October 7,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, its a tale of two cities Franklin avenue Funeral Establishment vs taxpayers Parking lots side by side . The pictures say 1000 words .
… employees are parking in spots for the general public, then we should eliminate the majority of the designated employee spots in the lot behind Bookends.
The main function served by those spots now is ticket writing, since it is almost impossible to find a parking spot in that lot, or on any nearby street on many occasions.
The designation of expensive valet parking will reduce parking spaces for the general public, which in turn will reduce business downtown or result in more “illegal” parking and increased fine revenue and revenue for the valet company.
How does any of that serve the public interest in Ridgewood ? I now spend less time and money in Ridgewood than I did a few years ago, and that trend will continue. Parking has become more difficult in my 20+ years in Ridgewood. Glen Rock, HoHoKus, Waldwick, Wyckoff and other local towns have managed to avoid this degree of parking problem.
Just received this email from the
Village Manager…
POSTPONEMENT OF CENTRAL VALET SERVICE IN RIDGEWOOD CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
The Village f Ridgewood Central Valet Service, scheduled to launch on Friday, October 6th, has been postponed to a later date. This will allow the Village to address some minor technical issues. We appreciate your patience ad are grateful for your continued support.
NOTICE from the Village of Ridgewood to all the Businesses in the CBD …
On Friday, October 6, 2017, the Village of Ridgewood will be launching a CENTRAL VALET service (“CV”). It will be a three month pilot program through 12/31/17. The CV will operate
Friday and Saturday nights from 6pm-1am.
The goal is to bring more people to the CBD.
The details:
1. Valet Parking will be in 2 locations:
– Between Van Neste Park and the NJ Transit Bus Station.
– At the end of E. Ridgewood Ave, in the small parking lot
by Latour restaurant.
– Overflow parking for the CV will be in the North Walnut
Street Parking lot, in the CBD employee parking section.
2. The fee charged to the patron is $5 per vehicle.
3. The parking areas for the CV, Van Neste Square, Latour’s and
North Walnut Street lot, will be barricaded by 4pm on Fri/Sat.
CBD employees who usually park in the CBD spaces in North
Walnut St. lot will park in the Cottage Place CBD spaces
after 4pm.
Merchants can opt-in to pay the $5 fee for their patrons. These businesses will be listed both online and at each location.
For more info email [email protected]. To fill out form
www.ridgewoodnj.net/cv or call 201-60-5500 x 203.
If you did not received a copy of the official letter from the
Village Clerk, call 201-670-5500 x203.
No-one seems to want to answer the questions put forth in many prior blogs.
1. Where is the water going to come from to supply the needs of all these new residences? I realize they don’t water but hundreds of new families’ personal uses would probably end up to close to the amount of water the lawns consume. They will also have to have some beautification of lawns and trees which will also require watering.
2. Will residents of other areas using Ridgewood Water also be required to limit outdoor water usage as we do? There has been no such agreement in place up to now. Will we be able to hire summer employees (the old crossing guards?) to drive around Ridgewood in the dawn hours and write down all addresses of lawns being sprinkled in violation of the rules? We all know this goes on!
The steady erosion of true public parking options in Ridgewood will decrease the number of patrons of Ridgewood businesses.
Go to the lot behind Bookends. The majority of the employee only spaces are either empty or filled with non-employee vehicles. Often every single regular parking spot is filled, which pressures people to risk a ticket by parking in the employee only spaces.
The number of designated employee spaces far exceeds the usage by employees. I have seen this on weekdays, evenings, and on weekends. There are routinely more empty employee parking spaces than spaces in use, which is a massive waste given the perennial parking problems in Ridgewood.
Is the real goal of the valet parking in formerly public spaces and the designated employee spaces revue from tickets?
I have already reduced my usage of downtown Ridgewood because of the parking problems. How much money has the Village wasted on parking studies over the past 20 years without ever acting to add to the available parking? The cost of the studies in that time would have paid for an additional parking structure over an existing lot, which would not have required any of the expensive and litigation prone processes of acquiring additional property.
Mismanagement of the parking situation will hurt the businesses the parking should support. Without those businesses and the taxes they pay, the Village budged would be in dire straits indeed.
file photo by Boyd Loving
October 4,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, at last nights Planning Board meeting the Ridgewood Planning board cleared the way Village Council designate the Hudson Street Parking lot an “area in need of redevelopment.” .The vote is a major step toward stream lining the garage development process , lowering costs and giving the council members the ability to negotiate directly with a developer of their choosing, rather than putting a design out to bid.
