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Ridgewood’s Small-Town Charm

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Village Council Candidate Melanie Hooban  said in a post on Facebook ,  “When someone promises “Invigorate our Central Business District, while maintaining Ridgewood’s Small-Town Charm” please be sure of what that means to them and to you.’

She goes on , “That’s what my opponent is promising and this probably means a plan similar to what he championed a few years ago with “spot zoning” for 4 high density housing complexes at 40-50 units an acre, and a gigantic garage in CBD. He supported the garage plan which would have encroached 12-18 feet into Hudson street and was one story higher and would have completely overshadowed Mt Caramel. Beyond that, if that is something you support, is he actually able to deliver that? Or will conflicts prohibit any involvement in planning for a more successful CBD? Please ask him how many buildings does he own in downtown and how has that influenced his campaign for various downtown project locations.

I have worked on the planning board for last 5 years to protect Ridgewood’s Small-Town Charm and to navigate compromise on all of the major issues that have faced our central business district, and our residents. With that compromise we have been able to ensure positive growth at a reasonable pace, and avoid further spot zoning issues.

Please consider this important issue before you choose a Village Council candidate.”

25 thoughts on “Ridgewood’s Small-Town Charm

  1. I hope residents are reading this and filling in the blanks.

  2. I hope the residents of Ridgewood are reading this and filling in the blanks

  3. I am a moderate and have no problem with democratic party. I have voter for many democratic over the years.
    Our village has non partisan village government and every time we elected an aspiring democratic leader, we had trouble. Remember paul vagianos ran for assembly as democrat and still has higher ambitions.
    Few years ago, he not just advocated but aggressively faught for 4 high density housing spot zoning and huge garage.
    He also was successful in getting the garage location moved from north walnut to hudson, to benefit his own adjecent properties.
    He owns about 5 properties in CBD and all of his actions so far have been focused to increase their value.

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  4. Here is a link to the original post if anyone wants to follow her page

    https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=115768807503576&id=107362421677548

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  5. I truly believe that people like myself who were raised in Ridgewood and appreciate its small town charm are truly advocates to keep it that way. That is why my vote is with Melanie. She has 5 children and wants them to have the same experiences she had in Ridgewood ( not the Hackensack like ) town that Paul V wants

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  6. Paul’s values are completely out of step with traditional Ridgewood values.

    Vote for Melanie!

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  7. “Paul’s values are completely out of step with traditional Ridgewood values. ”

    “He owns about 5 properties in CBD and all of his actions so far have been focused to increase their value.”
    ——————————————————————————————————————–
    “The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons” R.W Emerson

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  8. Vagianos = wolf in sheep’s clothing.

    I’m voting for Melanie.
    She will fight for the residents of Ridgewood, not the developers of Ridgewood.

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  9. Paul is in favor of Kensington PILOT program, which will again do “spot zoning” and tax away tax dollars.

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  10. I grew up in a small town in NJ with 4,000 residents. Ridgewood is not a small town, does not have a small town feel, so why are we trying so hard to pretend that it is? Real progress will happen when we accept that we are turning into a small city. We need to manage the condition of our roads, the speed at which people drive through our town, our village trees which are not being pruned timely, and too many other issues to name. Let’s just accept that Ridgewood is growing and manage the town and our expectations with respect to this. Let’s stop fooling ourselves that Ridgewood has a small town feel and move forward with some realistic ideas on how to improve daily life for the residents.

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  11. Has anyone noticed that we are losing that small town charm. Planning Board should have insisted on set back at the Benjamin and at least some patch of greenery in the back of the building where there isn’t even a place to sit and wait for a cab or to look at anything living.

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  12. I think the “small town charm” is long gone. This is more like a city, just look at the condition of the roads for one, traffic, new buildings all over…

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  13. Who is Ramon endorsing?

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  14. Ramon is endorsing Paul. What a shame. How could anyone endorse a candidate who was endorsed by Jeff Voigt?

  15. Who cares who is Ramon endorsing?

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  16. He and Sedon are endorsing Paul V. Wasn’t Ramon a friend of melanie’s? Didn’t she support him and mike all Sedon when they ran? I wonder why they are not supporting her? Hmmmmm

  17. Small-town charm and feel is gone. Do you think the people in charge give two shits about small town in charm, this is all about business now revenue taxes building. They want all the property on route 17 too.

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  18. “they are not supporting her” because they are sold out! Vagianos will follow their path.

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  19. Pfffft
    Small town charm?
    Yea right.

  20. Ramon is endorsing Vagianos, of course.

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  21. Small town charm? In today’s Ridgewood? haha……………..ahahahahaha
    Still voting for the lesser of 2 problems. Vagianos will only accelerate the end which is inevitable anyway. Hoban by default.

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  22. Actually we should all wonder how they could not support her.
    Sell outs one and all.
    She has stayed here stuck it out and fought the fight, walked the walk. And those guys used their roles and the people that got them there as stepping stones.
    They should be ashamed and frankly I support her MORE because they aren’t.
    They are just sell outs.

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  23. If Mike and Ramon are endorsing The Vag, they’ve lost the respect and votes from six members of this household.

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  24. “If Mike and Ramon are endorsing The Vag, they’ve lost the respect and votes from six members of this household.”
    What did you really see in R Hache that made you have so much respect for him? He was the most inept and incompetent person of the board and DID nothing of note during his tenure except for copying and pasting Covid data in FB during first few weeks of the pandemic.
    Sedon is different but it seems like he finally realized that having a few friends with big pockets is not so bad after all.

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  25. Eagle – I haven’t been hugely impressed with Ramon and I didn’t say I had “so much respect for him.” I said he lost my respect. Any good feelings I had toward him are gone and I will not be voting for him ever again.

    I am shocked and disappointed by Mike’s decision to sell out Ridgewood by supporting The Vag. I always found him to be independent and decent. But supporting The Vag makes me question his goals and aspirations. So no vote for Mike

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