file photo by Boyd loving
FEBRUARY 12, 2016 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD – Ridgewood’s Village Council members discussed the proposed addition of HealthBarn USA to the Irene Habernickel Family Park at the Feb. 3 meeting.
“I feel very strongly that it makes sense to have HealthBarn there,” said Mayor Paul Aronsohn. “I’m not just supportive of this program, I’m excited about it.”
The final decision on whether to approve HealthBarn moving onto the property was postponed to a later date during the Feb. 10 meeting, due to some of the council members wanting to see the business’ lease before deciding on anything.
The current plan is to have HealthBarn USA, a company that offers various outdoor activities to children, take up partial residence in the house on the Habernickel property, in exchange for payment to the village.
This does not sit well with local resident Margene Rubin, who said at the Feb. 3 meeting she feels the addition of HealthBarn to the property would make the area a less-enjoyable place to live.
“Everyone in that area that faces that field does not want (HealthBarn),” Rubin said, adding that HealthBarn founder Stacey Antine can “go someplace else” and not disrupt the neighborhood.
“It’s very upsetting,” said Rubin. “I really do encourage you to think about how many people this is upsetting,”
I think they voted on change of use. The only thing they did not vote was the lease agreement with health barn, because the lease was not final. The same councilwomen who gave the argument that we should not vote on the lease until it’s final, voted for the bcia bonding on the same night when the garage design and financials were not final.
Just how is this upsetting?
what,
Couldn’t possibly vote on this without seeing the lease…
Absolutely votes YES without seeing a final design/payment plan for a $12 million GARAGE!
DON’T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT!
“Everyone facing the field does not want it” That is not exactly a compelling argument.
Maybe the neighbors should pass the hat and buy the property for 11 million. What do they want the village to do with the 11 million investment?
5:08pm are you justifying 3700 a month rent for 11 million $ property? Are you the council person who is famous for fuzzy math?
Gee, I wonder who is running again from that area of town?
Elect Albert, Gwenn and Bob they will fix everting their way.
Who is Bob? Who else is running?
5:31. The rental is just part of the package. We got a crappy field too.
The village never should have bought that land. It should have been sold to,the highest bidder. Medium density housing should have been built with all the taxes that go with new construction.
No neighborhood in Ridgewood is too special for development. I would rather see development there than in town. We can’t keep piling people and cars in the downtown area.
There is no valid reason not to rent to Health Barn. The neighbors don’t like it. Exactly what business would they like to see? I am happy that it is not another rental in the congested downtown. A business that does health programs for children needs parking. How else would the little ones get there?
Rent the building. I disagree with the council on most of the important issues facing our town. But this is a simple decision that they should make.
Bob Hutton formally of the BOED
718 Who says we need to rent the building to a business? Let’s put a senior center there. Or a Ridgewood sports facility for soccer, lacrosse or baseball at the biddy level. We need space for ourselves, not out of town businesses. We used our tax money to buy the place, let’s use it for us and our children. Why is our town in such a rush to sell off our assets on the cheap to outsiders?
If the property switches from a residential use to a commercial use, shouldn’t the rent change from a residential rent to a commercial rent? In Ridgewood, that property would be worth at least $20 per square foot or $72,000 annually ($6,000/mo.) The big three better consider that before they finalize the lease.