the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, once again The Ridgewood News features Healthbarn on its cover. Why continue to support a business that its owner Stacey Antine doesn’t even live in the village? Ms Antine lives in a wealthy area of NYC. So many businesses in the CBD are struggling & would welcome free advertising & to be spotlighted on the cover.
It all circles back to the question of does a business belong in a neighborhood park? It’s not about the business it’s self it would be any business……the answer would still be NO!!! Healthbarn can move to a better location so the business can continue to grow.
How many owners of businesses that operate in Ridgewood live in Ridgewood? Should residency in a community be a requirement for owning and operating a business in that community? Does your boss/owner/senior partner live in the apartment above the store/shop/office? That’s narrow-minded thinking…
That a business should not operate in a park is disingenuous and overly broad – one size does not fit all. True, Healthbarn is a business by definition, because it is not a governmental entity. But if a government entity, not a “business”, was performing all the same functions as Healthbarn in Habernickel, would the objectors be mollified and the teapot tempest cease? Probably not…
Some businesses would be entirely out of place in a park setting – a steel mill, a meat packing plant, a lumberyard, etc. In the case of HealthBarnUSA, a park-like setting is better suited to help fulfill their business mission – see https://www.healthbarnusa.com/ .
It’s tough to have kids plant and grow their own veggies grow on Ridgewood Ave.
Give it a rest!
The above comment doesn’t understand what the post was about. It’s about why the village & The Ridgewood News continue to support only this business. Healthbarn USA does belong in an open area for a garden & the amount of people who attend classes . That is the problem Healthbarn USA out grew Abma’s & it was turned down to operate a business out of a home in Mahwah & now it has out grown this park. Remember this is a park that was constructed because the village needed more field space. Now this park not only has a very active sports field (which has things year around) it has a very busy business which pre-Covid could have as many 95 kids attending programs at once. In the summer between her camp, private classes & field trips coming by the bus loads the numbers grow quickly. If the business was just small class (seedlings) that wouldn’t be as disruptive to our neighborhood but it’s not that at all. On top of all her kid programs she also host adult gathering that have turned into restaurant dinners with alcohol being brought in. All along using the resources of the park to profit off of .
If they rent that house out how much would they get per month.
The rent Healthbarn pays is what the previous single family paid the exception being Healthbarn also gets the garden space, 12 parking spaces & the use of the park. The tenant just used the property surrounding the gatehouse. Also the amount of trash collected weekly is higher & the village plows that property out the tenant removed the snow themselves also less wear on the house with a family then a business
For all the petition signers & the people in favor of the renewal should OPRA Healthbarns quarterly reports. look at the numbers of classes & students that come, particularly in the spring, summer & fall then ask yourselves would I like that in your neighborhood? At first glance it doesn’t look bad but look at all the overlapping of classes & buses field trips coming at the same time……the numbers grows considerably. We were told by Stacey that she didn’t bus in kids nor did she overlap classes so as a neighborhood we were all shocked when buses were coming off Monroe & going into Habernickle Park. This business doesn’t belong in a park it belongs in an area with acreage so Healthbarn can grow without interfering with surrounding properties
all businesses need to grow or they would NOT succeed. As does this business. As stated above this business has out grown the park and has disrupted a neighborhood with its rental hall style parties i.e. birthday parties all day Saturdays, adult gatherings which are restaurant style dinners allowing alchohol along with her private exclusive neighborhood gathering! not to mention classes and camps.
Because of this the top end of Hillcrest rd leading to Monroe is now a heavily used bus route foley for this business
SO NO THIS TYPE OF BUSINESS DOES NOT BELONG IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA
there is a petition going around to keep this business in the park. The only people who should be discussing with council the lease should be ALL the neighbors it directly effects on a daily basis.
If you are not a direct neighbor of the park you just don’t know!!! it would be like a habernickel neighbor signing in favor of Pickleball 4.5 miles away
The business does not pay market value rent
3700.00 a month for the gate house, use of the fields without permission, 12 parking spots, use of 11 acres and all the trails, use of the play scape
Who insured all this?
Let’s get a market rate rent first and see if they want to stay
To whom does the Health Barn pay rent?
Healthbarn pays rent to the village of ridgewood. It is between 3200-3700 a month. far below market value!
It get ala carte use of the entire 11 acres
Sweet deal for them not ridgewood
Who insures all the clients of healthbarn utilizing the grounds beyond the gatehouse?
The problem lies with the confusion that people believe it is a partnership with the town and it is NOT. The town gets 40% of very few one day events maybe 3-4 times a year
It gets below market rent and that’s it!!
But the town provides all landscaping, garbage collections from a business that hosts birthday parties and restaurant style dining and constant repairs
WTF is this nonsense that you have to be a direct neighbor (loosely defined by someone who can not read a map Haberdime to Glenn School is 4 miles) in order to vote on something owned by the town.
