Vision Ridgewood Final Draft

FINAL DRAFT & 10/20 PUBLIC HEARING

We are pleased to announce that the Final Draft of the Village of Ridgewood Master Plan – Section 1: Our Village, Our Future is complete. Click here to download the Final Draft from the Village website. A Planning Board public hearing on its adoption will be held on October 20.

Back in March, just before the pandemic took hold of the country, we posted a link to the Draft of the Village of Ridgewood Master Plan – Section 1: Our Village, Our Future (dated March 17, 2020) for residents, businessowners, and other interested parties to review and provide feedback. We created a Comment Form to collect feedback. We extended the review period several times, added an alternate method of commenting to encourage more feedback, and then closed the review period on June 30.

On July 7, we presented the Draft to the Planning Board, summarized the nature of the comments received, and discussed next steps, the main one being the production of the Final Draft.

What parts of the report changed between the Draft and the Final Draft?

There were two substantive changes made to the Draft, based on comments received, that are now reflected in the Final Draft. The first is the addition to Chapter 1.7 Trends (see pages 50-51) of a discussion about Covid-19 and its potential impacts on the Village. It highlights of some of the Village's responses to the pandemic and recommends several actions to consider into the future as the Master Plan elements are being put together.

The second is the addition to Chapter 1.5 Structure of the Village (see page 28) of a discussion about architectural styles in Downtown. This section previously had not included much discussion about architecture, which is an important quality that contributes to the "small town/village feel."

What was the nature of the comments received on the Draft?

Click here to view a PDF that contains all of the responses to the open-ended questions received through the Comment Form. A number of comments were focused recommendations or ideas involving topics such as trees, natural resources, and downtown development, which would be appropriate to consider during the next stage of the process, when the various Master Plan elements are put together.