issued a report in 2016 setting the current need statewide at 33,140, with a prospective need for the next decade of 36,494.
It is unbelievable if not one of our council members attended this event!!! Instead of wasting your time on silly squabble, bet down to the issues that affect each and every tax payer in Ridgewood. We do not want to turn our town over to developers who are going to destroy the Village and line their pockets under the banner of “fair housing.” Can someone confirm whether or not we participated in this event and whether we are taking an active ole in supporting this Assembly womens’ efforts? And if our council people are not, they should consider resigning because they really are not addressing the most pressing issue facing and threating our town. Its outrageous that our council members are fiddling while Rome starts to burn beneath their feet! Arohnson and his ilk turned the town over to developers. But this group is doing nothing to try and take it back. Its time for action.
Ridgewood NJ, Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi represents 23 municipalities located in Bergen and Passaic counties, all of which have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on professional fees as a result of the failure and inaction of our State to provide guidance on how to comply with Court decisions on affordable housing.
The largest drivers of cost result from third party “intervenors” appearing and demanding to build large numbers of market rate units in exchange for providing a small number of affordable units. One of these intervenors is a non-profit organization Fair Share Housing. This non-profit has been granted enormous power in our State and has been dictating settlement terms for almost all of our municipalities.
Their deceptive practices are similar to certain retail clothing stores that used to raise their prices by 40 percent immediately before a “30 percent sale”. Indeed, Fair Share put forth a report that is being relied upon by our Courts which states, among other things, that NJ needs 280,000 units of affordable housing.
page 2
Many community leaders have reached out seeking help and guidance on how to handle this issue. In an effort to start dialogue on this topic Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi decided to host a bipartisan group of hearings. Schepisi invited Fair Share so that their point of view could be heard. Rather than attend or call or meet with me they choose to personally attack and bully Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi . A copy of their extremely unprofessional letter is attached. If you ever wonder why the large issues in NJ never get addressed, it is because of nonsense like this. I urge every municipality fighting their numbers to use a copy of this letter as one of their exhibits.
Reader, “If people just read this and don’t share the information, nothing will change. Do people think change comes by people sitting on their duffs in the living room and doing nothing more? Go to the event and support her at this event, otherwise, leaving it to someone else just won’t cut it anymore. Progressives who want to change the face of all the communities are working to make it happen…what are YOU DOING? If you can’t go, call your legislator even if it’s Pascrell and tell him this will lead to blighted areas in your town, overbuilding which perhaps including taking people’s homes through eminent domain if you are in the area they want, higher taxes due to more schools being needed, more traffic and of course road repairs and infrastructure costs – sewer, water, etc.”
June 14,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Paramus NJ, Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi will initiate a series of statewide legislative hearings to address New Jersey’s affordable housing crisis. The first will be held on June 15 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Bergen Community College’s Technology Education Center room 128.
Schepisi will be joined by other invited guests, including fellow legislators, mayors, town officials and planners, engineers, traffic experts, board of education members, environmental groups and other interested parties.
She said the hearings will examine ways to provide a better way toward affordability for the residents of this state while protecting towns from a recent state Supreme Court ruling that could force the construction of up to 1.5 million unneeded housing units to satisfy a fictitious population increase of 3.35 million in the next nine years – while Rutgers projects a population increase of only 219,000.
“We have reached a critical juncture in the State of New Jersey. We are the most costly, the most densely populated with the highest number of outmigration because people can no longer afford to live here. Instead of smart discussions regarding how to implement change to reduce living costs for all of our residents, the legislature’s inaction is forcing communities to potentially double their housing population in just the next nine years, destroying all existing housing prices while increasing property taxes,” said Schepisi. “We need to stop the court’s action and fix this issue while we still can.”
This is such an obvious silly ploy of aronsohn and his political motives and morally corrupt Patsys. I don’t know why more people don’t see through this,
He made big promises and he didn’t deliver. He literally NEEDS to corrupt this current council and break it all apart to sneak his people back in in order to deliver on the bs promises he made about disabled housing and parking garages. Or his spiral ions go down the drain. What a snake. What a lair. And these food are falling for it and so are all of us! Voigt especially
Paramus NJ, Under recent affordable housing rulings by the NJ Supreme Court, our communities are being forced to permit construction of up to 1.5 MILLION new units of unneeded housing in order to satisfy a fictitious population increase of 30 percent in the next 9 years.
Protect our State from ridiculous affordable housing court mandates (which may result in over 1.5 MILLION new units of housing in NJ) by supporting A-4666 and A-4667 to stop the Court actions and study the issue while we still can.
Many of our NJ residents are unaware that their communities will be forced to DOUBLE their housing population in just the next 9 years, destroying all existing housing prices.
Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi is now asking of volunteers. “I’m going to need all volunteers willing to help. I’ve received permission to host a “town hall” session on June 15th at 5:30 at Bergen Community College in Paramus. If the NJ Legislature won’t hold meetings on housing affordability and court forced overdevelopment, I will. The intent of this meeting is to host an open hearing to gain thoughts, concerns and options from members of the public, Mayors and Councils, planners, engineers, traffic experts, board of education members, environmental groups, etc. I will personally pay for transcripts of this hearing and will have them delivered to the Legislature. This will be the first of numerous hearings held throughout the entire State. I will draft a formal letter tomorrow for distribution throughout the County. Anyone willing to help out in the circulation efforts would be greatly appreciated. If you have an hour or two to spare please call my office (201) 666-0881 and ask for Doreen.”
