APRIL 7, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2015, 9:31 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
With a dearth of places to build parking in downtown Ridgewood, officials may need to look at technological solutions to maximize the remaining space.
One of those solutions could come in the form of an automated parking system, which could potentially house more cars than a standard parking garage in the same amount of space.
Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser and his team gave a presentation on this kind of parking system – in which a patron drives into a stall, exits their vehicle and their car is automatically parked within the structure – at a Village Council meeting last month
Interest in automated parking systems has been spurred in recent weeks by a presentation made by Langan Development in early March, which proposed a type of automated parking as part of its development at North Walnut Street.
The Hudson Street lot, which is another desirable site for a parking structure, is also a candidate to receive automated parking if the village decides to go in that direction. Rutishauser described Hudson Street as a “tight site,” and an automated setup would allow the village to park significantly more cars.
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Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
April 6, 2015 Last updated: Monday, April 6, 2015, 8:39 AM
The Ridgewood News
Print
Planning Board deliberations regarding multifamily housing in downtown Ridgewood previously scheduled for April 7 will be carried until Tuesday, April 21.
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, a member of the Planning Board, announced last Wednesday night at the Village Council meeting that the public hearing for the land use element of the Master Plan AH-2, B-3-R, C-R and C Zone Districts would be moved to 7:30 p.m. on April 21 in the Sydney V. Stoldt Jr. Court Room.
The delay was attributed to information from the League of Municipalities regarding the state Supreme Court decision on affordable housing in early March, said Knudsen, which ruled that the courts would decide affordable housing rules, at least temporarily. Knudsen said the information would hopefully be available on April 20.
At the Planning Board’s March 17 meeting, it was suggested that board members compile a list of elements to work through with Village Planner Blais Brancheau.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/downtown-housing-hearing-moved-to-april-21-1.1303434
April 6, 2015 Last updated: Monday, April 6, 2015, 8:39 AM
The Ridgewood News
Print
Planning Board deliberations regarding multifamily housing in downtown Ridgewood previously scheduled for April 7 will be carried until Tuesday, April 21.
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, a member of the Planning Board, announced last Wednesday night at the Village Council meeting that the public hearing for the land use element of the Master Plan AH-2, B-3-R, C-R and C Zone Districts would be moved to 7:30 p.m. on April 21 in the Sydney V. Stoldt Jr. Court Room.
The delay was attributed to information from the League of Municipalities regarding the state Supreme Court decision on affordable housing in early March, said Knudsen, which ruled that the courts would decide affordable housing rules, at least temporarily. Knudsen said the information would hopefully be available on April 20.
At the Planning Board’s March 17 meeting, it was suggested that board members compile a list of elements to work through with Village Planner Blais Brancheau.
APRIL 6, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2015, 1:20 AM
BY DEENA YELLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Tenafly’s attempts to organize local business owners into a cohesive group that will help improve their section of the borough and generate new business has run into challenges that threaten to destroy the effort.
It is a familiar scenario that has played out on main streets across the state amid conflicting priorities and unfulfilled expectations. A business improvement district, commonly referred to as a BID, collects funds from businesses within a designated area to improve and promote the district. But business owners say BIDs do not always accomplish what they promise, and several municipalities have disbanded them.
Rutherford property owners signed a petition last year asking the borough to dissolve its BID; the council has not yet done so. The improvement districts in Palmyra, Atlantic City, Highlands and Roselle Park have been dissolved in the past few years.
“We did away with it last year because the merchants said they weren’t getting the bang for the buck,” Roselle Park Mayor Carl Hokanson said of his borough’s 8-year-old BID. “We’re happy it’s gone.”
The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce Networking Group
Tue, April 21, 2015
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Park West Tavern – Park West Loft, 38 Oak Street, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Tuesday, April 21, 2015 – 6:00-8:00pm
Park West Tavern – Park West Loft – (second floor)
38 Oak Street
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Cash Bar – delicious lite fare food
FREE Valet parking
Put away your scarves and hats-
Let’s do business!
$20 Chamber and ICC members
$30 non-chamber members
April 3, 2015, 5:05 PM Last updated: Friday, April 3, 2015, 5:08 PM
By CHRIS HARRIS
Staff Writer |
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — Village officials have shut the doors over at Finca, a tapas restaurant that opened along East Ridgewood Avenue a little less than three months ago.
A notice adorning Finca’s front door Friday claims the eatery will remain closed “until further notice due to fire code violations.” The notice further says the restaurant will “reopen as soon as possible” while inviting patrons to visit its nearby sister restaurant, Cravings Tapas Bistro.
Ridgewood Fire Chief James Van Goor said on Friday that Finca was cited Thursday evening for nine violations to both the fire and building codes.
