High-Density Housing Plan For Ridgewood Downtown Approved

RIDGEWODD, N.J. – The Village Council approved sweeping changes Wednesday night that allow multi-family, high-density, affordable housing in the central business district.

Four ordinances created three new zones in the downtown business district. Another ordinance would amend the village code to allow multiple zoned districts.

The council voted 3-2 in favor of the ordinances. Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli, and Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck voted in favor of the changes. Councilman Michael Sedon and Councilwoman Susan Knudsen voted against it.

The changes garnered months of debate and dialogue between officials and residents, many of whom spoke out at council meetings against the changes.

The high-density housing is “too big, too out of scale, too out of character for Ridgewood,” said Dave Sloman of Citizens for a Better Ridgewood. “You are planning a town center with a more urban look and feel, not with a village vibe.”

Sloman and others urged officials to vote the ordinances down and not ruin the village’s unique, small-town feel.

The Planning Board approved the changes in July.

The Village Council was set to vote on the changes Sept. 30, but council members decided to commission more studies on the impact of the resulting projects. Hundreds of people packed the meeting, held up signs, and cheered when the Village Council voted 3-2 to table the matter.