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Past News Stories

PVH 128 bed licence granted

The bankruptcy judge has stopped Valley’s bid to “buy and bury” the 128 bed license at Pascack Valley Hospital. Valley has not yet said if they will appeal. The next stage is the certificate of need hearing in Westwood on July 8.

Draft Traffic reports available

Click to see the draft traffic report that Planning Board viewed at its last meeting and the public could not see. Traffic the Studies

CRR supports the opening of Pascack Valley’s 128 beds

Click the link to see why. PressRelease

Valley admits it needs higher patent turnover to pay for “Renewal”

TIn an article in the Bergen Record April 26, 2009 Valley’s CFO Richard Keenan stated that “while Valley Hospital’s survival would not be threatened by the proposed reopening [of PVH], [Valley] would lose half of the caseload it gained as a result of Pascack Valley’s closure and would reduce income from operations by about $12 million a year. A reduction in operating income of that magnitude would force us to modify or delay essential capital projects [RENEWAL] we had planned."

From the introduction of the “Case for Renewal” in September 27, 2006, Valley has continually stated that only 3 more beds would cause little increase in patients, visitors or traffic. Keenan’s statements contradict this claim as he admits for the first time that Valley needed to increase revenue, through patient turnover to pay for the Renewal.

It is also interesting that the traffic study was conveniently undertaken one year after the “Renewal” presentation, after Pascack Valley had closed and had traffic increased. This means that the traffic study is flawed as it was calculated on the wrong baseline.

STOP PRESS - Public Hearing to begin on June 2nd at BF Middle School

The planning board has announced that it intends to hold public hearings about the proposed changes to the Master Plan on June 2nd and 8th at BF Middle School. The board also plans to make the draft wording avialble to the public by May 19th.

Village Releases a Status Report on the Valley Hospital Project

On April 13, a report was posted on the Village website on the status of the Valley Hopsital Project. The report outlines the opportunities that the public will have to comment in the future process. http://www.ridgewoodnj.net/main.cfm?ArticleID=665

Planning Board to meet to finalize DRAFT ammendments, before public hearing

The Planning Board will be devoting the entire agenda of its regularly scheduled meeting on April 21st to the finalization of the DRAFT amendment to the Master Plan concerning the H-Zone. The meeting will be held in Village Hall at 7:30pm. Traffic issues and the timetable & procedures for the public hearing will also be discussed.  As of April 7, the Board had not received word from the County about its position regarding the proposed intersection upgrade to Linwood and Van Dien Ave. At the invitation of the Planning Board chairman, CRR has provided the board with comprehensive recommendations on how the public hearings should be conducted.

County proposal for upgrading Linwood Ave and Van Dien Ave

The draft plan that is being considered would add a right-turn lane from Van Dien Ave into Linwood East and a right-turn lane from Linwood West into North Van Dien Ave. HosptialIntersectionMarch302009Design.pdf

Public Meeting on Proposed Master Plan changes – sometime in May, 2009

The Planning Board is still working through the final details of the draft Master Plan amendments and has tentatively scheduled April 21st to discuss and possibly approve the draft. This means that the public hearings will start in May. At the public hearings residents will be able to make comments to the Planning Board about their proposal. Factoid: The Draft proposal is for the proposed Master Plan changes only and a new process will have to be started to consider proposed changes to H-Zone ordinances which contain the specific regulations that will govern the H-Zone.

Planning Board meeting -  Tuesday March 17th 2009

More details of the draft Master Plan amendment were discussed. It was also revealed that the Village and valley Hospital met with the County to request the Linwood Ave and Van Dien Ave intersection be upgraded. The plan would not involve the taking of any residential land for widened lanes only from the Valley Hospital property.

Planning Board meeting -  Monday Feb 23th, 2009

The Planning Board did ask raise some concerns about the significant issues, however, many remain resolved.

Planning Board meeting -  Monday Jan 12th, 2009

For most of the session, the Village Planner outlined a very strong case for including strong Floor-to-Area-Ratio (FAR) limits in any revised H-Zone ordinances.  In earlier testimony, Valley Hospital had requested that all FAR restrictions be removed! Blais however, advised the Planning Board that they should consider including strong FAR standards that cover specific uses at the Hospital, like parking garages and outpatient services.