Isn’t $80.00 a month a bit excessive? How much does a typical employee earn? Was that ever investigated or was $80.00 chosen because it sounded good?
It is bad enough that hourly parking rates have been doubled. Ridgewood may find that it’s parking problem is solved because people won’t pay those rates. (and an extra .35 cents if you use your smart phone!).
January – December 2015
Ridgewood Parking Permits – RPP
Hourly meter rates in all Village lots and streets are now $.50 per hour from 10AM to 6PM,
Monday through Saturday.
RPP – Ridgewood Parking Permit provides ‘coinless’ convenience and can be used for unlimited parking at all lots. Annual permits are issued for a calendar year to residents at a cost of $750. RPP are issued to Non Residents at a fee of $1,500 and require parking in the Cottage Place or Rt. 17 Park & Ride Lots. As in the past, you can pay by check or cash. We have added a credit card feature that will have a 3% convenience fee charged to the purchaser.
Applications are available at the Village Hall Reception Desk or by Clicking Here, Monday to Friday, 8:30AM to 4:30PM starting December 19, 2014. Applicants – residents and non residents – must show current Driver’s License and valid Vehicle Registration(s) for up to three vehicles. For flexibility, you can list 3 vehicles on a permit, but the permit can only be used by 1 car for 1 parking space at a time.
All lots including the Train Station Lot will require a free Ridgewood Commuter/Resident Parking Sticker in addition to the purchased RPP. Resident/Commuter parking stickers are issued annually for free to residents only at the Village Hall Reception Desk. This sticker confirms you are a resident.
RPP permit can be used in any metered space in lots to provide unlimited parking from the hours of 6am to 2am. They are not valid for street parking. The hangtag permit must be displayed on the rearview mirror when the vehicle is parked. RPP does not guarantee availability of a parking space.
________________________________
Central Business District Employee Permits – CBDEP
Hourly rates in all Village lots and in streets are now $.50 per hour for a maximum of 3 hours. Street and Lot meters are regulated from 10AM to 6PM, Monday through Saturday. Vehicles parking for more than 3 hours will be in violation and subject to a ticket. Repeat parking is also prohibited.
CBD employees have the opportunity to purchase CBD Employee Parking permits issued on a monthly basis. These permits provide parking in either the Ken Smith Property (at the corner of N. Broad/Chestnut and Franklin) or the Cottage Place Lot. Monthly permits are issued to employees of Central Business District businesses at a cost of $80 per month. CBDEP are reduced after the 15th of the month to $40. Permits may be purchased by check, credit card, or cash. Lost permits are not replaced.
Applications are available at the Village Hall Reception Desk or by Clicking Here, Monday to Friday, 8:30AM to 4:30PM. Applicants must document that they are employed by a Ridgewood business and show their current Driver’s License and valid Vehicle Registration (s) for up to three vehicles. For flexibility, you can list 3 vehicles on a permit, but the permit can only be used by 1 car for 1 parking space at a time.
CBDEP can be used in any space at the Ken Smith property or any metered space at Cottage Place Lots to provide unlimited parking during the hours of 6am to 2am. The hangtag permit must be displayed on the rearview mirror. CBDEP does not guarantee availability of a parking space.
Please refer to the Ridgewood Parking Guide that provides information and maps for locating parking lots in the Village at www.ridgewoodnj.net .
Raymond’s in Ridgewood, Montclair to pay $345K in back wages
March 30, 2015 Last updated: Monday, March 30, 2015, 2:50 PM
By MELANIE ANZIDEI
A Ridgewood restaurant chain and its owners must pay $325,534 in back wages to 160 workers for overtime and minimum wage violations, the U.S. Department of Labor said Monday.
Raymond’s Ridgewood LLC did not pay members of its kitchen staff for overtime and failed to pay tipped workers the proper wage rate, an investigation by the department’s Northern New Jersey Wage and Hour District Office found.
Employees at two locations were affected. At Raymond’s in Ridgewood, 84 employees are due $100,048 in back wages, said the department. This includes overtime back wages to its kitchen staff and tipped employees. The employer also failed to pay tipped workers in Ridgewood the proper wage rate from the beginning of their employment, the department said. At Raymond’s in Montclair, 76 workers are due $225,486 in overtime back wages, the agency said.
The restaurant chain agreed to make the payments, which are in the process of being paid, according to Department of Labor spokeswoman Leni Uddyback-Fortson. The back wages cover employee compensations from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2014.
Raymond Badach and Joanne Ricci, owners of the restaurant chain, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Ridgewood’s Engineer Chris Rutishauser explained the pros and cons associated with automated parking structures
MARCH 27, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Village officials continue weighing potential solutions to the downtown’s parking paucity, and could end up turning to robots for help.
Ridgewood’s Engineer Chris Rutishauser explained the pros and cons associated with automated parking structures to the village council this week.
