Ridgewood residents continue challenges to proposed master plan change for downtown housing
NOVEMBER 17, 2014, 10:16 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2014, 10:16 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Village residents on Monday night continued to question the possible fiscal impacts associated with a proposed master plan amendment that would set the stage for high-density housing downtown.
Blais Brancheau was back in the hot seat for Monday night’s Planning Board meeting, fielding queries from a handful of Ridgewood denizens who continued their collective cross examination of the village’s planner.
Two weeks prior, Brancheau presented his analysis of the proposed master plan change before endorsing it, adding the anticipated effects of any resultant housing complexes would be negligible.
The proposed change is being sought by three different developers. If approved by village officials, it could clear the way for the construction of a trio of high-density, multifamily housing projects downtown. Public hearings are continuing and the issue still is some way from being formally considered by the full Planning Board.
More than 30 people attended the board’s meeting.
Brancheau has said that 300 to 500 units could be constructed in a built-out village, under the amended master plan. The village planner anticipated impacts on village schools and traffic downtown would be minimal.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-residents-continue-challenges-to-proposed-master-plan-change-for-downtown-housing-1.1135877
Thank you for the live link to the details of the hearing by an experienced and fair minded reporter.
It keeps things from running amok —
from the full article –
Brancheau said it was difficult to predict the future, but that his numbers suggested that for every five units built, there would be one additional child signing up for instruction.
“There will be some impact,” Brancheau explained. “The schools are at capacity now
Fair minded report? Really Dom! You know that CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER, THE RECORD writes whatever our Mayor tells him to. Just like you he is in Mayor Paul’s corner.
#3…I was there. Why bother arguing with #1, who clearly was not.
That snippet of an article does not represent at all just how clueless Brancheau sounded. We have no concrete numbers on anything basically: the number of units, number of new schoolchildren, costs to village, new traffic/accidents, burden on facilities, etc. All figures to date have been derived from the builder’s research and there have been 0 independent studies. If there is ever a transcript available it should be required reading before deciding what is or is not a fair minded report.
About Brancheau and his research abilities: You all need to remember back during the first round of the Valley expansion when, after many hearings, it was suddenly revealed that the project was hundreds of thousands of feet larger than they had been discussing — Brancheau had failed to count the basement floors!
Doesn’t anyone in this town have any balls?!?!?! No one with a village job wants to be on the record as having an opinion on this stuff. It’s crazy! Blaise talks out of both sides of his mouth. The superintendent of schools does not speak up on behalf of our schools (except once over a year ago). Where is a report from the police? The fire dept? The sanitation dept? Where is a report from Parks & Rec? And you know Rutishauser will tell you that there’s plenty of capacity in our water & sewer system to handle 500 new apts AND an expanded hospital. Why can’t the officials in Ridgewood seem to look at these applications with a critical eye? They should be questioning everything a developer is telling them. They should be researching what other towns are doing and figuring out what Ridgewood wants to be. They should be asking for resident input. Instead, they attend meeting after meeting and talk in circles. The developer tells them everything will be great and the residents have to hire lawyers to prove them otherwise. While I appreciate the time the Planning Board members sacrifice to be on the Board, I think it’s time for them to work smarter, not longer.
The multi-unit residential development described by the planner sounds an awful lot like Hoboken, which by all accounts is over developed. So much so, developers are now looking for sites in Jersey City. So when the streets are hopelessly littered and smell of a wild Friday night all week long, remember the impact was minimal. But think of the money the village can make booting and towing cars!
Hoboken stopped 95% of its booting after their practice was found to be in violation of NJ State Law.