Reader says We can’t forever be stuck with those blighted remnants of the past
What are the alternatives for the eyesores of the Town Garage, Brogan Cadillac, Ken Smith Chevrolet, and the old auto dealers along North Maple in to Ho Ho Kus ? We can’t forever be stuck with those blighted remnants of the past if we want Ridgewood to remain awesome for future generations. How about a Performing Arts Center (with extra parking), a hockey arena (again with parking, will save time for all of the families who currently drive to Paramus), and more park land (with parking !) ? There have to be some suggestions for the owners of those properties on how best to redevelop them in a way that makes sense for both current and future residents. We can’t just remain forever static and say that’s what’s best for residents – progress isn’t always negative !
Who is going to pay for a Performing Arts Center to be built and maintained and managed and the same with a hockey arena. The poster must be drinking the Paul Aronsohn kool aid.
I thought it was a tongue in cheek reference to Newark when someone suggested a PAC and a Hockey rink.
Shirley, you can’t be serious.
Not to mention, who is going to buy the land? This is private land that is worth tens of millions of $
The hockey rink would be private enterprise I’m sure, right? Going back to the 70’s a group wanted to put a hockey rink in the co-op building, (now whole foods) on Godwin Ave. but the rink needed to run 24 hrs to survive, the town wouldn’t let them run 24 /7 end of Idea. Maybey it’s time to re-think some of the ordinances.
The article was clearly written by an idealistic type, who has this vision of a “wouldn’t it be cool if we had a …..” world. No sense of how such businesses operate and who pays for them. Hey, the Obama Administration called, you’re hired.
Freeze Graydon!
It’s already frozen.
I don’t think that anyone opposing amendments to the Master Plan favors keeping a vacant car dealership. Those opposed to development in town whether by Valley or by real estate developers oppose special interests misrepresenting the impact of their proposed projects.
Developers told us with a straight face that putting in hundreds of apartments will have no negative impact on traffic and will put no additional children into the school system. Seems like a follow up study would be in order before we break ground.
And then there’s Valley and their parade of “experts” claiming among other things that 1,000 additional parking spaces will not result in any additional traffic. Valley has been lying to us for so long that they and their obnoxious attorney have resorted to simply shouting down anyone that questions them or proposes an alternative to their tired and over baked expansion plan.
This town’s lack of vision and leadership has led us the the mercy of these special interests who are in business to make money for themselves and their shareholders. Period. It is not their job to care about any negative impact their project might have on the town. It has become clear that our public officials have neither the political will nor the inclination to stand up to these special interests. Let’s hope that our friends and neighbors have the stamina to insist on better treatment until we can get a couple of competent people into office.
If we stopped subsidizing healthcare for municipal employees, many of whom pay up to a maximum of $400 a year for full family coverage plans with only $15 drug co-pays and $5 doctors’ visits, maybe we could afford a Performing Arts Center. Those subsidized healthcare plans don’t benefit all taxpayers. At least a PAC would be available to all residents.