Patience Runs Thin On Schedler Property Park Development In Ridgewood

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Patience is wearing thin for the long-awaited groundbreaking of the Zabriskie-Schedler property rehabilitation project, even as questions still remain and adjustments to the proposed site plan are requested.

"When (the village) bought this property," Ridgewood Councilman Evan Weitz said, "I did not have any children. It sounds now that, best-case scenario, I am going to have at least one child in high school before we can even get a shovel in the ground."

In fact, the property was purchased in 2009 for $2.7 million, and though there was debate among council members over what exactly the village's initial plans and reasons for perceived inaction since then were, Councilwoman Siobhan Winograd agreed that this needs to move forward.

"No matter what the intentions (of previous councils) were, time doesn't lie and the calendar doesn't lie," Winograd said. "The reality is this project has taken too long."

While the desire exists to move the project along "as quickly and expeditiously as possible," Council President Paul Vagianos said, he and others listed several outstanding questions, particularly in regard to the proposed field, which is, as of now, smaller than the standard pitch size.

Vagianos asked village engineer Chris Rutishauser, who presented a project update at Wednesday's council meeting, to spatially lay out in a rough sketch how a full-sized multipurpose (soccer, lacrosse and football) field would fit on the existing site plan for the property. He asked Rutishauser to prepare such drawings to present by either the next work session or the one afterward.

"I want to explore putting a full-sized field here," Vagianos said, echoing the sentiments of his colleagues on the dais. "If we have an opportunity here that we don't look at carefully, we may miss it. We are exceptionally low on field space that we need."

Rutishauser said he thinks the field will fit, yet he would need to adjust the design of the parking arrangement, as it would protrude into that.

Not everyone was in support of changing the field size. Councilwoman Lorraine Reynolds recalled that the proposed field dimensions that exist now were the decision of an ad hoc committee formed in 2017 to propose a development plan.

"This was a hard-fought agreement," Reynolds said of the group consisting of several community members and leaders. "So, in my opinion, this is the field size that should stay."

Contrarily, Councilwoman Winograd agreed that the village should look into putting a regulation field in that space, as this provides an opportunity to put a field on high, dry land that is safer in flooding situations, a number of which have occurred in years since the committee.

"I do think the committee did a good job," Winograd said. "But I also think we can cherry pick what we want to honor."

Winograd additionally advocated for installing turf there, which, she said, requires less water and intensive maintenance.

However, the turf idea also was not unanimously endorsed by the council, nor was it recommended by the State Historic Preservation Office, which is the entity the village is seeking approval of the site plan from, as the property was listed as a historical resource and therefore must be preserved.

If a turf field was favorably voted upon by the council to be incorporated into plans, then the village would need to request an authorization from a separate body called the Historic Sites Council, which could, engineer Rutishauser said, "delay the process."

"Candidly speaking, I might prefer turf," Councilman Weitz said. "But if it adds another year or two to the process, let's just put grass down. We can't let perfect be the enemy of the good."

Rutishauser said the engineering department's goal when the project was taken on was to produce a site plan that SHPO could "approve administratively," thereby eliminating the need for a Historic Sites Council hearing and quickening the process.

In the past year and a half, he said that he feels his department has done so, though he wants to produce something that the village and council are satisfied with.

"We would like to achieve success at this location," Rutishauser said. "That is our call."

He said he would "get to work" on a plan to present to SHPO that would, hopefully, satisfy all parties involved, and that he would inquire into the field size and a few other items that were raised by council members, such as, for example, the types and number of tree species that were to be planted.

When the village and SHPO approve the site plans, the project can go out to bid, Rutishauser said.

"I don't want to keep going back and forth, and discussing this for the next two or three years, and then another generation of kids does not get to enjoy this place," Weitz said of the proposed park, which is set to include a walking path and playground. "I like the plan, and I feel very strongly that we just need to build it already. We have been talking about this for 13 years."