Reader claims had the BF field been sold and leased back to the BOE under the long-term lease, as proposed the entire need for Valley to expand with taller structures today would have been avoided
Had the BF field been sold and leased back to the BOE under the long-term lease, as proposed, Valley would have placed parking under ground and the entire need for Valley to expand with taller structures today would have been avoided. But, the same NIMBYs, who prevented that plan, are the ones opposing Valley’s expansion plans today.
BTW, part of that proposal was to provide a turf facility at BF for free, which would have saved the BOE (taxpayers) almost $1mm. Go over and look at the “recently improved BF field” today. It is a dirt lot!!! And, the spring season is only 3 weeks old.
In retrospect, working with Valley to create a win/win for the village back when they presented the BF field proposal would have been a pretty good/smart idea. Anyone, who is proud of shooting that idea down is part of the group who is responsible for the current state of Ridgewood
Wow. Speechless. This point of view really sums up how completely out of touch Valley and its supporters are. I don’t think anyone opposed to the Valley expansion could have done it better.
Maybe a late April Fools post?
It’s obvious that whoever wrote that comment knows nothing about asset management, village planning or the proposed Valley Hospital expansion plan. If the BOE had sold the field to VH, the VOR, i.e. taxpayers, would have lost one of our greatest assets (the real estate it sits on). Our BOE is the steward of this property. It is not an asset for them to sell to the highest bidder. A turf field? Really? That’s what you want in return? You are a sick person with distorted priorities. If the BOE deal had gone through, Valley would still be asking to expand. The parking garage is 200,000 sq ft of a 600,000k expansion plan. Where would the rest of the expansion go? In Paramus, where it should!
Typical response by the uninformed to for tell the future.
A simple solution response…. sounds like a fallen politician …. again.
So you admit that what they are planning now is worse than what was already defeated.
I wasn’t here when the previous plan was proposed/rejected. But given the above information, I agree with the writer. It sounds like the current plan is worse than the previous one that was rejected. There would have been less visual impact from a parking garage and the tower Valley wants to build would have been further from the BF border.
The point is, and it applies to downtown too, we have to stop this “big business is bad” attitude and find ways to partner with our corporate neighbors. Look at what Bloomberg did in NYC when he stopped treating businesses as evil and started to see them as partners for investment in the future.
Valley was told that they could not expand the campus years ago. If only Valley had developed a strategic plan at that time we woouldnt be blogging about this.
Why are Valley’s expansion plans somehow given equal status to the land owned by the BOE and the Village residents?
I do not care if Valley never expands. Their business plan is not my problem. They have no special rights. Expand in Paramus.
Valley can remain where and how it is, if they (valley) don’t like it let them move elsewhere.!!
Again Dom, nothing to add just your sarcasm.
No matter what Valley has been given in the past, they always want more. The BF field purchase would not have been the last thing they wanted they still would want to modernize their buildings and they would have needed more space to do that. They were told 20 years ago that enough is enough and yet they haven’s gotten the message. It is so frustrating that this is Ridgewood’s problem and not Valley’s problem.
why is #5 comparing Ridgewood to NYC? Am i missing something? Maybe we need Bloomberg here to solve this!
The original post makes it sound like Valley’s real purpose at the time was just to obtain underground parking, and the neighbors were being obstructionists. NOT TRUE. If Valley had purchased this field, then under the density restrictions in place, owning a much larger lot, they could have expanded above ground massively without the need for a Master Plan change. It was a very shrewd attempt on their part.
Brian – Replacing a rejected plan with another plan does not make the second plan any less bad. Valley and its supporters have spent years trying to get 10 pounds of hospital into a 5 pound bag and no matter how hard they try, it just doesn’t work.
As for the CBD, you also seem to miss the point. People for the most part don’t oppose modernizing – whether it’s a hospital or the center of town. Just do it within the scope of the existing Master Plan and not solely for the benefit of special interests.
Bloomberg? New York? Really?
My point is that we need to view developers, landlords and the hospital as partners, not the enemy. This idea that they are “all greedy capitalists” is starting to make me sick. They are local business people trying to invest in the community.
The “current” master plan and zoning may need to be adjusted in order to reach the optimal outcome. Let’s help them find a solution that works for all of us instead of acting as if anyone who seek profit is evil. That means that opponents to the development need to provide some structure for what they think would be appropriate/reasonable compromises.
My comment about Bloomberg was that unlike the current mayor, he saw businesses as partners. He was able to create public good by working with them instead of acting as if every landlord and developer was evil.
Brian, the idea that on the whole, Ridgewood, with a large number of its working population traveling into the Financial District views business people as “the enemy” and “greedy capitalists” is a joke. The developers and the hospital aren’t “partners”, because they don’t act like “partners”. They act like people who see a historic opportunity and are cashing in. I don’t blame them for wanting to make money. I do blame them for trying to claim there won’t be much additional traffic, there won’t be much growth in number of students in schools, Ridgewood is the new Hoboken, and my personal favorite “Downtown will look like St. Marks”. https://www.northjersey.com/news/developer-envisions-ridgewood-s-version-of-st-mark-s-square-1.464770
I agree with you that both sides have acted very poorly. I want to support Valley but they just keep lying. Same with the developments in town.
But the other side comes across as very anti-business. Even you comment “they act like people who see a historic opportunity and are cashing in.” So what? That is a completely pointless statement that goes right in step with the anti-capitalist lawn signs, rumors that council people are taking bribes, etc.
We have to find a way to create reasonable boundaries that let us all benefit from this opportunity.
Brian, I think we aren’t far apart, if at all. Regarding my comment, “they act like people who see a historic opportunity and are cashing in”, I don’t consider that anti-business. I think it is what business people are supposed to do – invest capital and get rewarded for it. My point is that they shouldn’t be regarded as civic-partners unless they act like it. They should be regarded as business people, and that isn’t a put-down.
Brian – isn’t the Master Plan a reasonable boundary? I would describe myself as very pro business but the plans that are before the town are each by themselves just too big. Yet each “needs” a Master Plan amendment. Why? Because the bigger the structure they are allowed to build, the more money they make. It’s not evil, it’s just business. It’s also just business sometimes to say thanks, but we pass. Happens every day.
Brian, if Valley Hospital had ever reached out to their neighbors and requested community input right from the start, they may have already been under construction. But they, deceptively, marketed their 200% expansion as a “Renewal” and have continued to fight the very people they are supposed to be partnering with for 7 years! I can do without their partnership, thank you.