Village officials, who have met with representatives from the county in recent months to discuss a possible partnership on a parking garage facility, are considering an automated parking garage system at its worn lot on Hudson Street, Rutishauser said.
“It is something worth exploring, but we’re not ready to unequivocally recommend it,” Rutishauser said. “We’re enamored with the idea but we’re not ready to say this is the best thing for the village.”
In automated parking garages, cars are driven into a loading bay. When the car’s occupants leave the bay, a button is pressed, closing a glass door.
The vehicle is then scanned before a robotic pulley system carts it off to a space. For the forgetful, the scanning system can even detect pets or children.
Vehicle owners pay for parking time when they return, as the computerized, robotic mechanism retrieves the vehicle.
A conventional parking garage at the same site on Hudson Street could net the village 170 to 230 additional spaces, spread out over four parking decks and a roof. An automated garage, Rutishauser said, could hold up to 475 cars.
All of those spots would also comply with Americans with Disabilities Act standards, the village engineer said.
Village Council Discusses Automated Parking Systems at March 25th Village Council Meeting
Ridgewood NJ, As a follow up to the March 25th Village Council Meeting and the Engineering Department’s presentation of automated parking systems. To view the systems discussed at the meeting, please click on the videos below.
Park Plus, Inc
Park Plus, Inc. is the leading provider of Mechanical and Automated Parking garage systems in North America. Originated in 1969 the Company continually provides State of the Art solutions to the parking industry. Our years of experience as Park Plus, Inc. and the professional service through our subsidiary and affiliated companies in Engineering, Material Handling, Construction, Installation and Service keep Park Plus, Inc. the first choice provider for the parking professional.
Park Plus, Inc ‘s Automated Vehicle Storage Systems are designed to store and retrieve vehicles with robotic devices that lift, lower and transfer vehicles from localized transfer stations to unoccupied storage vaults, without the need for human intervention. These systems can be retrofitted into existing buildings, or designed specifically for new building projects to maximize efficiency and space utilization in high density parking.
Boomerang Systems develops robotic valets that could spell the end of the human parking attendant. They market their parking technology as a cutting edge, space-saving approach to an antiquated system.
The RoboticValet has changed the development game by unlocking valuable air rights previously consumed by parking, and in some cases by making it feasible to develop sites previously thought to be unprofitable due to space required for parking.
MARCH 26, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015, 4:51 PM
BY BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Parking – and lack thereof – was the main focus of a Central Business District (CBD) forum held at Christ Episcopal Church on March 18 as village officials, residents and Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce representatives gathered for an informal panel discussion.
Over the course of the 90-minute session, the panel and audience covered strategies for building garages on municipal land, the parking space deficit in the CBD and the implementation of paying for parking with mobile phones.
The evening forum was hosted by Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli and featured a panel that included Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Chamber of Commerce President Paul Vagianos, Citizen Safety Advisory Committee Chair Charles Demarco and Janet Fricke, assistant to the village manager.
Reader says I do not understand why this council is so set on altering (damaging, destroying pick your adjective) this town to fit their own wishes.
“Mayor Paul Aronsohn ….he would like to find a way to incentivize the developers to build high end apartments” really? the developers need help? don’t build then.
I do not understand why this council is so set on altering (damaging, destroying pick your adjective) this town to fit their own wishes. The Mayor will NOT be re-elected to this office or any higher office if he keeps pushing through his own agenda while disregarding the majority of residents. He doesn’t even want to poll citizens as other towns have done recently…most likely he knows it will show the proposed changes are not wanted.
Update Ridgewood within the character that already exists and leave Hackensack in Hackensack.
Good lord, this will be huge and horrible. But someone stands to make a ton of bucks on this deal. Certainly not the taxpayers
60 foot tall buildings will become the new norm throughout the CBD if this goes through.
“the devil is in the details” – – that’s the problem with this amendment. it does not say what will or won’t be built. Once the density is changed, the developers can build what they want. There are no controls in place.
we don’t need these monstronsities in town. There are for rent signs on the existing apartment buildings. I don’t see any rush for people to move from their houses to the apartments.
Frankly, I think there is more than enough “density” as it is.
ReCap of Planning Board Meeting
from Citizens for a Better Ridgewood ( CBR)
Hello CBR Friends and Neighbors,
On March 17, the Planning Board met to deliberate the proposed Master Plan amendment that would allow for high density housing in our Central Business District. After several hours of discussion, Planning Board Chairman Nalbantian asked Village Planner Blais Brancheau to come to the next meeting prepared to address the concerns mentioned by board members, including density, height, parking and affordable housing. Please see below for a recap of last week’s meeting and please join us at the next meeting on April 7.
