To the editor:
As a Republican resident of Park Ridge and member of Park Ridge Citizens For Responsible Development, I got involved several years ago with town issues when predatory developers under the guise of affordable housing were trying to take advantage of Park Ridge.
In 2016, when most of our former mayors and councilmembers had refused to conduct their due diligence to properly determine our affordable housing obligation, two councilmembers agreed with the citizens group that the proper due diligence must be conducted and that we must fight overdevelopment. One councilmember who took a strong stand against overdevelopment was our current mayor, Keith Misciagna.
When Keith became mayor, he reached out to anyone, Republican or Democrat, who wanted to help. We worked together on due diligence that resulted in the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (HE&FSP) before the courts today to defend the borough against overdevelopment.
Whether you fully support the downtown redevelopment (which is replacing a waste transfer station and many dilapidated buildings) or not, had we not had this downtown redevelopment as a shovel-ready project, which provided the Town with 48 affordable housing credits, Park Ridge would not have been able to meet its obligation with the state. That would have resulted in Hornrock Properties by default allowed to convert its portion of the corporate park into hundreds of apartments.
For perspective, the proposed Hornrock development would have been two to four times the size of our downtown redevelopment project.
Redevelopment in Park Ridge got its start when our Master Plan in 2009 recommended this type of residential redevelopment. The council approving this plan was composed of one Democrat and five Republicans. The redevelopment application the council voted on in 2016 was composed of four Democrats and two Republicans. Both parties in town voted in favor of the downtown redevelopment.
For these reasons, I will continue to support Mayor Keith Misciagna so he can finish this fight at this critical juncture. I hope that all residents of Park Ridge will look past political parties and support Keith Misciagna for mayor on Election Day.
David O’Sullivan
Park Ridge