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Ridgewood lays out plan to resolve decades‑old Green Acres diversion; public hearing set
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Summary
Ridgewood officials on Sept. 3 presented a plan to clear a decades‑old Green Acres diversion related to a 1983 removal of a 0.378‑acre park parcel on South Broad Street and scheduled a public hearing for the following Tuesday to finalize appraisals and replacement land.
Council members and staff on Sept. 3 walked the public through a long‑running effort to clear a Green Acres diversion that has prevented Ridgewood from receiving state park and open‑space grants for more than a decade.
Council member Siobhan Winograd and Council member Frank Mortimer described how a 0.378‑acre parcel on South Broad Street was removed from recreational use in 1983 and remained unrecorded as parkland until a Recreational and Open Space Inventory (RASI) review in 2011 exposed the discrepancy. NJ Green Acres rules require municipal approval and replacement land for any non‑recreational use or disposal of encumbered land; unresolved diversions render municipalities ineligible for Green Acres funding.
Officials said Ridgewood has been ineligible for Green Acres funding since about 2012 and estimated conservative lost opportunities of roughly $17 million and up to $24.5 million under higher assumptions for the period of ineligibility. To clear the diversion, presenters said the village will provide replacement land parcels at Hammond Road and Marlboro Road, transfer playground infrastructure to Kings Pond, record deed restrictions and provide a cash compensation amount based on appraisals. Heather (village staff) said the appraised difference for the South Broad Street property and replacement appraisals is approximately $314,000 (staff will publish the appraisal math at the public hearing) and that park improvement work to convert replacement sites is estimated at $500,000–$600,000.
Council members said the village intends to finance the compensation and park improvements through capital budgeting and bonding; staff said there is some carryover funding in the capital program and that a portion of previously frozen Green Acres funds (roughly $190,000 of an approximate $400,000 freeze) had been released earlier in the year as a good‑faith measure. Winograd and Mortimer urged residents to attend a public hearing on the diversion scheduled for the following Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the senior lounge to allow final public input before the village finalizes appraisals and records the land transactions.
Why it matters: Clearing the diversion would restore Ridgewood's eligibility for Green Acres grants, including competitive matching grants and Jake's Law funding for inclusive playgrounds—grant programs that presenters said are available in the coming 2026 grant cycle and could fund major park upgrades without relying solely on local tax dollars.
Sources and attributions: Council members Siobhan Winograd and Frank Mortimer led the presentation; Heather (village staff) provided appraisal and finance estimates and said formal numbers will be included in the public‑hearing materials.
