fle photo by Boyd Loving
East Side residents ask for equality
OCTOBER 22, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
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No ‘equality’ for residents living on village’s East Side
To the Editor:
At an Oct. 7 Ridgewood Council meeting, former resident Mr. Giordano made what I thought was the most important point. He stated that the sports groups met often with neighbors to assure them about a project on Maple East. They also met with neighbors about other projects. We know that the village met with neighbors of Habernickel.
What is the difference between these and the East Side residents regarding the future development of the Schedler property? Since 2008, I believe there have not been sufficient sit-down meetings between East Side neighbors and the village.
The East Side was presented with a 1997 schematic in 2008. From that date forward, all the residents saw were renderings by the village/Parks and Recreation/Fields/sports groups. Nobody met the east side residents and asked for input and suggestions specifically about the schematics.
To say that the three open public forums in 2012 were sufficient is incorrect. I have minutes from those meetings — the neighbors did complain about proposed traffic, loss of trees, size of fields. That is the last time they had anything to do with the three plans since then. But were they shown a plan that is shown today?
One day they saw a concession stand when a recent schematic was presented (presented, to the public, without any consideration or input by the neighbors), one day they saw a turnaround, one day they saw 24 extra parking spaces, on and on. At the Oct. 7 meeting, they saw that the turnaround was gone, a left turn lane put in its place.
Is this any way to treat a neighborhood, when other projects spent time with neighbors?
To equate Schedler with Habernickel, as is done with pride by the village, is not a fair equation.
To equate Schedler with other fields abutting highways is also not a fair comparison, as the neighborhoods are different.
And to talk about very small amounts of traffic misses an important point: What is going to happen to the “light” traffic when 70 or more cars are coming to a game and will arrive at the same time?
The Engineering Department draws plans satisfying sports’ groups needs, but they do not draw plans satisfying the residents of the East Side. Where is the equality?
Eleanor Gruber
Ridgewood
She happens to be 100% correct. What has changed is that we have “Bullies” shoving their agendas down our throats. Like our Federal Government, they believe we are all idiots and that they must decide for us. They believe they know what’s right and scarier what they are doing is right. Some town decisions must be made now or soon before they are removed from their positions. The way over sized Valley, the way too dense building expansions, the way over priced parking garage ($15 million for concrete and steel?) and of course the property on the highway. They want us to all go away, we should not. They want to beat us into submission, we will not. What are they getting out of this by destroying a nice town? We all wonder why sensible compromises are not being offered? Ponder that…
I’m a broken record….a few people make the decisions for the rest of us…..our fault, Keith lost by 6 votes.
No one to blame but ourselves.
Ellie is exactly right.
There is a huge amount of behind-the-doors dealings going on with Schedler. It is outrageous in our little hamlet that we have such corruption. Between the Schedler shenanigans, and the crap going on with the high density housing and the gigantic parking garage, we are really looking like a third-world dictatorship where there is absolutely no honesty and rules are definitely not followed.
Get the sense someone associated with Government is trying to pull a fast one on you, Mrs. Gruber? And you don’t like it? Isn’t that a fine how-do-you-do. Whether one pipes up at government injustice or not shouldn’t depend on whether it’s one’s own ox that is being gored, or whether it’s one’s own family member being paid to invent or peddle the government Bee-Ess.
I’m a little slow to give any credit to Hans Gruber, 10 years ago she was spouting Green Acres legislation for Pleasant Park. Now that this shit is about to go down near her crib she’s ready to forget Green Acres designations….can you hypocrite ?
8:40 am – Mrs. Gruber lives nowhere near Schedler. Please get your facts straight before you accuse this very smart and lovely person of NIMBY. Mrs. Gruber has been an asset to Ridgewood for DECADES. And you??
Good call 8:57. Whether you agree with her or not, Ellie Gruber is not motivated by self-interest. Her agenda is to advocate for what she believes is best for the Village and is not afraid to speak out.
8:57 and 10:30, one wishes the Grubers could have imparted something approaching dignity, integrity, humility or empathy to go along with their son Jonathan’s obvious intellectual gifts. Their failure in that regard resulted in Obamacare being created and sold to the public as a beneficial program rather than the boondoggle and healthcare market-destroying juggernaut it has turned out to be. That said, if the Grubers are truly still seeking the best for Ridgewood, give credit where credit is due. Fighting village hall is an all-hands-on-deck affair in this town…
The neighbors of Maple Park were not listened to. The neighbors told the council and sports groups that Maple would not make a good choice for turf because it is located in a flood plane. A few days after the very expensive field was installed it was permanently damaged by a major flood. Every year since the neighborhood witnesses Maple Field being flooded with or without a major flood and more damage being done to the turf field. What good is a meeting if no one listens!