Tag: CBD

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Out of town commuters NOT WELCOME in Ridgewood?

Resident-Parking-Only-Sign-K-8618[1]

March 1,2018
the staff of The Ridgewood Blog

Ridgewood NJ, strong recommendation made by Walker Consultants (contained in their parking garage financial analysis report) to allot 50 spaces for out of town commuters in the proposed Hudson Street parking garage, more than one member of the Village Council said “absolutely no way” during last night’s Village Council meeting.

The Walker report says: “The new garage will attract roughly 50 commuters from outside Ridgewood, which it should be able to accommodate during weekday commuter hours without impacting Village businesses.” It further explains: “Although we are not able to quantify potential gains of customers due to more space being available, we do quantify (albeit broadly) an increase in commuter demand from non-Ridgewood residents looking for parking near the train station. In the past Ridgewood had upwards of 120 out-of-towners using the Ridgewood train station. With parking in short supply, the Village raised rates for non-residents and demand decreased. The out of town permit rate has decreased again and there is a small amount of demand. With supply available on weekdays once the garage is built, we project about 50 new permits.”

The staff of The Ridgewood Blog questions why Village Council members are so opposed to out of towners provided, as Walker suggests, there is plenty of parking available. Have we become such an elite community?

This “no out of towners” welcome attitude clearly sends the wrong message. Let’s fill the garage so we can avoid going into debt and not worry about where the money is coming from.

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The village has already accounted for and already spends that new $ and every other dime of parking fees it collects and still taxes rise.

godzilla

February 28,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, And when you dig in to the Walker Report 2015 , it gets worse. In 2017, the village hiked annual parking pass rates 25%. That money went right into the general fund for the village. The village has already accounted for and already spends that new $ and every other dime of parking fees it collects and still taxes rise. So if the current intake of taxpayer dollars and parking fees can’t support the village expenses, how would the additional $1.4 million dollars/year in garage expenses for the next 30 years get paid when the next round of proposed parking rake hikes only adds up to $325k a year?

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Reader is tired of the lame excuses for photos showing plenty of parking

parking private lot

I am tired of these lame excuses. If you say you saw plenty of parking on any certain day, the garagaholics like you come back with any of the following:

. it was raining
. it was a holiday and people were out of town
. it was a holiday and people were busy with family
. it was a Monday and some restaurants are closed on Mondays
. it was too early in the day to get a fair estimate
. it was too late in the day and people had already gone home
. it was a Saturday noon and no one goes out until later
. it was a Saturday night and people were using UBER
. it was not raining so people were walking to town
. it was snowing so people were home shoveling
. it was snowing but then it stopped so people went skiing

Get it? There are ALWAYS available spots in town, in spite of Jeff Voigt’s declaration that there are 1000 cars looking for parking on the weekends. There are ALWAYS spots, regardless of whatever excuse you come up with.

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2015 Walker “HUDSON STREET PARKING GARAGE PRELIMINARY FINANCIAL ANALYSIS”The key findings, we do not use the parking we have on weekdays and most importantly, on Saturday nights

ParkingCBD2 theridgewoodblog.net

 

February 26,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The village has paid tens of thousands of dollars to gather parking facts. We have more parking than we use. The 2015 Walker “HUDSON STREET PARKING GARAGE PRELIMINARY FINANCIAL ANALYSIS” found here: https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/2015walkerFinal.pdf is an amazingly comprehensive study of existing village parking. The key findings, on the report pages 15, 16, 17, 19, and appendix page 4 clearly show we do not use the parking we have on weekdays and most importantly, on Saturday nights. On appendix page 4, the bottom table “EXISTING WEEKEND CONDITIONS – PUBLIC” shows 32%, or 194, public parking spaces are available at 7pm on Saturday nights.

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Reader asks The question that i think has failed to be answered is, what benefit, to the residents of Ridgewood does a large parking facility bring?

