…the fly has learned that many residents voted in favor of the parking garage , giving the council the benefit of the doubt as a result of the Village Council agreement to do in depth studies on the High Density Housing proposed for the central business district at the September 30th Council meeting in addition to the assurances that residents would have input into design etc. It now appears that the council majority is attempting to renege on that deal …
NOVEMBER 12, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015, 12:48 PM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The village’s Planning Board forged on with its reexamination of Ridgewood’s master plan last Tuesday with a discussion that focused on its circulation and community facilities plan.
With an early February deadline to submit a complete master plan reexamination, the board voted unanimously to include the village planner’s recommendations in the draft version of the report with final determination to be made prior to adoption.
One of the recommendations made by Village Planner Blais Brancheau was the establishment of a Transportation Improvement District (TID) in Ridgewood, which would allow the village to allocate the cost of roadway improvements to areas of development in town based on the property’s use. The board also asked for the Complete Streets program previously adopted by the Village Council to be included in the report.
In discussing the current circulation and community facilities plan with the board, Brancheau said he was “struck” by how outdated they are and said both are in need of a major overhaul.
Brancheau suggested the board could decide to do away with the respective elements altogether as they are not mandated by the state and some municipalities have no such elements in their master plan.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/planners-continue-master-plan-reexam-1.1454175
NOVEMBER 10, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015, 9:51 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Affordable housing obligations have been a hot topic in municipalities all over New Jersey in the wake of the state Supreme Court’s decision in March to return jurisdiction in cases on affordable housing to the courts.
photo by Boyd Loving
Like many other municipalities, Ridgewood is in the midst of litigation on the matter while attempting to clarify its exact affordable housing obligation.
The village is preparing a plan to submit to a judge by December on how it will meet its obligation.
photo by Boyd Loving
Jeffrey Surenian, an attorney whose practice focuses exclusively on representing municipalities in affordable housing matters, gave a presentation at last Wednesday night’s Village Council meeting in order to shed some light on the issue.
The council was expected to discuss the issue further as part of its work session later in the meeting, but postponed talks as a public hearing pushed the start of the regular agenda past midnight.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/coah-guidelines-detailed-in-ridgewood-1.1452217
November 10,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, “We’ll see…” was Mayor Paul Aronsohn’s answer when asked about the the September 30th agreed to studies . The Mayor did at lest confirm his commitment to the Financial Impact Study.Residents felt betrayed and reminded the council that you cannot renege on any of the approved studies and maintain our trust. Residents deserve and demand the comprehensive overlook you voted for before you consider any sweeping changes to the Central Business District.
At the Monday night meeting several of the Council Members indicated that they could not recall exactly what they voted on, and “committed” to, on September 30th before an audience of hundreds of residents. The video and Heather Mailander’s clarification of the motion immediately before the vote from the September 30th meeting set the record straight :
It is clear that ALL Councilmembers were fully aware of the motion put to the vote and all parties were given the opportunity for further clarification, prior to the vote.
The Vote then occurred as follows:
Heather Mailander: “So this is the amended version which we just read which is multiple studies. Traffic and infrastructure study, financial study and the school impact study. And it’s a comprehensive traffic study as outlined by Councilwoman Knudsen: CBD, surrounding neighborhoods, entire Village. Correct? Okay. So that’s the motion on the floor. Any more discussion?
Susan Knudsen: “And that would be to table everything until this?”
Heather Mailander: “Correct, correct.”
The vote, was then taken with the following result:
Hauck: Yes
Knudson: Yes
Pucciarelli: No
Sedon: Yes
Aronsohn: Yes
It could not be clearer as to what the Council voted on. The council committed to multiple studies. a comprehensive traffic study and infrastructure study, financial study and the school impact study. That’s now what residents require .
Residents clearly indicated that they need a better answer than, “We’ll see.” The High Density development issue is simply too big of an issue ,fundamentally changing the nature of the Village of Ridgewood forever.
Congressman Frank Pallone: Fifteen-Dollar Minimum Wage Is Critical for Economic Growth
$40 hamburger in your future ?
Where is the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce ?
