Ridgewood February 27, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Planners anticipate new proposal from hospital by John Koster The Ridgewood Planning Board is anticipating a new expansion proposal from Valley Hospital. Ridgewood Village Planner Blaise Brancheau said last week that no new plan had yet been filed with the Ridgewood Planning Board. Although he anticipated the application, and he declined to predict when the first hearing might take place. “It’s expected to be soon, but I’ve heard that before,” Brancheau said last week. An earlier expansion plan for the hospital was opposed by Valley’s neighbors, and was eventually turned down by village officials. A court ruling dismissed the suit filed by several private citizens who opposed the original construction project, thereby paving the way for a new application. All parties to the suit have reportedly agreed that the original master plan amendments recommended by the Ridgewood Planning Board are no longer valid. However, since the Ridgewood Village Council rejected the planning board’s proposed revision of the master plan, the Valley Hospital proposal was back to square one, even before Judge Alexander Carver dismissed the suit by residents with the residents’ approval. The original proposal called for 1.2 million square feet of new hospital building and a 195,000-square-foot parking garage on the hospital site, a project that would have cost an estimated $750 million. The hospital as reconstructed would have added only a few beds, but would have been able to offer single rooms to occupants. Valley Hospital saw this reconstruction as an important way to remain competitive. Residents were concerned that the new construction would have taken many years and would have brought construction traffic, dust, drainage issues, and noise to a neighborhood that is entirely middle-range residential except for the nearby Benjamin Franklin Middle School. Neighbors and other objectors turned out for meeting after meeting as the application process before the planning board took two years. The Ridgewood Village Council temporarily terminated the construction bid when they refused to revise the master plan -- a revision necessary before construction could proceed. At recent council meetings, residents have asked if they had been in one-person or two-person meetings with Valley Hospital proponents. The council members assured the residents that there were no hidden agendas that pertain to Valley Hospital. In a 5-0 vote taken in November 2011, the Ridgewood Village Council decided it would not introduce an ordinance to change the village’s zoning plan to expedite the hospital’s $750 million expansion and renovation On Feb. 14, Ridgewood police responded to a report that a tractor trailer truck had struck the railroad overpass on Franklin Avenue. Police report that the truck driver had disregarded the warning signs posting the height restriction and attempted to drive under the overpass on Frankin Avenue. The driver was issued tickets for disregard of traffic control, delay of traffic, and being an unlicensed com- Village Police Department Report plan. 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 who opposed the expansion plan asserted that the construction would have disrupted their streets for years. Some 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 Council, which has the power to change the master plan through an ordinance that would have to be introduced, advertised, and then adopted. mercial driver. The company which owns the truck, Dynamic Transportation of El Paso, Texas, was issued a ticket for allowing a driver without a commercial license to drive a commercial vehicle. The driver was released pending an appearance in Ridgewood Municipal Court. On the same day, a resident of Valley Cottage, New York, reported that her wallet had been stolen while she was at the emergency room at Valley Hospital. The Ridgewood Detective Bureau is investigating.