Hudson garage

Whether you want a garage or not, we all need to come to the realization that in it’s current state, our taxes in this town are going up (from already ridiculously high levels) and that this council and ones before have failed to do what I think most would agree is their primary job..to be fiscally responsible, municipal managers and not politicians with special interests. The question that i think has failed to be answered is, what benefit, to the residents of Ridgewood does a large parking facility bring? Will it bring more shoppers to town to stave off the inevitable doom of retail (which if you’ve picked up a paper in the last 5 years you’d realize is happening), and in the slim chance it does, how much of a benefit would we as tax payers realize? Does it benefit the current RESIDENTS who commute via train into NY, probably…but then again, what size garage would do the trick? In the new tax regime, local tax rates matter now more then ever..so the days of raising taxes with little to no push back are over. The idea of a multi million dollar spend on a garage, without clearly and concisely outlining the benefits to tax payers, just falling back on the argument that this debate has gone on for 30 years, just baffles my mind. I’m not pro or con the current or prior council, i question the motives behind certain positions by some, which have been clearly outlined in past posts. Unfortunately, special interests in this town have come to the forefront, probably due to the fact that we all have very busy jobs, lives etc (contrary to what a previous councilman thinks), and don’t think we have to actively monitor town councils…lets be clear, their job is to run the town as efficiently as possible, balancing the costs of services and the level of taxation that is optimum to keep the influx of new families coming. This garage, will probably be the tipping point. Ignore, the older aggressive guy at the council meetings who thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room, why do we care about his pontificating about conspiracy theories and constitutional interpretations?? Let’s move on, rid the council of politics and vote in residents who make decisions based on the good of the town FOR THE FUTURE, not the past. This council should not be a stepping stone for wannabe politicians that will sell this town out in hopes of furthering their pathetic attempts at a political career.

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Reader says This just in…..”Retail Dying”

Ridgewood-going_out_of_biz_theridgewoodblog

This just in…..”Retail Dying”. The Wall St. Journal reports that even trendy SoHo is seeing a store closings as retail shopping continues to dip.
https://www.wsj.com/…/even-soho-cant-escape-the-retail-property-storm-1519160376
In 10 years people will wonder what possessed a Village to build a hulking garage to support a retail shopping district that went the way of the dinosaur. If we are looking to the future it should be how the CBD will be repurposed once retail shopping has evaporated. Not building a garage decades after it would have made a difference.

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Reader says EVERY parking study done over the past 50+ years by objective professional consultants has indicated the need for a parking garage in Ridgewood

Hudson garage

EVERY parking study done over the past 50+ years by objective professional consultants has indicated the need for a parking garage in Ridgewood. It appears the current Village Council is doing something to remedy the longstanding parking deficit. The garage will primarily serve commuters during the day and local businesses afterwards. It will be a boost to all of Ridgewood and despite the naysayers it will not destroy or diminish the character and desirability of the Village. Other higher end towns (particularly Summit and Princeton) have garages and residential property values in these towns have continued to rise. There is not one shred of evidence that the garage will negatively impact residential property values in Ridgewood. To the contrary, it will likely enhance values because prospective homeowners who commute to NY will benefit from the availability of convenient parking. This is a big benefit when you are rushing to catch your regular morning train to the city.

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Reader says as to the Hudson Garage ,the net increase in spaces,should be used to calculate the cost per space

hudson Garage meeting

During public comments at the end of the meeting, 2 residents reminded VC members that there are already 76 spaces on the ground there. Thus, the construction cost per space is much higher than what was presented by the developers last night. That is, you must subtract the current number of spaces from the total being built to obtain the net increase in spaces, which should then be used to calculate the cost per space.

Also, last night was the first time the public was made aware of the perpetual maintenance costs associated with the operation of precast parking structures. Several of the presenters indicated that unless the structure is properly maintained, its life expectancy decreases dramatically.

It was said that the use of ice/snow melting agents and HARD WATER are particularly problematic. And the only way to clean the ice/snow melting agents away is by using water on a regular basis. And what type of water do we have in Ridgewood? HARD WATER, of course!

This is going to be the biggest financial boondoggle ever. Way beyond the boondoggle of post Tropical Storm Floyd renovation costs at Village Hall. Way beyond. Way, way beyond.

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The Village Council will interview the four companies who responded to the RFP for the Hudson Street parking garage

Hudson garage

file photo by Boyd Loving

February 14,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The Village Council will be interviewing the four companies who responded to the RFP for the Hudson Street parking garage on February 21, 2018, beginning at 7:00 p.m. This meeting will be held in the Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room on the fourth floor of Village Hall, and will also be televised on the Public Access channel. Each company will summarize their proposals and will present their concept plan(s).

The deadline for the RFPs (Requests For Proposal) for the construction of the garage was January 19 at 10:00 am.  Seventeen potential bidders picked up packets in late 2017, and four submitted proposals.