On the eve of the national day of action for the “Fight for Fifteen” movement aimed at increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour, Congressman Frank Pallone (D-6) and the healthcare-focused SEIU union held a phone in tele-townhall to discuss why they believe the proposed hike is a critical one. Currently the minimum wage in New Jersey sits at $8.38 per hour. Alyana Alfaro, PolitickerNJ Read more
The 7 Most Dangerous Myths About A $15 Minimum Wage
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/08/04/the-7-most-dangerous-myths-about-a-15-minimum-wage/
Seattle sees fallout from $15 minimum wage, as other cities follow suit
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/22/seattle-sees-fallout-from-15-minimum-wage-as-other-cities-follow-suit/
We Are Seeing The Effects Of Seattle’s $15 An Hour Minimum Wage
Tim Worstall
Possibly the best starting point of this argument is this rather newer post here.
Some time back I wrote a piece entitled “We can predict the effects of Seattle’s $15 an hour minimum wage.” It’s here. And without going into boring detail it essentially said that we’d see what we would expect to see from a rise in the price of something, that is a fall in the demand for it. Ever since I’ve had comments from people insisting that human labor just doesn’t work that way. That if wages rise then actually more people are going to get employed. An example came in only this morning:
Between January and December of 2014, while Seatac’s business owners (and their customers) were absorbing the cost of paying minimum wage employees $15, unemployment decreased 17.46%, falling from 6.3% to 5.2%. It turns out that you CAN increase the minimum wage (even in large increments) and increase overall employment at the same time.
KidVille Offers Drop-In Classes
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Call us at 201-493-1234 to purchase your Flex Pass online https://www.kidville.com/ridgewood
* Fine Print: Only valid at Kidville Ridgewood. Limit one per child. Price is per child and is not transferable between locations or children. All services must be used by the same customer. Fall Flex Pass classes expire on December 23rd. Must call to schedule each class in advance. Classes are subject to availability. Cannot be combined with any other offers, promotions, or discounts. Promo code and credits are not applicable.
38 Oak St
Ridgewood, New Jersey
(201) 493-1234
https://www.kidville.com/ridgewood
NOVEMBER 3, 2015, 10:35 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015, 10:42 PM
BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Village residents voted to support a referendum proposal Tuesday that would bond for up to $15 million to construct a parking garage downtown.
The non-binding referendum, which was meant only to assess public sentiment on the plan, passed by a nearly 2-to-1 margin — 3,236 voted in favor, while 1,777 opposed. Village officials said voter turnout was around 30 percent.
The proposed garage, which officials hope to break ground on next spring, will be built on the corner of Hudson and South Broad streets, the referendum stated, and paid for “principally” with parking revenues. It would add about 300 parking spots to the dense commercial zone.
It is expected to benefit local commuters and residents, as well as customers of downtown shops and restaurants.
Village Mayor Paul Aronsohn said he felt “very good” about the results.
“This is something we’ve talked about in Ridgewood for decades, and it looks like we’re on the verge of making history,” he said. “A parking deck is something we really need. And the folks in Ridgewood came out in large numbers and they spoke with a very compelling voice today.”
Funding for the garage would come from Ridgewood’s parking utility, as well as county and state monies, the referendum said.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-voters-back-parking-garage-proposal-1.1447718
“Investigating the flyer” BRING IT ON. The Three Amigos and the Chamber should tread lightly.They may get caught up in any investigation for what they have done. I suspect the the person or persons that mail the flier have done their homework
Oh by the way, the law has been seriously broken; a major crime has been committed according to some speakers at tonight’s Parking Forum.
They wonder who committed the so-called crime of making Vote No parking flyers and didn’t sign name.
Don’t you know that only Vote Yes Parking signs are allowed. Those signs are not signed either; but that is OK.
And it is OK that they are placed all over Ridgewood on PUBLIC PROPERTY.
Dictatorship is alive and well in Ridgewood N.J.
So what are we going to do about it. Well, I am going to vote no on parking.
Watch out for dictatorial council practices in future. Attend meetings and let them know that democracy is NOT being practiced in Ridgewood.. Democracy in name only; not in practice.
Investigating the flyer? Are you kidding me???? What the heck is going on around here? Do they investigate every real-estate postcard that comes in the mail? Every advertisement? Such an investigation is illegal I am sure of it. And by the way, Mr. Transparent Mayor – where was all this super sleuthing when the anonymous email was sent to Mike Sedon’s employer? You were not in the least bit curious or concerned, and in that instance a HUGE ethical breach had been committed.
Let them go ahead and accuse someone about the flyer. We will be all over them like fire ants. They will rue the day they started this investigation.
NOVEMBER 2, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2015, 11:35 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A presentation of the current plans for the proposed Hudson Street parking garage was provided to the village’s Planning Board at the Oct. 20 meeting, allowing members the opportunity to have a question and answer session with designers and architects.
