the staff of The Ridgewood Blog
Ridgewood NJ, when informed by Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser Wednesday evening that the NJ State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) will control almost every aspect of their plan to develop the Schedler property, Village Council members were visibly perturbed. Especially after Mr. Rutishauser said that a full sized athletic field with artificial turf and permanent lighting would probably not be approved by SHPO.
However, as evidenced by legal notice posted on a bulletin board at Village Hall (see attached photo), Village Council members were not surprised. The legal notice reveals that they are already planning interviews of attorneys to represent the Village “for the Schedler property.” Translation = To challenge SHPO’s designation of the Schedler property as “historic.”
Time (and many taxpayer dollars) will tell how the Council fares in their quest to slay the mighty SHPO and construct the premier sports complex they desire on the historic Schedler property.
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this is FCKING stupid !
Ridgewood Moms and Dads group should be shut down !
where are the a$$kisser big mouths ?
Here it comes Hawes. Bend over !
They have their own agenda and it should be stopped
Now it starts all over again.
What a great mess.
Can someone explain to me, how is it possible that so much time and resources are spent through debates, drawings, engineering, speeches, referendums, etc. etc. for the new bigger project when you do not know if this is allowed to be done? What is the purpose? The due diligence starts with making sure that your plan fits and complies with rules and then you develop your concept? This is all upside down. Am I missing something?
You can bring all your paid for cohorts to speak how badly the stadium is needed, but if you’re not allowed to build it what is the purpose?!
This is all $$$$$ going down the drain.
Another pocket lining. Hire an attorney, that will bill by the hour over the next 3+ years, for a case that has little to no leg to stand on.
Ridgewood residents need to demand a comprehensive study of field and sports needs. Without the proven demand, they will overdevelop Schedler, Hawes, Somerville and Habernickel.
Let’s not make another multi million dollar mistake. Do the damn studies.
This is no different than the garage Maser Report. Study concluded it wasn’t parking inventory problem, it was an incorrect distribution of parking problem. Well, now we know Maser was spot on!
They deffinitly have their own agenda.. Did someone says kick backs?
If they buy the 2 properties north of Schedler they can make the sports crowd very happy.
The legal notice does indicate something about “property acquisition.”
They want to give back Green Acres money … buy back the negotiated agreement with Green Acres so they can do what they want with it.
Using the money that would have paid village employees they may be about to pink-slip for budgetary reasons?
Even if they bought additional properties near the current one, they still have to deal with the historic status of the current property. No artificial turf or permanent field lighting. would be allowed on the current property.
The land behind Ridge School is perfect for a new turf field.
Not in a flood plain.
Plenty of parking.
or Glen School
Ridge is immune from this kind of $tuff.
How does this fit into their battle to reduce the budget. Forcing all departments to slash what was it. 10 percent?
Hiring a lawyer and trying to purchase more land seems like unnecessary spending. Their message isn’t very consistent
Let’s not forget about buying all new garbage cans to beautify the CBD for Paul and friends while we get reed with a 4% tax increase. Restaurant owners want new garbage.cans, let them donate them directly to the Village.
…and paying for pet projects, like the “Handbag Protection Act” to remove those dangerous Parking Meter Poles…
Sell the Schedler property to a developer.
the Hasidic Jews want to build high density housing there
Level the Valley Hospital Site and turn into a sports complex. See if residents in that neighborhood would have any issue.
Was the need for specialized legal services ever discussed in an open session?
A public meeting in closed session. You can’t make these things up.
Over spending at the garage, over spending on unnecessary vehicles, over spending at all the sport complexes, over spending on overtime, and now with at least 4% tax increase, is that including county and state, and Board of Education?