These were the proposals received, listed from lowest to highest overall:

1. Pike Company Inc:
$9,464,666

2. Terminal Construction Corp:
Version 3 – $10,100,000
Version 2 – $10,900,000
Version 1 – $11,480,000

3. Epic Management Inc:
$12,340,666 to $12,573,738

4. Prismatic Development Corp:
$14,399,000

*compiled by Councilman Ramon M. Hache

 

 

 

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Kilwins Valentine’s Day Selection of Yummy Treats and Special Hours

Kilwins

Kilwins Valentine’s Day Selection of Yummy Treats and Special Hours
Tue, February 13, 2018 – Wed, February 14, 2018
Time: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Location: Kilwin’s Ridgewood, 121 E. Ridgewood Ave, Ridgwood, NJ 07450

February 13,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Valentine’s Day is coming, and Kilwin’s Ridgewood is ready with a wide variety of your gift giving needs!!
Our fresh strawberries are a big yummy hit!
Juicy and Hand-dipped in our very own milk, dark, and white KILWINS HERITAGE CHOCOLATE!!
Whether you want a big box to share or just a few for someone special, we are currently accepting pre-orders for fast and easy in-store pick up and guaranteed selection of your favorites.
Please call us at 201-445-4837, email [email protected], or come in to our store.
Open 7 days a week.
SPECIAL VALENTINE’S HOURS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY 2/13-2/14 9:00 AM-9:00 PM

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Reader says Not one of the current or former council members have ever stated publicly why they think that the new apartments are good for Ridgewood

Ridgewood 3 amigos

Not one of the current or former council members have ever stated publicly why they think that the new apartments are good for Ridgewood. These developments are just causing more issues for our already stretched budget and resources.
Last summer, we were forced to obey restrictions on watering our lawns due to a water shortage. Because I followed the rules, my lawn died. What will happen when the water demand is increased because of these new apartments? why is this good for Ridgewood?
why is this good for our schools? (my child’s class class size is close to 30)
why is this good for people who walk or drive through our town? (it is already congested)
why is this good for anyone besides the developers?
WHY DID WE LET THEM IN?

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Reader asks How will that garage benefit any of the residents?

Hudson garage

It seems that very few people can even think of a realistic reason to build the garage. Add to Ridgewood taxes so people in other towns can park near the station? Provide extra parking for the builders who refuse to supply what is legally required? (How are they getting by with that, anyway? Did they change the town rules about how much parking is required for any construction? Or do they think their building permits do not require adequate parking? Council, the doctor on Broad Street has plenty of parking and has been struggling for several years to be able to use the 210 building which she owns. Why do outsiders get by with every single thing they want?) This building on Hudson doesn’t do anything for Ridgewood residents, except taking away a large part of the parking for Mt. Carmel’s activities. Two decks might help in separate parts of town but no-one is going to walk from Hudson to Oak, much less further. The only beneficiaries will be the commuters and the apartment dwellers, and for that Ridgewood must have higher and later parking fees as well as an astronomical increase in our taxes? At least the schools benefit OUR children. How will that garage benefit any of the residents?

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Reader says We are in a situation now where we can choose the least worst alternative

Ridgewood 3 amigos

yeah it is the natural outcome. We are in a situation now where we can choose the least worst alternative. If this can gets kicked down the road yet again, the next steps would be the BIG main street proposals that are now taking place in towns like Bogota and Closter… that result would be more mixed use, fewer stores, more restaurants, banks, Gyms and apartments, putting more pressure on parking and schools which would require a bigger parking solution. While the choices now are not great, the building of a garage soon makes sense to curtail further expansion of mixed use stock a la other communities..

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Ridgewood Police Warn Any Person who Utilized the ATM machine at Valley National Bank should Contact the Bank

valley national bank

February 8,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police report that on February 5th, Ptl. Zachary Knudsen responded to Valley National Bank located on 103 Franklin Avenue on a report of the bank discovering damage to the ATM machine on the premise. Upon arrival a bank ATM technician was on scene and reported the ATM was inspected and determined to have been compromised by an unknown actor altering the internal components of the machine between 2/3/18 and 2/5/18.

The Ridgewood Detective Bureau and Valley National Bank are investigating the incident. Any person who utilized the ATM machine at the above location should contact Valley National Bank and monitor your account and report any fraudulent activity.

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Reader says The Franklin Street “Village Garage” lot was publicly targeted by the Village Council for condemnation as “blighted” as part of a redevelopment plan

town_garage_theridgewoodblog

The Franklin Street “Village Garage” lot was publicly targeted by the Village Council for condemnation as “blighted” as part of a redevelopment plan. The Village would rely on the decision in Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), a case decided by the U. S. Supreme Court involving the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another private owner to further economic development. Construction of a municipal parking garage would then follow. $15 million in bond money was raised for that purpose, but when Village residents objected to the heavy-handed use of the eminent domain power, the plan was dropped and the money spent on other priorities. The current owners bought the property at that time at a relatively low price expecting to make a tidy profit in the near future. Obviously that didn’t exactly pan out for them.