VILLAGE COUNCIL FINAL VOTE ON HIGH DENSITY HOUSING
THIS WEDNESDAY, 3/23. 7:30pm at RHS CAMPUS CENTER
RIDGEWOOD NEEDS YOU… ONE LAST TIME!
Dear Neighbors,
This Wednesday night, 3/23, our Village Council, is set to vote on High Density Housing that is TOO BIG, TOO DENSE, TOO OUT OF SCALE and TOO OUT OF CHARACTER with the Village we love. Check out this video to see what the “new density” looks like: YouTube High Density Video.
All politicking, threats of lawsuits, and municipal studies and impacts aside… this comes down to a matter of “Vision” for Ridgewood. And right now, there is a huge disconnect between the vision for Ridgewood’s future held by the current powerholders in our Village Council and Planning Board, and that of a large majority of Residents. These powerholders see downtown Ridgewood as bigger scale, taller, denser, and much more bustling. They are planning a town center with a more urban look and feel, not a small town character. I don’t really know what is influencing them, as virtually every Resident CBR has spoken with – 1,000s of them over the past 4 years – wants Ridgewood to maintain its small town feel. Residents want to give their children and grandchildren the same wonderful town we enjoy. When we want more city, we know that Manhattan is a short drive away. Why doesn’t our Council majority feel the same?
Citizens for a Better Ridgewood (CBR) is for fitting and positive development. We are only naysayers to bad representation and bad planning. CBR believes that we can promote fitting development in Ridgewood by lowering the density of the current ordinances from 35 to 25 units per acre, which is already a 100% increase over current zoning, yet has solid precedent in our Village. Additionally, our planners must also limit Floor Area Ratio (e.g. building size), and enforce proper street setbacks and parking to make new buildings work. We feel it is our Council and Planning Board’s job to increase the quality of life value of our entire town, not just the property values of some developers.
Wednesday night is our last chance to try and stop this. Oddly, all three of the Council Members who support this over-scaled development are not running again. Why? We can only guess. But what we do know, is that in approving such unprecedented development as a Council Majority, but a Ridgewood Minority, they leave the mess to the next Council and to every Resident of this town… and to our children. Again, bad and unfair planning.
I know it’s a huge pain, and not a whole lot of fun… But Ridgewood needs you one more time. Please come, show your support for fitting development in OUR downtown. Tell the Council to VOTE NO to the current High Density Ordinances and let the new Council, coming in this summer help get it right.
RIDGEWOOD NEEDS YOU THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT… 7:30 at RHS! A failure to plan, is a plan to fail.
Thanks for your support over these four long years.
Dave Slomin
CBR Supporter
Ridgewood Resident (and father of 4th Generation Ridgewood Kids)
Attend and watch in person while the 3 most horrible Ridgewood residents pretend to listen but vote our town in to the ground!! It will be so fun.
Paul will keep his mouth half open and pretend to listen. Gwenn will think with her head (you’ll know by all of the steam), Albert will feign offense at all of the innuendo and mud slinging and incivility all while being he most vile, nasty person to grace the Dias.
Mr. Slomin, you were a major force behind getting updated reports to thoroughly analyze the impacts of the multi-family developments, the reports concluded that there are going to no material impacts! You and the CBR need to stop filibustering and stop throwing around the rhetoric that “A failure to plan, is a plan to fail”. 35 units per acre will result in +/- 250 units spread around the perimeter of the downtown, that’s not going to change Ridgewood into a city. Its going to bring life to the downtown. The difference between 35 units per acre and 25 units per acre is only +/- 70 units, that’s it! The CBR is arguing that Ridgewood will turn into Hackensack and Englewood, that’s just pure fear mongering. There are numerous projects in both those towns that exceed 100 units per acre. A newly built rental building in Hackensack has a density 200 units per acre.
11:54 – please don’t insult our collective intelligence. No material impact? Really? These studies were hastily arranged at best and are not at all credible. If 70 units is so immaterial, why can’t you and your developer friends and family live without them? Thanks Dave Slomin for continuing to stand up to these special interest groups.
Hurrah, Anon 11:54! I, too, am fed up with Mr. Slomin and his Merry Band of Whiners.
11.54. Please decamp to Hackensack or Englewood and report in occasionally as to how that worked out vs sleepy well loved and livable VILLAGE Of Ridgewood,
1:18….clearly, you are not of the great generation where trust, honor and integrity meant something. You defend people who lie and care more about doing favors for a developer who plans to develop on one of the worst locations for high density housing because he asked. People like Slomin who stand on the right side of things with no selfish motive is where I want to be. Instead of ass-kissing to sell outs.
Rurik, they could and should develop their properties now. But they won’t and think our master plan should be changed to increase their profit margin.
1:52: I don’t want to live in a big city, so I’ll stay in Ridgewood. I was stating that even with the zoning change, comparing Ridgewood to Englewood or Hackensack is ridiculous.
Hurrah!! I, too, am fed up with Rurik and his crotchety band of seniors.
Either they’re being “had” in some senior scam that we have not been privy to, or truly have lost all control of their faculties.
Unsure. Ask Rurik if he thinks he will be at the ribbon cutting for the new valley in 10 years? Nah. Or even the completion of the citification of the town? Nah there too.
I think in his honor- since he likes development so much, we should plow over his beloved kettle ponds for a dog park. That way, they can be filled with as much Sh** as he is.
It won’t matter what anyone thinks. The valley result tells us all that matters is what the judge thinks. I hope he doesn’t think 50 acre is the right number or Slomin and Co will have cut off their nose to spite their face.
Village…that’s pretty funny that you can still refer to this dump as a “village” . Been there, done that.
Rurick and his cronies are the low point of Village life. We will get past them. Remember, however, he is not the agitator here. If you read his posts, or listen to him in person, you ask yourself if he long ago lost his full faculties. He’s a pawn used by Saraceco and the other developers. They will laugh all the way to bank on the backs of the Hallaby’s and Griffins of Ridgewood who simply have lost their way.
Remember to show up tonight and voice your opinion on the great sell-out!!!