To the editor: It was extremely disheartening to read that Judge Graziano overruled the planning board’s denial of Valley Ridge last week. According to the articles in our local newspapers, the ruling was based on the fact that there was insufficient data on record to deny the application. Specifically, an updated environmental impact study, well tests, MUA sewer service area information, and additional expert testimony should have been requested by the planning board before a decision was rendered. This type of information is routinely requested of applicants. Yet apparently neither the planning director, planning board attorney, nor the members of the planning board made any such requests or recommendations. Just as a reminder, Valley Ridge is the “pipe-the-poop-over-the-ridge” townhouse project located across from Bald Eagle Village. The Valley Ridge application was already a highly controversial project, due in part to its complexity, its large-scale size, its outdated nature (over 10 years old) and its negative effects on the environment, our quality of life, and our property taxes. As a past planning board member, I recall several large applications that came before the board when their time extensions were set to expire. These developers were requesting to extend their preliminary approvals, despite the fact that these approvals were typically 10 years old. I applied simple logic and voted to deny all of those applications. My opinion was, and continues to be, that these developers should be forced to adhere to current DEP and local regulations rather than receive automatic “grandfathering.” Since rules, wetlands delineations, topography, and ordinances all change over time, updates should be a standard requirement before decisions are made. After all, a homeowner cannot design a septic system, obtain approvals, endure economic hardship, halt the project, and subsequently attempt to install the same septic system 10 years later without obtaining an updated design. Why then should big developers be afforded such courtesies? Unfortunately, I was in the minority, and all of those developers received grandfathered extensions of their expired extensions. It would appear that this kind of simplistic logic was not applied to the Valley Ridge project either. For me, it brings flashbacks and deja-vu. Whether this failure was due to haste, carelessness, incompetence or intentional oversight, the residents of West Milford have been failed. Bettina Bieri West Milford