Why this is important? Strong FAR limits would prevent Valley from suddenly converting the hospital into a predominantly outpatient center and so attract two or even three times the current amount of traffic. CRR supports the use of strong FAR ordinances.

CRR has also released a detailed document for consideration by the planning board titled “Minimum requirements for gaining community support for changes to the H-Zone”. It is the result of many, many discussions held with residents of the Village.

Traffic is to be disscussed  -  Monday Jan 26th

It is expected that the Village's traffic consultant (Mr. Staiger) will present his final report at the special Planning Board meeting on Monday January 26th. Concerned Residents of Ridgewood made a number of recommendations to him in Octobter, based upon public feedback after his last presentation.

Valley comes clean with the project timeline for Phase 1

During the last week of September, Valley Hospital sent out an information card to many homes in Ridgewood. The cards finally made clear, to the wider public, the details of just Phase I of their proposal. The proposed construction of Phase 1 would take 6 years. One year for the Linwood Ave garage, then 3.5 years to construct the North Building (on the corner of Van Dien and the BF middle school driveway) and finally 1.5 years to remove the Phillips Building.

More Views from Residents 

All The following letters appeared in the Ridgewood News on May 16: letters.

Planning Board meeting review Sept 22, 2008

Click this link to see a review of the last Planning Board meeting.

Summer is over, but the battle to Preserve Ridgewood Village hots up!

With summer over, the Planning Board will re-commence discussing the Valley hospital proposal to change the Master Plan and twenty two H-Zone ordinances. No date has yet been set for the next meeting, but it is believed that it will occur in October 2008

Three new Council members sworn in

On July 1st, three new Council members were sworn into Village Council for a term of four years. Anne Zusy, Keith Killion and Paul Aronsohn were elected thanks to your votes.

David Pfund was re-elected as Mayor, Keith Killion is the new Deputy Mayor and Anne Zusy will take a place on the Planning Board. Pat Mancuso is the 5th member of Council and is up for re-election, along with Mayor Pfund in 2010.

Next Planning Board meeting?

t has not yet been announced when the Planning Board will next discuss the Valley proposal. The next Planning Board meeting is scheduled for July 15th, but the agenda has not been published.

Concerned Residents decide to withdraw formal H-Zone alternative proposal

On January 22nd 2008, CRR presented the Village with an alternative to Valley’s application for the H-Zone.

The counter-proposal was submitted to ensure that the Planning Board and Village Council consider the massive impact Valley’s proposals will have on the Village. On Tuesday June 10th, CRR withdrew its proposal as it has not succeeded in getting the Planning Board to objectively consider the land use impacts.  The CRR proposal has merely served as a convenient vehicle for the Planning Board and their attorney to try and kill CRR's effort financially.  The CRR proposal has attracted charges approaching $10,000 at the time of this letter.  Some of these charges pre-date our application date in January and many relate to the Planning Board’s lawyer’s time spent responding to any opposition to Valley’s proposal.  

CRR will continue however, to make submissions to the Planning Board professionals on matters that concern our Village.

Summary of the Planning Board meeting on May 27th 2008

The agenda was taken up with discussion over the revised wording in the H-Zone section of the Village Master Plan. The draft wording was prepared by the Village Planner on behalf of the Planning Board.

The important difference between the wording of the H-Zone section in the current Master Plan and the wording in the new draft was that the proposed draft adds specific details about the H-Zone ordinances.

While the revisions that were discussed were only a draft, it became clear at the meeting that the Planning Board has ignored any discussion on the adverse effects that the expansion would have on the Village. Instead the Board is focusing on approving the ordinance changes requested by Valley; one-by-one. Ultimately, it is the Village Council who has jurisdiction over any H-Zone ordinance changes. We need to put pressure on the Planning Board to get them back on track!

No date has been set for another Planning Board meeting.

The Village has spoken!

All three candidates that CRR endorsed were elected. Paul Aronshn, Keith Killion and Anne Zusy. CRR congratulates the successful candidates and looks forward to the results of their leadership within the council.

Resident Urges alternatives to the Valley expansion

The following article appeared in the Ridgewood News May 9, 2008. Valley should consider alternatives.

Summary of Planning Board Meeting May 6, 2008

Please cleck on the following link for a summary of the meeting. May 6 Plan Board Meeting Summary.

