February 27, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 7 Area Village anticipates 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suit have reportedly agreed that the original master plan amendments recommended by the Ridgewood Planning Board are no longer valid.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 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. The Bergen County Y’s Early Learning program will be relocating from the YMCA-YWCA Building on Oak Street in Ridgewood to the YMCA’s Early Learning Center at 98 Pleasant Avenue in Upper Saddle River. The Upper Saddle River site is a fully licensed New Jersey Early Learning Center in a secure location with access only by keypad to parents, staffers, and other members who are registered. The Ridgewood YMCA-YWCA is open access during operation hours and some parents expressed concern about the safety of the children follow- Program for children plans move to Upper Saddle River ing recent shootings, notably at Newtown, Connecticut. However, no incidents in the immediate area led to the decision to move the program. The move from the present Ridgewood site to the Upper Saddle River site is anticipated in September. A prior plan would have moved the program this month, but Y officials opted to postpone the change, deferring to parents who were concerned about moving locations in the midst of the school year. Several measures have already been taken to bolster security at the Y’s current location. The Y’s Early Learning program has been in operation for over 50 years, and the Y is currently Bergen County’s largest child care provider. The program will continue to feature a weekly class called Play With Me for children from 12 months through two-and-one-half years accompanied by an adult. The classes for children from two-and-a-half years old to four years old will take place on weekdays from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. with an extended day option.