Valley Hospital project planner speaks at Ridgewood Planning Board hearing
Thursday July 18, 2013, 3:55 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
The Valley Hospital’s application to amend the Ridgewood master plan has addressed the key issues raised by the Village Council in 2011, according to project planner Joseph Burgis, but several Planning Board members still voiced concerns over evidence presented through the course of the past three and a half months.
Making his second appearance for the hospital’s public hearing, Burgis wrapped up more than 40 hours of applicant testimony and nearly 2,000 pages of exhibits and meeting transcripts on behalf of the healthcare facility at North Van Dien and Linwood avenues. Valley has applied to amend the 2010 master plan amendment, a change that, if approved, will allow the hospital to expand its total floor area to 995,000 square feet, excluding parking structures.
All those hours, all those “experts”, all those pages, all those concerns to address and Valley has yet to even attempt to answer the question “How is this expansion good for Ridgewood?”
Primarily because in both the short and long run it is not. Instead of trying to hit a “home run” and keep up with Hackensack at the very high expense to the residents of Ridgewood, maybe they should come up with a plan that makes a little more sense.
I wonder if this “expert” that gave the summation the other night was the one who did the same for the hospital in Princeton. You know, the plan that got rejected.
yes, the expert said something like, “look, see, the princeton hospital got rejected and moved out of town…”
To Plainsboro. Right next door. Where they have plenty of space. And….the hospital and the town agreed it was the right thing to do. Now they have a beautiful hospital, got everything they wanted/needed, and didn’t bother anybody. And it’s still close to Princeton.
I’ve been espousing this as the right thing to do for Valley for several years. The Princeton hospital is a perfect example of a collaboration between the town and the hospital, and is a win-win for everyone.
Best,
Thed.
I heard the same thing. I’m trying to figure out why the man even brought it up.
His intent was to say “hey Ridgewood, you might be worse off I’f Valley does not expand because the diner across the street and the florist across the street will go out of business”. The
Problem with that theory is that there is no diner or florist within a half mile from Valley. If they don’t get approval to expand their neighbors will be thrilled, no construction noise, no massive building in their faces and no long term destruction of the neighborhood.
Not to mention that 95 per cent of the people that work there, outside of maybe some doctors,nurses,and other professionals, rarely, if ever, use the CBD for anything. It’s collect a paycheck and get out of town. Why anyone would think that would change is beyond me.
Why is the notion that Valley could be forced to move out of town “unthinkable”, as the planner put it? Only a very small percentage of Valley patients and employees actually live in Ridgewood. Regardless of fine doctors one might have, is good medical only possible when a hospital is across the street? Why does Valley keep pushing for residence here, on a tiny 15 acre plot, in spite of the many hoops it has to jump through to make the square peg fit?
Famine, genocide, murder–these things are “unthinkable”….not the corporate/business travails of a wannabe regional medical center!
Happened to be traveling up route 1 today. Saw the new Princeton Hospital. Right off the major highway! Not stuck on a small plot of land surrounded by single family homes with single lane road surrounding it. Seemed perfectly placed for me lots of empty land round it for expansion if needed. I
BINGO !!! Ridgewood is already paying for some really botched management decisions by Valley. Why that should continue is beyond belief, especially when one considers the overall contribution to the town.
The truth is it’ s already too big for the land that it currently occupies.