State says Ridgewood must replace land
OCTOBER 6, 2014 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014, 11:06 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood has been tracked down for a 32-year-old gaffe.
According to the Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld, the village was recently told by Green Acres, a state conservation program, that it needed to make amends for a piece of Green Acres-encumbered land on South Broad Street that Ridgewood sold to the Bergen County Housing Authority – way back in 1982.
The village sold what was a public playground to the Bergen County Housing Authority to provide public low-income housing, Sonenfeld said, and now the diversion “has to be adjusted.”
“In order to correct this, we need 1.9 acres of open space. The other requirement is that we have to spend at least 1:1 value for the property that was sold to Bergen County Housing … And we have to replace the outdoor facility [the playground] that was on that property when we sold this,” Sonenfeld said, later noting that the village needs to buy “more than one parcel” of land and is currently in negotiations with one party.
“We need to do this, because if we don’t,” she noted, “we’re not eligible for future Green Acres grants, and we’re not eligible to get payments on our current outstanding grants.”
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/states-says-village-must-replace-land-1.1103368#sthash.AD706r2H.dpuf
Before you buy it, check with the surrounding property owners to make sure they’re going to be okay with having a playground on top of them.
Will on street parking be permitted near the new park?
Is there no statute of limitations on this, after all it is 32 years.
Nobody asked the neighbors of the “Irene Habernickel’ property on Hillcrest if they would be ok with a park, that morphed into a soccerfield, that now becomes a fairground.
If those who live closest to the proposed park do not step forward with concerns, it will be a done deal regardless of what anyone else says.
When the revelation regarding a past error was made, I recall Ms. Sonenfeld publicly stating that the Village was negotiating for acquisition of a specific parcel, and she expected that no neighbors would complain about a park being located there. So has she spoken to property owners in the vicinity of Highwood Avenue and South Broad Street or hasn’t she?
Let’s condemn the lots downtown that the developers want to turn into housing projects and turn the space into parks instead.
Nothing says NIMBY quite like complaining about a park.
What location is the township negotiating for the new park?
In Ridgewood, every “Park’ becomes a sports field.
Habernickel Park was a quiet neighborhood that is now crowded with the soccer field and participants.
Citizens PARK was paid for by donations by the long time residents whose names are on the plaque. They donated for a PARK not a muddy baseball and soccer field.
There was a field and diamond on Habernickel from day one as there was with Citizens Park. Don’t try to re-write history.