You know what it was supposed to be an office space for Parks and Recreation whatever happened to that. Everyone should be out of the stable. The stable was donated from a family in town for the use of learning, and understanding the past history of the village not for office space. Aka Museum.
Stacy is a wonderful person doing a fabulous service to our children. Teaching them many wonderful things about healthy eating gardening and being green.
You people have nothing better to do than criticize anyone who is doing good things for out community. So what that she doesn’t live in New Jersey, she is committed to the children in her group and she should be praised for all the good she is doing.
God bless you Stacy, stay strong and keep doing what you are doing. As the Grandmother of one of your kids, I appreciate you.
All you with this negative opinions, you know wher you could go.
I went to Healthbarn yesterday and walked around the building. I could see the backs of 10 houses on Andover Terrace and the fronts and sides of 10 other houses on Hillcrest Road from Healthbarn.
For argument’s sake, let’s double that number just to err on the side of caution. That makes a potential of 40 residential properties that could, on a daily basis, see the constant stream of noisy, dirty buses and the hordes of rowdy. destructive children that issue from these buses, and are within earshot of the raucous, frequent Healthbarn bacchanals..
But the initial Blog headline that stated, “ a business should not be allowed to operate out of a neighborhood park” (https://theridgewoodblog.net/a-business-shouldnt-be-allowed-to-operate-out-of-a-neighborhood-park/#more-149679 ) raised this question – if a government entity, not a “business”, was performing all the same functions as Healthbarn in Habernickel, would the objectors be mollified and the teapot tempest cease?
A simple “yes” or “no” would have sufficed. But all of the respondents to that article and all respondents here have danced around the question – no one has answered directly. Not answering the question directly constitutes an indirect answer, and that answer is an obvious “NO”.
This means that the real issue here is not that “ a business should not be allowed to operate out of a neighborhood park” – the real issue is that there are at most 40 selfish individuals (IF all are objecting, and it is a certainty that all are not – Thank you, Diana!) that want their way at the expense of all those (definitely a number far greater than 40!) who benefit from the activities at Healthbarn.
What if two or more neighbors are not complaining? What if half are not complaining? What if only a few are complaining? You can see where this is going…
NIMBY’s are like spoiled chlidren. But, like spoiled children, just because they make the most noise they shroud not always get their way. They need to learn to live and let live – it’s a life lesson hard-learned, but a necessary one.
Tempest in a teapot.
A business should not be in any park Concessions are allowed like the cafe at Grayson. Not private businesses. How did this even happen. The town of ridgewood may be covering their own ass. Because it does not seem to fit green acres guide lines. It is a private business NOT a concession, not and non profit!!!!!!This is a growing business that disrupts neighbors quality of life for her PERSONAL gain. How are people so stupid It does NOT bring anything to the town except maybe for a shorter ride for those who want to PAY the big bucks to go. They can still go if it is located elsewhere
Get educated on facts before you comment
I feel for the abutters who lived in the area BEFORE Gwenn’s “aunt irene” sold her property formerly huffmans farm, to the village. If you buy a place in a residential neighborhood, next to a residential dwelling, that is what you expect to remain there, as you SHOULD be protected by zoning. So the town buys it, knocks down the house, builds another soccerfield/mud hole for all the aspiring future ‘pele’s of the world. Now your ‘quiet’ enjoyment is destroyed by the crowds and roads are crowded by cars. So much for the quiet neighborhood. When I grew up here we used to walk by and admire the horses. Who wants to watch a bunch of loud rug rats in a soccer match. don’t we have enough soccer fields here. even citizens PARK, paid for and donated by those whose names are on the plaque would be SHOCKED that their INTENT of a park has been transformed into another MUDHOLE due to all the new residents demanding more soccer fields.
So its a nimby if they buy next to a school and complain, or buy next to the train tracks and complain, or buy next to and EXISTING business and complain. But this COMMERCIAL enterprise belongs elsewhere. and PLEASE change the name to HILLCREST park. Irene got around 10 million, more than market value. So why is it named for her?
Over 11 million and yes change the name and get rid of the business
The Habernickel name is should not be in any park…aka gwens affair. Yikes
This single question still remains unanswered: would objections to all activities now attributed to Healthbarn go away if the exact same activities continued under the auspices of Parks and Rec? The answer can only be NO –the NIMBYs would still want all Healthbarn-like activities to permanently cease.
Instead of engaging in their current course of action, constantly shouting “foul” and offering obfuscated arguments to oust Healthbarn, the NIMBYs should put forth their own detailed vision for the acceptable use of the property. This plan should then be objectively compared to any other existing proposals as well as to current usage. Clearly detailing how each plan would accrue benefits and detriments to the entire Village is only common sense; after all, the park is owned by and should benefit the entire Village, not just a few NIMBYs.
In a perfect world, the decision regarding the future use of Habernickel would be made thusly, and would provide an objective basis for the Council to reach an informed decision regarding the future of both Healthbarn and the park.
Another solution is for the NIMBYs to buy the park… 😉