There isn’t going to be an easy way to unify everyone and have all people walking away from the table being happy. The sports families, who had children speak at the coucil meeting, only want to see their field come to fruition with all of the bells and whistles to make it a sports complex with absolutely no concern to any of the remaining issues. The one child with his proud mom standing by his side, said he was born with a bat in one hand and a ball in another. They live baseball. It is how they live, breath and consume life. They will probably stop at nothing to get what they want by pressuring and using leverage wherever they are able, using children’s or their own voices to get their point across. On the flipside, the neighbors who are impacted directly want the peaceful enjoyment of their properties but are also concerned with safety, health, environmental and historic elements of land usage and any subsequent development and the Mayor and Council seem to have their own agendas based on a number of factors and agreements they have made, both public and private. One Council woman did a complete switch from her campaign election and is now taking a different stance, and in fact, her husband is involved in sports to some degree, so there is likely pressure for her to make this happen. The Mayor wants to expediate the process without a proper evaluation of all of the facts, requirements and legitimate concerns being voiced. Just listening to people speak without any real action and accountability to entertain real concerns is just lip service. There is definitely a lack of transparency and perhaps a secret agenda cloaked in mystery that they will reveal at a later date. Is this elected governing body actually taking concerns into account, or continuing to see their agenda through by obtaining counsel. Also, the Mayor has maintained that the reason this is so important to have a new field is that they have encountered flooding, but who ever said that this land parcel doesn’t flood and if they won’t fix the others, who is to say that this one will be usable?
The kid with a bat in one hand and a ball in the other can continue to enjoy hobbies and games all his life. That doesn’t mean the entire town needs to bow to his needs. Give me a break and boo hoo.
Last night’s workshop was certainly an eye opener for many concerned citizens and the points on both sides couldn’t have been summarized better, than by a 10 year old child standing next to his mom for support. Essentially he was there to make an impassioned plea for a field where he can play ball. He stated, that the most important life lessons that he has learned were truly about respect and consideration for his teammates both his own and the opposition. These examples can be used as metaphors for this situation as there are people who just want a field for sports and those with legitimate concerns that affect the welfare of residents and visitors that relate to safety, health, environment, historic preservation, etc. These core values of respect and consideration say so much about how to work with both sides towards a compromise. Surely this little boy’s parents have taught him that. He stated that he truly understood the meaning of good sportsmanship and that his mom told him that the Mayor and Council can fix these problems but most importantly, that hard work, not shortcuts is what pays off. This in an of itself, is exactly what we need from the Mayor and the Council. Hard work and not taking shortcuts to develop the land until a full assessment of all of the facts has been conducted in short order. I thank this young boy for reminding the adults that taking our time with patience and handling things the right way and not cutting corners is truly the best approach and most thoughtful way to deal with the situation.
On average, at least 5 boys cry every Little League game.
There is no crying in baseball…
Carry on
“One Council woman did a complete switch from her campaign election and is now taking a different stance, and in fact, her husband is involved in sports to some degree, so there is likely pressure for her to make this happen.”
– You’re onto something here. This poor woman has always wanted the best for this tiny village but she is probably being heavily pressured by somebody at home on this issue. I mean just look at her. That poor soul.
This is getting to be too much you know what call seven on your side. Let them do a story at prime time.
Last night VC was a tad comical. Kids with mothers on their shoulder reading heart touching letters about how they had been wanting to play baseball the day Katrina hit but the field had flooded so they couldn’t play that day, a lady next to Schedler who strongly supports the plan even though her kids have left home 20 years ago and even though her VC friend SW read same letter last week, a guy from the Heights with 4 kids who desperately needs his kids to see a full stadium in their hometown, the big guy repeating the same “thank you very much, I appreciate it” after anyone speaks a couple of words, he again switching the council to a different agenda topic then stopping to again “thank you very much, we all appreciate our engineer for drawing in autocad”, “I am so touched that people debate in such civilized manner”…………….clowns all around.
Boyd described them so beautifully last week. They (except Lorraine in my opinion) love to hear themselves speak 🙂
Correct that the sports group will stop at nothing. They used kids as props to speak and for visual affect had them dressed in baseball uniforms. Baseball hasn’t started so they weren’t coming from a game. They don’t care about their own, don’t expect they will care for anyone else.
What most couldn’t see or hear. The pack of Adults waiting to speak with a nine year old boy (YES NINE) in tow. They had dressed him and his brother in full baseball uniform. Visibly uncomfortable in his surroundings, the nine year old telling his mother how nervous he was. Rather than taking the boys cue for help, the child was told to just get up there and read the paper. VERY SAD
Generic email to NJ HPO: NJHPO@dep.nj.gov