Planning Board Meeting: Tuesday, April 7 at 7:30 pm at Village Hall
Agenda: The Planning Board will continue deliberating
CBR’s recap of 3/17/15 Planning Board Meeting
CBR Note: The first condition of this amendment, aside from density and height issues, is changing the usage in the zones from commercial to residential. Keep in mind that when the planning board members state that they support the usage change, that does not necessarily indicate that they approve the densities that are proposed. Changing the zoning in an area of our CBD from commercial to residential is a big step in itself, as presumably once residential is built, there is no turning back to commercial usage on that site.
Once usage is addressed, the next issue is how much residential do you allow? Currently, most residential properties in the CBD have commercial usage on the first floor. Under this amendment, commercial usage on the first floor is no longer required. Allowing housing in our downtown at density higher than the 12 units per acre that is currently permitted makes sense, and anything over 12 units an acre constitutes “higher density.” Considering that the average density that currently exists in our downtown now is actually 22-24 units per acre, CBR would be quite comfortable with setting 22 or 24 units per acre as the new limit for density. We feel that doubling those numbers is too much, and that 35-40 units an acre and beyond would significantly alter the character of our Village. It is very important that our planning board finds the right balance in this amendment.
CBR ReCap: We took notes on each of the Planning Board member’s comments and would like to share them here. Our notes are not direct quotes.
Absent from this meeting was Nancy Bigos. She has yet to weigh in.
Charles Nalbantian, the Chairman of the Planning Board, agrees that the usage (housing rather than commercial) is good, but said the “devil is in the details.” He expressed reservations about the height and RSIS (state mandated parking requirements), and indicated that he is not sure yet about the density.
Richard Joel, the Vice Chairman of the Planning Board, agrees with the usage (housing in our CBD) and believes it will promote the general welfare. He feels that we need to develop these under-utilized sites and there is a need for a variety of housing. He said that he doesn’t know what the right balance between height and density should be.
Kevin Riley, supports the use of housing in our downtown but is concerned with height and density. He said he would like to see the density reduced from what is currently put forth in the amendment.
Wendy Dockray, thinks concept of multifamily housing is a good one but has her “yellow flags” or reservations. She is not sure this is actually what seniors are looking for in terms of space and affordability. She is concerned that the height and scale will negatively impact the historical character of Ridgewood. She said going from 12 units per acre to 40-50 is a “huge jump” and she is not sure if building 40 – 50 units an acre is necessary or appropriate to achieve housing. She is also concerned with the fiscal impact and noted that our schools are “at capacity.”
David Thurston, supports the amendment AS IS. He doesn’t want to “play chicken” with developers by giving them less than what they want. He said this is his business and if the Planning Board comes back with less than the amendment, it may not be “economically sound” for the developers. He is in favor of the 40 – 50 units in our CBD and is worried about what our town will look like in 40 years if we don’t allow the developers to build.
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, not in favor of the amendment as it is written. She is concerned with the density, height, impact of adding more pedestrians that will impede traffic, open space and the changing character of Ridgewood. She said the she would like to see developers move forward with something, but would like to see a balance.
Mayor Paul Aronsohn, feels this is an opportunity for Ridgewood. He feels like we have enough information to make a decision and we should move forward soon. He said that people who don’t want their big houses could move to these apartments, but we need to strike the right balance. His stated that his issues are 1) density, 2) amenities (he would like to find a way to incentivize the developers to build high end apartments), 3) housing for special needs residents, 4) parking (he wondered if developers not providing sufficient parking could be forced to pay money into a fund to use for public parking), and 5) can separate amendments be crafted to address each zone individually?
Michele Peters, concerned about the density. Not in favor of the current amendment. She questioned whether the parking that was being considered as part of the proposals in the redevelopment zone on N. Walnut would alleviate some of the parking deficit in Ridgewood, but was told the deficit is beyond what could be added in the redevelopment zone.
Isabella Altano, (1st alternate on PB) wants to see more consideration given to the impacts. She feels we need a lower density. She asked about the potential costs to our infrastructure, if projected school enrollment could be provided that included approval of 400+ new apartments and what could be done to address our open space deficiency.
Khidir Abdalla, (2nd alternate on PB) said that we shouldn’t be afraid of change and supports the amendment. He is not concerned with the density and scale and feels that this type of housing fits in well to an URBAN downtown. He feels we need increased density in order to get pedestrian traffic that is needed to revitalize our downtown.
Click on this link to read the recap from the Ridgewood News
How an ‘expensive’ N.J. community might handle town-by-town minimum wage proposal
MONTCLAIR — A township official says an Assembly proposal that would allow municipalities in New Jersey to set their own minimum wages would be plausible, and likely passable, in Montclair. But, he says he’s not convinced that it’s the most effective way to increase the minimum wage in New Jersey. (Mazolla/NJ.com)
