Ridgewood planning board consultant favors Valley Hospital expansion
MARCH 19, 2014, 6:24 AM
BY BARBARA WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
The Valley Hospital’s plan to modernize and completely renovate its campus is a good one, a hospital planning consultant hired by the Ridgewood Planning Board told the board and about 35 residents who attended Tuesday night’s meeting.
The proposal to nearly double in size, providing 454 private rooms with 12-feet high ceilings and space for family members to spend extended periods of time, and larger operating suites that soar 16-feet high, is what many other medical centers are doing now, said James May, an architect and managing principal of healthcare at Perkins Will in New York City.
“As I look as all the things Valley put together, what they are asking for is not unreasonable,” May said. “They are looking into the future. They have done a great job of keeping down the size within this proposal.”
Valley is requesting, for the second time, a master-plan amendment that must be approved by both the Planning Board and Village Council. It is hoping to mushroom from 562,000 square feet to 995,000 square feet, plus an additional 245,000 square-foot parking garage. The new main building would stand 94 feet tall, including rooftop mechanicals.
Hospital administrators say the complex needs to expand to remain competitive in an area known for providing top-notch medical care.
The Planning Board hired May to give his expertise as a hospital planning consultant on Valley’s proposal after a year of hearings where they mainly heard the hospital’s experts talk about the benefit the larger hospital will be to the community. Valley has assured the board and residents that the larger facility will reduce traffic because outpatient services will be moved off campus and the larger buildings will not negatively impact the neighborhood.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-planning-board-consultant-favors-valley-hospital-expansion-1.745521#sthash.b3AXHmaz.dpuf
Welcome to Valleywood.
While he acknowledged that they did a nice job designing a 454 bed modern hospital, he DID NOT say it was a good idea for Ridgewood. He said the Planning Board would have to decide if this is something they would want built in Ridgewood. He offered absolutely no expert testimony on what a construction project like this would do to the town, the surrounding area, the schools and the quality of life for the residents. He did not answer any of the questions pertinent to LIVING in Ridgewood. His company has built some very pretty hospitals. Not here, thank you.
He’s a hospital planner and this is the testimony you would expect from him. Of course it’s good planning for Valley and I’m sure it’s a great design but it’s not suitable for the corner of Linwood and Van Dien. Valley needs to put their proposed hospital on a larger lot in a non-residential neighborhood. Enough already.
How is it good for Ridgewood?
How can this testimony be taken seriously? This guy earns his living working for hospitals – of course he thinks Valley did a good job. These proceedings are a joke. Gail Price should be fired.
Build it already.
Funny, that’s what Gail Price said to the Planning Board
He refused to compare apples to apples enough times to plant an orchard. Not impressive.
Please, just ONE Valley supporter, explain how the town of Ridgewood benefits from this expansion.
Crickets….
The PB meeting was interesting last night. The meeting started with a discussion about the downtown assisted living/garage proposal. I think Blaise said that the project is only financially viable if they can build 60 fee high with no compromise on the number of spaces. This PB agreed with the Mayor and sent the project to council who will vote on an ordinance and then the whole thing goes back to the PB. Based upon statements made by PB membes, there seems to be strong PB support for this project.
The PB then began the H-zone discussion by stating the The Record, CRR and the residents who attended the meeting misunderstood statements made at the last meeting and changes can be made to Valley’s proposal if it is consistent with the findings of experts. After that heated discussion came to a close, the PB hospital expert testified that Valley had submitted a good plan which for all intents and purposes means that the Valley proposal cannot be altered , correct?? Anyway, you can’t make this stuff up.
Just what we need in the congested downtown. More traffic caused by visitors support staff food and linen delivery ambulance transport, doctors. What is our Mayor thinking?
Build it and they will come.
Funny how Gail Price has instructed the Planning Board to give zero weight to public comment – only to “expert” testimony. Very nice of her to give the people a chance to speak – she gets paid by the hour – but in the end public comment carries no weight. She should go to jail.