Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • November 20, 2013 Ridgewood Planners approve strip mall on Route 17 South by John Koster The long-proposed development of a special tract along Route 17 South has been approved by the Ridgewood Planning Board and will probably be completed some time in 2014. The new mall will receive shopper traffic from Route 17 and not from roads through residential neighborhoods. The plan required no variances, since the lot between Paramus Road and the highway was approved for com- mercial development when the zoning standards were adopted a few years ago. Some residents had objected to the fact that the buildings would interfere with their view, but the fact that the developer had owned the land for three decades and the need for tax ratables were also considered. The 15,300-square-foot site will be able to accommo- date a maximum of seven retail tenants and will have 79 parking spaces. The developer, Malvern Burroughs, through his pro- fessional experts, agreed to provide an eight-foot tall fence atop a four-foot berm to screen the mall from resi- dential neighbors. Trash and recycling receptacles will be located on the extreme north side of the site, as far as pos- sible from residential property lines. No tenants were registered at press time, but Verizon and Starbucks were seen as possible occupants. The style of the mall will be Tudor, with shade trees and evergreens used as additional screening. An artist’s rendering of the proposed strip mall Village police investigate vandalism The Ridgewood Police Department has reported a number of instances of vandalism involving parked cars. On Nov. 7, a Ridgewood High School student reported that his car had been vandalized while it was parked in the area provided to students by the First Presbyte- rian Church parking lot under contract with the school system. On Nov. 8, a resident of Alpine Terrace reported that vehicles in the driveway had been vandalized. The following day, a John Street resident reported that his car window had been broken and a radar detector was stolen from inside the car. On Nov. 6, a Concord Road resident reported that his garage had been entered in the past and a bicycle was stolen. All these matters are under investigation by the Ridgewood Police Detective Bureau. J. KOSTER