Reader asks Why can’t the officials in Ridgewood seem to look at these applications with a critical eye?
Doesn’t anyone in this town have any balls?!?!?! No one with a village job wants to be on the record as having an opinion on this stuff. It’s crazy! Blaise talks out of both sides of his mouth.
The superintendent of schools does not speak up on behalf of our schools (except once over a year ago). Where is a report from the police? The fire dept? The sanitation dept? Where is a report from Parks & Rec? And you know Rutishauser will tell you that there’s plenty of capacity in our water & sewer system to handle 500 new apts AND an expanded hospital.
Why can’t the officials in Ridgewood seem to look at these applications with a critical eye? They should be questioning everything a developer is telling them. They should be researching what other towns are doing and figuring out what Ridgewood wants to be.
They should be asking for resident input. Instead, they attend meeting after meeting and talk in circles. The developer tells them everything will be great and the residents have to hire lawyers to prove them otherwise. While I appreciate the time the Planning Board members sacrifice to be on the Board, I think it’s time for them to work smarter, not longer.
Why do all these departments need to do reports?
To ask them how an increase of 300-500 new residential units might affect their dept. Would they need to hire more staff? Would they need more equipment? What might these additions cost? Can our parks, both passive & recreational. handle more residents effectively? Would we need additional water treatment facilities? Would we have to float another bond to expand our schools? Would we need to hire more teachers? All of these departments are impacted by a potential increase of 300-500 apartments. Sure, our downtown would get more foot traffic, but we should also be researching how it will affect the village as a whole. That’s why you need reports.
#2, I completely agree with you. Also, at the meeting on Monday, Blais specifically said any financial impact is a non-factor in the decision to approve or not approve the proposed changes to the master plan. He said they are variables and not knowable. So yes taxpayers will be on the hook for any updates or additions to schools or town infrastructure, but that is not important at all!!