December 4,2015
Boyd A. Loving
Editor, The Ridgewood Blog:
Re: Â “Planned garage a plus for Ridgewood,” The Ridgewood Blog, November 29.
Mr. Don Delzio’s letter fails to state the obvious; the reason there has been no progress for decades on the construction of a parking garage in downtown Ridgewood is the repeated inability to cost justify such a project. Â And the current plan to fund a new garage by significantly increasing metered parking rates and extending the times during which municipally provided parking must be paid for, has not yet been fully vetted. Â This leaves a very strong possibility that Ridgewood’s predominantly residential taxpayer base could wind up footing the bill for a project that would do absolutely nothing to increase residential property values.
With regard to a controversial “anonymous mailer” that opposed construction of the garage, Mr. Delzio failed to mention that the hundreds of lawn signs and flyers promoting construction of the garage, displayed at publicly and privately owned properties throughout Ridgewood, were also anonymous in that no sponsoring individual, organization, nor business name was printed on any of them. Â Only after Election Day was it revealed that those printed materials were paid for by the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce. Â And despite Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn’s claim that “no one was willing to take responsibility for the mailer . . . ,” at least one (1) individual who contributed to its production and distribution has come forward publicly on two (2) separate occasions.
Finally, Mr. Delzio’s suggestion that no member of the Village Council should consider voting anything but yes to bond a parking garage because there was “overwhelming voter support for the project,” implies that there is no room in Ridgewood for dissenting opinions. Â I say let those who we elected base their decisions on the facts and data at hand and not be swayed by opinions from voters, some of whom may have been misinformed, or who voted based on perceptions, not facts.
Good comment!
Key the tumbleweeds. No one is going to be coming to ridgewood to shop after this boondoggle.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/transportation/station-s-status-half-full-1.237186?page=all
Thank you Boyd for this letter. However, Delzio was not even worth the time it took you to write it. He is a big buffoon and is not to be believed on anything he says, even though he likes to shout FACT every chance he gets.
As this monstrosity is under construction for how ever long ,how many parking spaces will be lost?
S Frapz at 12:01pm –
Check out this interesting old article from the NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/13Rcommute.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0
Looks like a bunch of NJTransit stations had real parking needs, but definitely not Ramsey. If Ridgewood goes ahead and builds a garage, let’s hope that demand projections for Ridgewood are accurate. The Ramsey garage is 3x the size of the Ridgewood one, and thankfully there could be non-commuter demand for parking in a garage in Ridgewood.
Only on Saturday night, John V.
If you were paying attention to Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli during Wednesday’s meeting ( a tough thing to do, I know – he’s as nauseating as our mayor is), here’s how they intend to keep the garage as full as possible: Pucciarelli refers to the game plan as “Driving Demand.”
1. Valet services will be required to park cars in the garage. Valet parking on private property within the CBD will be placed off limits via an ordinance change.
2. Commuter parking will be banned from all locations except a small portion of the train station lot, the Park & Ride on Route 17, and the new garage.
3. Employee parking will be available in the garage only.
Hey DELZIO—-are you reading this? Saw you in town today. You zipped right into a parking space in the Train Station lot that is on the east side of the tracks. You had 9 spaces to choose from. You ran one quick errand, hopped back in your car and took off. Yep, nine spaces available in that tiny lot right in the heart of the action. And might I add, there was plenty of action. 10:35 on Saturday morning. Santa riding around on a firetruck, free movie at the movie theater, Santa breakfast at The Office, Rotary club Santa breakfast at Christ Church, Santa photos for free at Columbia Bank, people at Dunkin Donuts, Ridgewood Coffee, Starbucks, Daily Treat, Pancake House, people shopping for Christmas and Hanukkah, and plenty plenty PLENTY of spaces. Sidewalks packed with families going here and there.
Oh, and what else – the Hudson Street lot had hardly ANY cars in it.
Yeah, we need several hundred more spaces. For sure.
4. A push will be made to increase sales of monthly commuter hang tags to non-Ridgewood residents.
5. All overnight parking in the CBD will be legal in the garage only. There will be a rate increase associated with this change.