This vote did not mean that the Ridgewood Planning Board approves a garage at Hudson Street , it merely designated the area a “blighted area” , giving the council the ability to more more effectively for tax payers.
The council has been eyeing a modular design, using precast parts, from Pike, a Rochester, New York, firm. The Pike proposal came in far cheaper , saving tax payer money and with a much shorter disruptive construction period. Pike’s more modest and cost effective proposal is far different than the “Garagezilla ” that the former mayor Paul Aronsohn and his collogues attempted to push through .
While many resident supported a garage , they rejected “Garagezilla” on both the choice of financing schemes , making no financial sense for the Village and because the gigantic garage did not fit the footprint of the current lot .
NOTICE from the Village of Ridgewood to all the Businesses in the CBD …
October 4,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, On Friday, October 6, 2017, the Village of Ridgewood will be launching a CENTRAL VALET service (“CV”). It will be a three month pilot program through 12/31/17. The CV will operate
Friday and Saturday nights from 6pm-1am. The goal is to bring more people to the CBD.
The details:
1. Valet Parking will be in 2 locations:
– Between Van Neste Park and the NJ Transit Bus Station.
– At the end of E. Ridgewood Ave, in the small parking lot
by Latour restaurant.
– Overflow parking for the CV will be in the North Walnut
Street Parking lot, in the CBD employee parking section.
2. The fee charged to the patron is $5 per vehicle.
3. The parking areas for the CV, Van Neste Square, Latour’s and
North Walnut Street lot, will be barricaded by 4pm on Fri/Sat.
CBD employees who usually park in the CBD spaces in North
Walnut St. lot will park in the Cottage Place CBD spaces
after 4pm.
Merchants can opt-in to pay the $5 fee for their patrons. These businesses will be listed both online and at each location.
For more info email [email protected]. To fill out form
www.ridgewoodnj.net/cv or call 201-60-5500 x 203.
If you did not received a copy of the official letter from the
Village Clerk, call 201-670-5500 x203.
Nicholas Katzban, Staff Writer, @NicholasKatzban
Ridgewood Councilman Ramon Hache sees one downside to restaurant valet service as towns across North Jersey try to boost their central business districts.
“Valet parking is great because each car that pulls into a valet lot is a car that’s not driving around the block over and over,” Hache said. “But for other businesses, that customer is not walking past other retailers.”
On Monday, Hache visited businesses along East Ridgewood Avenue to gauge their interest in a municipally run downtown valet service, which will begin a three-month pilot program on Friday, running through the end of December.
With a municipally operated valet service, he said, people dining downtown can enjoy the convenience of valet parking without the downside of door-to-door privatized valets, which can reduce impulse shopping at other businesses. Instead, customers can walk a few blocks back to the village’s valet station, passing other shops and cafes.
Each Friday and Saturday night, the angled parking along the west side of Van Neste Square and the commuter lot on South Broad Street will be closed at 4:30 p.m. Then, from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. the village will offer valet service to anyone shopping or dining downtown.
file photo by ArtChick
September 30,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood has rolled out the Ridgewood Estate Card, a new property tax savings program now available to Ridgewood property owners. The program offers a debit like card that offers a reward on purchases that is automatically applied to reduce Ridgewood property taxes billed to the cardholder. An even greater level of reward is offered at participating local and online merchants. Tax rewards are applied annually to the third quarter tax bill.
If you visit RidgewoodEstateCard.com you can learn more about this exciting opportunity and to sign up for the program. Once signed up, one will receive their card via US mail in 5-7 business days. Each time the card is used, a percentage of that purchase is earned toward property tax reduction. Reward amounts are listed in both the cardholder’s online account and on the easy to use Card Rewards mobile app.
Use the card for your everyday spending and simultaneously reduce your property tax! On every dollar you spend, a percentage is earned as a reward paid towards your property tax. The more you spend, the less you owe!
The Estate Card also encourages local spending with many Central Business District merchants are offering a higher reward earned on local purchases, ultimately creating growth and sustainability in your community.
Take a look , White Maple Café offers a 5% tax reward , Ridgewood Eyewear a 10% tax reward , Taylor & Taylor Oriental Rugs offers a 30% tax reward , so if you just replace the card you are using for the shopping you are currently doing you will save money on your property taxes. https://ridgewoodestatecard.com/shop/localstores .
There are also over 3,200 online merchants that offer Ridgewood property tax rewards https://ridgewoodestatecard.com/shop/stores .
