We have former Mayor and now appointed local judge Pfund to thank. Without Ordinance 3066, passed purposely in July 2007 when many residents were down the shore, applications to amend the Master Plan would never have even been considered. Then the developers used an old anchoring by applying for 50 units, only to say they’d “comprised” down to 35. The anchor number used should have been the 12 in the Master Plan, and they should have comprised at 18-24, reflecting current Village densities. Development is surely need in the CBD – it’s an eyesore with too much dead space and decaying remnants of the past – but Ordinance 3066 and the 50 number should have never happened in the first place. That’s Pfund’s folly…. These wheels have been in motion since 2007
I had little hope going into last night’s meeting. I am so proud of everyone who came and stood up for our village. Bottom line, we have to repeal ordinance 3066. Also, say no to ordinances requesting our Master Planner. Our Master Plan should be treated with the respect it deserves. It has been in place for decades, protecting our village from the potential high density developments that are on the table now. Should development occur, yes, but within the safeguards of the master plan. Developers: get a variance and if appropriate for Ridgewood it will pass. If the densities are to low for your project and potential profits, to bad, come to the table with something else. But don’t threaten residents with statements “if you don’t give us this, we’ll do something you really won’t like”. That is not neighborly or nice.
We should have been signing petitions to repeal Ordinance 3066 five years ago or more. I agree that 35 units is too high, but that’s because developers are allowed to submit proposals to amend the Master Plan under Ordinance 3066 (passed by then Mayor Pfund under cover of July summer vacations in 2007 to help out his pals at Valley), and its easy to anchor the debate initially at 50 units and then say you’ve “compromised down to 35 units even though the initial anchoring of the discussion should have been at 12 units as per the existing Master Plan.
I agree and think the council did actually undertake a revision of that ordinance that allowed the loophole.
Agree, so much of the division in town now is due to Pfund’s folly and the desperate attempt to let Valley quickly get its expansion in.
Step by step, building by building, we can re-make our downtown without Pfund’s folly. Contrary to the ravings of a few at this week’s hearing, Ridgewood’s finest hour will not pass simply because we proceed in a logical, organized fashion to constructing a downtown that lasts into the next century without dragging down the rest of the Village.
True to modern life, instead of being driven out of town on a rail, Pfund was appointed municipal judge. Life is stranger than fiction because no fiction writer would have dared. That anyone in town other than developers and Valley officials are still speaking to him is simply a sign of how little people understand about the ripple effects of others’ actions. BOO, PFUND. WHEN I HEARD YOU WERE MOVING, I WAS EXCITED…then it turned out to be just to a bigger house here. Go away.
Maybe it can be repealed as they update Village Code?
This whole nightmare can be reversed. Elections for three council seats, Hauk, Aronshon, and Pucciarelli, are on May 10th, 2016. That’s in 220 days. It’s time for a slate of candidates, whose platform is to repeal ordinance 3066 which among other things added Chapter 190, Article XIV, Section 143 allowing “interested parties” to amend the master plan.
https://goo.gl/YuUZUt
https://stopvalley.com/Minutes/2007-08-07%20Ordinance%203066.pdf
Thanks James for keeping this in the news. Mr. Kotch is right, we may be looking at a new council in May and I believe it will be a golden opportunity to repeal ordinance 3066. How anyone thought it was a good idea to allow ” interested parties” to request changes to the Master Plan is a mystery. Who can be seen as more interested than the village residents? We are now forced to be viligent and ready to assemble in order to protect Ridgewood from misguided development.
Well said, 10:12.
From the Patch May 2,2012
Conflict with ‘H-Zone’ ordinance and planning board amendment
Although the , the saga continues. The planning board’s amendment to the Master Plan remains on the books and a future council could simply overturn the November vote.
Councilman Paul Aronsohn said it’s time for the planning board to rescind . “We need a blank piece of paper,” Aronsohn said. “It’s time to move on, it’s time to move forward…the mayor and council needs to step up.”
I thought that he moved away right after his disasterous reigh as mayor.
Now I hear that he never left town? Strange that he has managed to lay so low, never to be involved or voice an opinion again.
Thanks for recycling my previous comments above on this James – repealing 3066 and going after Valley’s not-for-profit status (worth $4mn/year in property taxes) are the top two priorities IMO for the next Council. A zero increase PBA contract with higher pension & healthcare contributions and no accumulated leave payouts on retirement (“use-it or lose-it”) would be next. After that, working with the BoE on shared ways to reduce property taxes, and downgrading all Village and BoE employees to Bronze health care coverage so as to avoid having property tax payers 40% ACA excise tax on public health plans from 2018 would be next on my list, then redeveloping the eyesores downtown (the old car dealers, the old Town Garage, etc) would be next, but developers would have to submit plans to develop based on an anchor number of 12 units in the Master Plan, and then the Village can comprise up at 18-24 units, reflecting current Village densities. Not rocket science.
9:29
Moved away? Are you living under a rock? Pfund is a judge in town.
9:29 PM, Oct. 4: You can meet him again on the Village Courtroom dais if you ever attempt to fight a traffic ticket. And do visit him at his enormous house in the Heights, because you’re paying for it.
10:19 is spot on.
Remove the pfucking ordinance
Why a zero increase for PBA 10:19 am?
Must be the that ass the use to be on the finance committee. 5:06. He’s off his medication again. Never post about his pal Roberta and all the friends she has hired who by the way get pensions and the Cadillac health care also.
Maybe you should run for Council 10:19
Because the PBA members have had +4% annual wage increases since 2010 on top of step wage increases, longevity pay up to 10% of base wages, lots of OT, and payouts of up to six months of accumulated leave at retirement (at highest final comp rate, not at the pay rate when the leave was initially awarded). This compares with north Bergen inflation at under 2% over the same period and a 2% cap on property tax increases since 2011, the year after this contract was reopened in 2010. It’s time for yhe PBA to do “a good” for Ridgewood taxpayers by agreeing, like Fire, to zero % wage increases in the new CBA. Avg wages of police is currently above median household income in Ridgewood, that’s not sustainable when we also give healthcare for life and contribute to the municipal pensions for life.