November 30, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 17 Area Ridgewood Council declines to change zoning plan by John Koster In a 5-0 vote, the Ridgewood Village Council decided it would not introduce an ordinance to change the village’s zoning plan to expedite a $750 million expansion and renovation by Valley Hospital. Resident opponents in the audience cheered and embraced when the vote came through on Tuesday, Nov. 22. The decision is expected to be memorialized at a meeting on Nov. 29, but is now seen as binding. Northern Highlands Home and School Association is sponsoring its second annual Top Tech fundraiser. Ticket sales will benefit all Northern Highlands Regional High School students. The hi-tech prizes include a Samsung 55” 3D TV with 3D Blu-ray disc player, Macbook Pro 13” laptop, Nikon D5100 digital SLR camera/18-55 mm lens, Janome computerized sewing machine, iPad2, Kindle Fire, Sony Internet 24” TV, and Monster-Dr. Dre Studio High Performance Head Phones. One book of six tickets is $50, two books of six tickets are $75, and individual tickets are $10. Tickets may be purchased at the welcome desk at Northern Highlands High School in Allendale, with payment in cash or with a personal check. Winners will be announced on Dec. 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the high school. However, ticket holders need not be present to win. For more information, call Jill Webb at (201) 327-2108 or visit www.northernhighlands.com. All proceeds will support Northern Highlands High School’s educational and co-curricular programs. Pictured are Northern Highlands Principal Joe Occhino and students. Top Tech event aids school “I wish to thank the residents of Ridgewood, both for expansion and against expansion, and Valley itself, for cooperating to make the meetings civilized,” Ridgewood Mayor Keith Killion said in the aftermath of the decision. “I’m sure that there are steps that can be taken, but if there is a lawsuit, the Ridgewood Village Council will take that in its stride.” Valley Hospital had proposed the “renewal” project to modernize the hospital and to provide single-patient rooms. Some residents supported the expansion, but those residents who live near the hospital posted signs and packed meetings to oppose what they said was a gratuitous project that would leave the hospital with virtually the same number of beds but would disrupt traffic and negatively impact property values during the construction. The plan as ruled on by the council, would have allowed Valley Hospital to expand to more than one million square feet, and would have placed a 94-foot building 40 feet from the boundary with the Benjamin Franklin Middle School. Valley Hospital cooperates with the Ridgewood school system in offering facilities and staff members to encourage students to take a hands-on interest in medical and medical-support programs. However, residents asserted that the construction would have disrupted their streets for years. The residents criticized the plans for the hospital previously approved by the Ridgewood Planning Board as “spot zoning.” The fact that the approved plans were contrary to Ridgewood’s existing master plan, however, led to a series of hearings before the Ridgewood Village Council, which has the power to change the master plan through an ordinance that would have to be introduced, advertised, and then adopted. The council’s vote last week took the process back to square one, but showed that the council was unanimously opposed to the plans that the planning board had accepted after more than a year of hearings. Council members, who did not wish to be quoted, had predicted a negative vote some weeks before last week’s decision.