Tim Tracy, principal for Desman Design Management, gave the board a primer on the garage, which will give Ridgewood a net gain of approximately 300 spaces over the current set up on Hudson Street.
Tracy reviewed the size constraints for the site as the process by which Desman arrived at the solution of building a cantilever over the sidewalk for the top levels of the garage that was able to give the village more spaces and better parking efficiency by adding an additional row of spaces.
Although the garage is exempt from zoning standards, Tracy noted they tried to come as close to complying with regulations as possible without sacrificing efficiency. One example is the rear yard setback, which is required to be 26 feet. With the eastern end of the garage considered the rear of the property, the setback there is approximately 23 1/2 feet.
The five-level, four story parking facility currently sits at 51 feet high, although Tracy said when the final design is complete, the building will be closer to 48 feet. A couple of the driving factors in that regard are the eight-foot clearance required on the ground floor and the supporting slabs on the cantilevered section.
The height of the building was certainly the concern of some board members. Nancy Bigos asked if the garage could be built as at least a partially underground structure to ease the scale of the deck.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/planners-take-look-at-garage-proposal-1.1446737
Key verbatim assumptions/findings taken from the Village Council commissioned parking study prepared by Walker Associates:
Easing crowding does not, in and of itself, create a new revenue stream; it transfers revenue
from other metered spaces in the Village. The garage will likely encourage people to come
downtown who have been avoiding it due to parking constraints, but this is not a quantifiable
revenue stream and is not included in our analysis. More conservatively, we project the
following net new revenue streams for the garage:
• The 72-space Brogan Cadillac lot on South Broad Street at Essex Street and at the 92-
space Ken Smith Motors lot just east of the train tracks and north of Franklin Avenue are
going to be demolished for development. Both of these dealerships have closed and
lease out their parking. The Ken Smith Lot is permit parking for downtown employees.
The Brogan Lot accommodates commuters during the day and is leased out for
restaurant valet parking at night. We anticipate these demand streams would transfer
to the garage.
• We understand from Village staff that there are other restaurants downtown that use
valet services in private lots that would use the garage instead (probably doing away
with valet service since self-park options would be easier).
• The Village used to have 120 non-resident commuter permits, but doubled non-resident
permit rates because there was not enough space for these commuters. Currently
there are very few non-resident commuters parking in the train station area. The Village
plans to reduce the non-resident commuter rate to $875/year to increase that demand
stream again.
It is typical in downtowns that the revenue stream in a given garage is not sufficient to cover its
operating costs and debt service. Downtown parking systems are just that – systems – that rely
on pooled revenue from all resources, and especially the on-street meters (which tend to
have the highest turnover), to cover the higher cost associated with building and operating a
garage. This is the case in Ridgewood, where the net new revenue projected for the garage
is not projected to offset its expenses. Therefore, our revenue projection includes all downtown revenue and all expenses associated with the parking system. To operate the
garage and have a revenue-positive parking utility (with funds available for other parking lot
maintenance projects), we project that the Village will increase meter rates as follows:
• In 2016, meters will be extended until 9 p.m. and meter rates on key downtown streets
will increase to 75¢.
• In 2017, 75¢ meters will be increased to $1 and the rest of the on-street and off-street
meters will increase to 75¢.
• If needed, rates would increase by 25¢ after five years.
• Commuter permit rates would increase by $25 in 2021 and 2025.
Televised Parking Deck Information Session – Tonight- Nov 2 @ 7:30PM
Cablevision (Channel 77) and FIOS (Channel 34) will broadcast live tonight starting at 7:30PM the CBD Forum with details of the Hudson Street Parking Deck. If you cannot attend the meeting at Village Hall tonight, please tune in!
Ridgewood Information Forums – Hudson St. Parking Deck – November 2
Two important forums scheduled in Village Hall – 4th Floor Court Room – to discuss the proposed Hudson Street Parking Deck: Wednesday, October 21 and Monday, November 2 from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Village professionals as well as the design team from Desman Associates will be on hand to discuss all aspects of the proposed parking deck, including the design and financials. All are welcome to attend. All questions are welcome!
Questions:
Official Parking Referendum Question
Community Support
President of the Chamber of Commerce statement
Financial Advisory Committee Statement
Historic Preservation Commission Statement
Study,Design, and Analysis
Walker Parking Preliminary Financial Analysis – October 2, 2015
Walker Parking Consultant Study – July 5th, 2015
Walker Parking Floor Plans
Resolutions
Resolution 15-222 : Non-Binding Referendum – Nov 3, 2015 Ballot
Resolution 15-303 : Desman, Inc.
