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Valley's Master Plan Proposal

The above diagram is an artist's impression of what Valley Hospital might look like in 20 years time if Valley's proposed Master Plan changes are approved. This would be possible because the proposal would give Valley an unprecedented ability to continue to add H-Zone ordinance changes beyond what they are requesting today. In fact, with only a few changes beyond the 21 H-Zone ordinance changes that Valley is currently requesting, Valley's Ridgewood campus could become a university sized hospital.

How can this be?

On May 1st 2007, Chuck Collins, attorney for Valley Hospital stated the following during Valley's presentation to the Village Planning Board:

     "[Purpose of this wording]: As a support of ongoing and favorable zoning ordinance amendments over the years.”

The above statement provides an insight into Valley's long term purpose for changing the Master Plan. While publicly stating that the proposed Master Plan changes are needed to support the “Renewal”, the legal effect of the changes would allow Valley a much easier path to amending (relaxing) zoning ordinances in the future; beyond the 21 H-zone ordinance changes they are requesting today.

A legal opinion on Valley’s proposed Master Plan changes stated:  “If Valley’s proposal is adopted, it would provide an effective ‘blank check’ to Valley to go on expanding forever!“

Listed below are the details of Valley’s proposed Master Plan changes and the objections to them:

Valley Proposed Changes (1): “Recognize that Hospitals are large, dynamic facilities that are prone to change as the technology that supports them changes over time.”

Objectionable:

·         All facilities change over time

·         It would be bizarre to pick one land use and write it into a Master Plan and acknowledge that it should be allowed to change over time without the ordinary and necessary evaluation as to the impact of that change

·         Provide an effective “blank check” to the hospital, recognizing that they should have a superior right to change and expect land use regulations to follow them

Valley Proposed Changes (2): "Recognize that the hospital located in the village of Ridgewood has a significant impact on the health, safety, welfare and economic development of the community by virtue of its function and need for growth and expansion.”

Objectionable:

·         Improper to write into the Master Plan that a single use has a need for indefinite growth and expansion

·         Would require ongoing zoning ordinance changes to follow the Master Plan, in support of unlimited and continuous growth

Valley Proposed Changes (3): "Recognize the need to provide for change in hospital development within the institution itself, and to allow the community to anticipate and plan for the impact of such change.""

Objectionable:

·         Does not make sense as a statement

·         Master Plan should not require the community to anticipate, foresee and plan for the impact of possible hospital changes;

·         The community members should not be required to look at what Valley is doing and plan how to “get out of Valley' s way”.

Valley Proposed Changes (4):  "Encourage and facilitate long-range planning for health care facilities due to the unique impact the expansion of such facilities has on the community."

Objectionable:

·         Provides the hospital with a special prerogative to be allowed to plan for future expansion many years into the future, regardless of the circumstance

·         The hospital should be subject to the same scrutiny that any other application would be subject to

Valley Proposed Changes (5): "Provide for the appropriate and orderly development of hospital property to service the hospital health care needs....“

“Acknowledge that the existing hospital in the Village was permitted within a residential neighborhood…”

Objectionable:

·         Seeks to give a special status and recognition to Valley Hospital and exempt it from scrutiny as to what effect its actions might have

·         Attempts to reduce the importance of the residential neighborhood in comparison with the Hospital

Valley Proposed Changes (6): "Encourage and facilitate long-range planning for health care facilities due to the unique impact the expansion of such facilities has on the community."

"Recognize that the hospital located in the village of Ridgewood has a significant impact on the health, safety, welfare and economic development of the community by virtue of its function and need for growth and expansion.”

Objectionable:

·         Putting “expansion” into the Master Plan would give a significant boost to any later effort to physically expand the area of the H-Zone and its facilities

If the Hospital version is adopted in the Master Plan

The ability of Ridgewood to reject future H-Zoning ordinance changes will be weakened:

·         The Master Plan would support ongoing revisions to the H-Zoning Ordinances

·         A petitioner would have a greater chance of having unsuccessful ruling overturned by a court