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Is the Village by-passing their own process?

During Valley's presentation, Valley Management stated that the very first action that they would take after the "Renewal" is approved would be to find an alternative parking location for Valley employees for use during the construction.

There is currently no formal "Renewal" proposal before the Planning Board or the Village Council.

Despite repeated requests to the Village by CRR to publicly release the steps that would be required for the "Renewal" proposal to become formal, the Village has so far remained silent.

However, the Concerned Citizens believe that it might look something like this:

1. The Village Planning Board professionals will develop a formal recommendation for changes to the Master Plan

2. The Planning Board will workup the final wording of the Master Plan in workshop sessions.  

3. The Planning Board recommends changes to Mayor & Council that the changes be adopted.

4. The Village Council goes through the process of introduction, comments, and then may adopt the Master Plan revisions.

5. Once adopted the applicant (Valley) would make a formal proposal to the Planning Board for ordinance changes.

6. The Planning Board professionals will make recommendations on these proposals.

7. The Planning Board will present any recommended changes to the H-Zone ordinances to the Village Council for adoption.

8. The Village Council will formally adopt the changes to the ordinances.

This means that the Village Council should only act if the Valley Proposals are approved by the Planning Board.

What right then has the Village Manager to engage in negotiations with Valley over the purchase of the Park and Ride and even asking them for "sweateners" by asking Valley to also fund the salt bin for the village - in return for what? Many are asking - is this "Pay for Play"?

The transcript of the Village work session is below:

A REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD, HELD IN THE SYDNEY V. STOLDT, JR. COURT ROOM OF THE RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE HALL, 131 NORTH MAPLE AVENUE, RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2007 AT 7:30 P.M.

3.         DISCUSSION ITEMS

E.        PARKING DECK AT ROUTE 17 PARK AND RIDE

Mr. Ten Hoeve stated that the Park & Ride on Route 17 is becoming increasingly congested with commuter parking.  He said that if the Planning Board approves the construction at Valley Hospital, the hospital will need off-site parking for their employees.  Mr. Ten Hoeve asked the hospital if they would be willing to fund the cost of a one-story parking deck at this location and they are willing to discuss this proposal with the permission of the Village and the DOT.  Valley Hospital also conceptually agreed to construct a second salt bin on the State maintenance yard property for exclusive use by the Village.  This will save the Village money since the Village is currently taking bids to reconstruct the existing salt bin at the Street Department and it will also free up some badly needed space at that facility.   This would also allow the Village to remove the existing salt bin from its location directly on top of the gas and diesel tanks which is somewhat dangerous.

Mr. Ten Hoeve asked if the Council thinks it is worthwhile pursuing these discussions.  Councilwoman Wiest stated that this a positive effort to promote the use of public transit.  Councilman Harlow asked if the idea to cover the entire parking lot had ever been considered and Mr. Ten Hoeve said that it had not.  He said that there are a lot of Ridgewood residents that can’t get a space here because the lot must be open to everyone.  If there was support from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to build a larger facility, more spaces could be given to Village residents.  Mr. Ten Hoeve said that DOT would like to see 200 to 300 additional spaces, however, he is not sure whether they would fund it.  Councilman Harlow said that they are only considering 154 additional spaces for Lot A or 218 spaces total and he asked if this was really enough.  Mr. Ten Hoeve explained that this is the number of spaces that could be gained without disturbing the neighborhood.

Mayor Pfund stated that this proposal should be explored with DOT conceptually to see if it is a possibility.  He asked whether Valley Hospital would still be interested in this project if they do not go forward with their expansion plan.  He said that it must be made clear that the Valley Hospital application is separate and distinct and there is no quid pro quo.  Mr. Ten Hoeve stated that the hospital indicated they would be interested in a shuttle to the hospital rather than having cars go back and forth.  Councilman Harlow thought that it was a good idea to transport people back and forth from Valley Hospital to the parking lot during peak traffic hours.

Councilwoman Wiest said that she is happy to see that this proposed deck does not cover the entire lot.  Mayor Pfund stated that the next step will be to consult with NJDOT.