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Residents press Ramsey board for traffic, emergency‑response and school impact studies as overlays advance
Summary
During a prolonged public‑comment period the board heard residents urge corridor‑level traffic counts, consultation with the fire department, and school‑district impact analysis before overlay zoning moves forward; board staff said those technical reviews occur at site‑plan stage.
Residents at the Ramsey Planning Board hearing urged deeper technical review of proposed overlay zoning, asking the board to consider corridor‑wide traffic counts, emergency‑response reliability and school‑capacity impacts before the borough advances overlay ordinances.
Multiple speakers described current neighborhood constraints and potential consequences if nearby parcels — including Ramsey Lumber and an adjacent nursery — were assembled and redeveloped. Steven Bennett (36 Ferguson Place) said Ferguson Place has been narrowed to one‑side parking to allow passage and warned that a large residential complex would likely require additional entrances and considerable street widening. Joe Kerry (498 Island Road) asked the board to account for cumulative traffic impacts across the corridor rather than relying on discrete, site‑level trip counts from individual applicants.
Stacy Tossy (41 Ferguson Place), who said her family includes a career fire lieutenant and EMT, asked whether the borough had completed an emergency‑response time analysis and whether volunteer staffing and apparatus access would support higher densities. "I'm asking these questions to ensure the public record reflects whether these public safety considerations have been fully evaluated," Tossy said. Board staff and counsel replied that NFPA apparatus‑access, roadway width and turning‑radius checks and consultations with the Ramsey Fire Department are normally performed during site‑plan review and that no overlay‑wide emergency study had been completed at this preliminary stage.
Nick Capawano (50 Highwood Road), a high‑school principal, urged the board to consider impacts on enrollment and school budgets if hundreds of new households were later developed, and asked whether the school system had been contacted; staff and board members said legal constraints limit stopping affordable housing on those grounds and encouraged constituent engagement at the state level.
Several residents also described receiving letters indicating their properties had been identified as potential development sites and urged the planning board to press for more transparency about process and alternatives. Board staff said the planning board learned of the ordinances after the mayor and council’s first reading and that confidentiality during litigation and mediation affected timing. Speakers said continuing public dialogue and technical review will be necessary as specific applications arrive and the mayor and council consider the board’s recommendations.
The board voted to adopt the amended fourth‑round housing element and to recommend the three ordinances to the mayor and council; residents and board members alike urged continued public involvement and technical study during the project‑review phase.