CRR circulates a Position Paper on the Valley Issue to Council Candidates

Concerned Residents of Ridgewood have prepared a position paper on the proposed Valley Hospital expansion which they are asking the candidates to respond to. Click here to see the Position Paper

Valley proves that most Ridgewood Residents DO NOT support the “Renewal”

Over the last two weeks, Valley once again dipped into its considerable “war chest” and sent out glossy “sign-up cards” to Ridgewood residents. The tri-fold cards read, “Have You Expressed Your support for the Valley Renewal – there is still time?”  A large Valley advertisement also appeared in the Ridgewood News on the same theme and was timed by Valley to coincide with the card mailing. Another $20,000+ not spent on healthcare!  

Despite the money spent, Valley says that it only has 1,200 replies. As there are 24,936 residents and 8,802 households in Ridgewood, and a number of the replies were from the same household, this represents only 5% to 10% of residents and households.

Thank you Valley for proving that over 90% of Ridgewood DOES NOT SUPPORT the “Renewal” because these people deliberately decided not send back the card or did not feel strongly enough in favor of the "Renewal" to send back the card.

The Village waits for the Planning Board Professionals Report

The next step in the process is for the Planning Board professionals to report back to the Planning Board about their findings, after studying both the Valley and CRR proposals. It is expected that meeting date for this presentation will be decided at the April 1st meeting of the Planning Board.

Concerned Residents presented to the Planning Board Public Meeting - March 18th, 7:30pm GW Middle School

The Concerned Residents of Ridgewood present their response to Valley Hospital's presentation that was delivered on Mar 10th. CRR used the opportunity to explain why the board should adopt the CRR Master Plan and Ordinance changes. The meeting was well attended and the CRR was enthusiastically received by the audience. CRRPresentationMar182008.pdf

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Sign Ordinance defeated

The proposed sign ordinance that would have limited election signs and "signs of public interest" was defeated at Council. According to the Ridgewood Times, this ordinance was originally targeted at the STOPVALLEY Expansion signs.

Valley sends out more appeals to residents

Valley sent out more letters from Audrey Meyers to thousands of people throughout NJ and beyond, asking them to sign and return an enclosed card of support for the "Renewal". This is a campaign by the hospital to by-pass the public hearing procedures.

Valley continues to publicly ignore Residents concerns - Feb 10, 2008

In a statement in the Record Feb 10, Gail Callandrillo, the Valley’s vice president of planning is quoted as saying: "There is no 'Plan B.’ … The goal for the coming year is village approval".  In the same article it states that only Valley and Hackensack are thriving in the face of the recent hospital closings and that Valley and Englewood are bidding for Pascack Valley which will be auctioned on March 4th.

Sign Ordinance to be debated on Wednesday as the Council meeting - Feb 10, 2008

It is expected that the proposed sign Ordinance #3091 will be debated at the Council Meeting on Wednesday 13th. Those who have looked at it all agree that it would be unconstitutional to apply it to the STOP THE VALLEY EXPANSION signs as its enforcement would not holdup if challenged in court.

Escrow paid for the Concerned Residents Application to alter the Master Plan to protect Village - Feb 10, 2008

The required escrow for the Concerned Residents formal application to the Village Council and Planning Board was lodged last week. The Planning Board have not yet set a date for reviewing the proposal. Valley is in the process of making a formal submission of their own.

Valley Desperate to find support (yet not willing to compromise) - Feb 10, 2008

Last week Valley sent out emails to people on its lists of patients and Doctors. The text read in part, “…over the next few days we will be mailing Renewal Support Cards to every household in Ridgewood. …additional card is also enclosed for a spouse, friend or neighbor… your peers, patients, neighbors and friends… “.  CRR reminds its members to dispose of any junk mail you receive responsibly.

60 more affordable Housing Units needed if Valley gets “Renewal” approved - Feb 10, 2008

If the Valley "Renewal" is approved it would require Ridgewood to build 60 more units of affordable housing!  Where would this go? "I haven't got the foggiest idea" says Chris Rutishauser (Village Planning Board Engineer). - Jan 25 Ridgewood News

60 Is the Village by-passing its own processes? Oct 3 2007

The Village Manager to engage in negotiations with Valley over the purchase of the Park and Ride.

Question Posed by Residents to Valley (via StopValley Website Aug 2007)