Ordinances
Ordinance 3480
other commentary
https://theridgewoodblog.net/mysterious-anti-parking-garage-flier-appears-in-residents-mail-boxes/
https://theridgewoodblog.net/why-ill-just-say-no-to-the-parking-garage/
Does the fact that this Parking Garage Plan up for a vote mean that it is a political issue? Please read the following:
——————————–
A quote from the IRS web site is below.
(begin quote)
The Prohibition on Political Campaign Intervention
Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. The prohibition applies to all campaigns including campaigns at the federal, state and local level. Violation of this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes. Those section 501(c)(3) organizations that are private foundations are subject to additional restrictions that are not described in this fact sheet.
What is Political Campaign Intervention?
Political campaign intervention includes any and all activities that favor or oppose one or more candidates for public office. The prohibition extends beyond candidate endorsements. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made by or on behalf of an organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition on political campaign intervention. Distributing statements prepared by others that favor or oppose any candidate for public office will also violate the prohibition. Allowing a candidate to use an organization’s assets or facilities will also violate the prohibition if other candidates are not given an equivalent opportunity. Although section 501(c)(3) organizations may engage in some activities to promote voter registration, encourage voter participation, and provide voter education, they will violate the prohibition on political campaign intervention if they engage in an activity that favors or opposes any candidate for public office. Certain activities will require an evaluation of all the facts and circumstances to determine whether they result in political campaign intervention.
(end quote)
Some more info at this link:
https://www.blueandco.com/nfp_03082012.html
——————————-
The above is from The Blog in 2012 regarding Mr. Aronsohn using a Jamboree emailing list to promote his own campaign. Now we have a situation where a private email listing was used by one of our elected officials to promote the VOTE YES campaign. What does anyone think about this? I mean, besides the fact that it was unethical and just plain wrong. For his information, it totally pissed off some of those who received it, who felt it was beyond the pale. Can you say BACKFIRE?
Ridgewood Nj , So the big vote is tomorrow and where as cynics would suggest residents will have the option to once again agree or disagree with a proposed project that will be jammed down their throats whether they like it or not . Not buying it ,take one look at Schedler Field ah Park or what every you call it .
file photo by Boyd Loving
I have just sent the following email to the Village Council:
“Dear Members of the Village Council:
I have just filed a police report, with Officer D’Amico, concerning the theft of the pro Parking Garage sign from the front of our house. At least seven other signs from our immediate neighborhood were also stolen.
Putting up a sign expressing my views on a political matter is protected as free speech under the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Whoever stole my sign is trampling on my Constitutional rights, and I will do what I can to see that he/she is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Ridgewood politics continues its descent to a new abyss. Richard Nixon must be looking up, from wherever he is, with a big smile on his face: Dirty tricks are alive and well!
Thank you
Rurik Halaby”
November 1,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood
Ridgewood Nj, Is the latest controversy over the so called Historic Preservation Commission Endorsement letter of the downtown parking garage enough to derail the entire project ?
“Any endorsement from the Village of Ridgewood Historic Preservation Commission will have great influence on Village residents. Hence, to ensure its integrity, such a letter must be held to the highest standard of accuracy. Mr. Parrillo’s 10/23 letter is not reflective of any discussion amongst HPC members during the October 2015 meeting. The October 8 meeting was merely a courtesy review. Members reflected on the appropriateness of the structure in the Historic Central Business District. Discussion topics included size, height, mass, cantilevers, sconces, arches, parapets and more. At no time was there any talk of “approval” nor was there any discussion about encouraging residents to vote “yes” on November 3. It never happened. Mr. Parrillo certainly could have composed a letter reflecting his own views. I wish he had chosen to do so.” Councilwomen Susan Knudsen.
“I believe that it is highly inappropriate for any elected official to so openly and blatantly work so diligently to promote a project that they themselves have arranged to be voted on in a public election. We need to carefully consider the information available and show the public that their input matters. Promoting a yes vote shows residents that your mind is made up regardless of available information or opinions reducing the referendum to a sham.
To your point on the Historic Preservation Commission’s endorsement letter, it is unfortunate that that committee’s integrity has been compromised, and it has basically been reduced to the council majority’s sounding board. With all of the other parking propaganda floating around the chair of that committee should have just wrote a letter supporting the project as a resident without dragging the HPC into all of this noise. ” Councilmen Michael Sedon