Cardholders can earn a base reward of .25% on all transactions and as much as an additional 25% at participating local and online merchants.
The RidgewoodEstateCard website also offers a Search function to find the best price with the largest tax reward amount. Save money while paying down your taxes!
You can also share a deal in your reward account. If you want a family member or friend to be able to take advantage, no problem, share the deal with them or post it to social media, they will get the deal and you will earn the tax reward!
file photo
September 21,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, at this point you can only laugh . Once again another ” independent traffic consultant” told the planning board on Tuesday night that a two-building mixed-use redevelopment project in the old Sealfon’s space would have minimal impact on downtown traffic , this time wait for it , “due to a massive reduction in the properties’ existing commercial space”. Where do they find these people? The “retail” is a teller less bank and one retail store ?
The planning board showed great restraint not busting into laughter. By the way where is the water going to come from?
The Enclave as it is called would encompass several properties, including that of the Hallmark Floor Company and Sealfon’s on Maple Avenue, and would contain 39 luxury-rate apartments on four floors above one story of underground parking lot that will serve the building’s commercial units with 84 spaces. A second story of parking at street level would be reserved for tenants of The Enclave but would only contain 47 spaces 10 spaces short of what zoning codes require.
The Enclave would be the fourth “Aronsohn” or “3 amigo” inspired project that followed a master plan amendment to rezone downtown Ridgewood for multifamily high density housing.
As a kicker 257 Ridgewood Avenue LLC would even be willing to add a $50,000 contribution to a fair share trust fund, which would partially fund a replacement traffic light for Maple and Franklin avenues. The would mean Village tax payers would be stuck with anywhere from $200-400,000 of the cost . Maybe the previous council majority should be asked to fund the upgrades or the developer should share ownership with the Ridgewood taxpayer ?
September 16,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Craft & Art Street Fair will be tomorrow September 17,2017 from 12 PM – 5 PM along East Ridgewood Ave. Ridgewood, N.J.
The fair features 175 exhibitors with arts, photography & crafts, a large food court, a kidz area with pony rides, a petting zoon & inflatables & all day music. Held rain or shine.
Parking 31 %
Unelected Special Interests 6.9 %
Urbanization 11 %
Taxes 33.1 %
CBD 2 %
Development 7.3 %
Cost of Living 8.7 %
September 16,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the long running Ridgewood blog poll gave us an interesting take on what residents feel are the biggest issues in the Village . As expected taxes garnered 33.1 % of the vote , trailed by a close second Parking with 31% .Urbanization came in a distant 3rd with 11% followed by cost of living 8.7% , surprisingly development at 7.3% ,unelected special interests 6.9% and last the Central Business District (CBD) with a mere 2%. The CBD number may be more of a parking issue and a cost of living or Urbanization issue but despite all the hub bub from certain sectors ,no one seems to think its an issue .
While our crack staff concluded that even if you combined Urbanization and development it still only came in with 18.3% , which was still a distant 3rd . Adding unelected special interests ie developers and out side political interference that would still leave it in 3rd place with a 25.2%.The conclusion being that most residents do not object to development but perhaps its the size and scale that seem to raise the ire .
Taxes as expected is the number one issue in town and in New Jersey and its also the number one reason for people leaving the state , the assumption being residents vote with their feet and see no evidence that taxes will even stabilize anytime soon. Feeding the say yes to everything because your moving out on graduation day and most likely meaning that all the “Age Friendly” Ridgewood stuff is just a complete waste of time.
We don’t think the polls told us anything different that we expected , but given all the talk from local officials about trees, ball fields , schools , the CBD, quality of life issues , most readers seem ready to park their cars in a new state as soon as soon as the graduation pronouncement is made.
Paint Out in Downtown Ridgewood
September 10 @ 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Call to Artists, Members and Friends of The Ridgewood Art Institute!
Save this Date: September 10, 2017
Please join us to Paint Out
in Downtown Ridgewood during The Ridgewood Guild’s Music Festival
• Register in the RAI tent located in the park from 12 to 1
• Paint from 1 to 3:30 (please note that the Music Festival
will take place in the park from 1 to 6)
• Join us along Ridgewood Ave. near the park to display and sell
(if desired) your plein air paintings from 4-6.
• Artists should bring their own easels and paint supplies*
• There is no registration fee – but donations will be appreciated!
Painting subjects will range from
musicians – to the crowd -to downtown scenes.
A great opportunity to share the day with family and friends too!
*Watch for more news to come about related RAI plein air
demos and instruction.
September 6,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Chef Danny is launching his new menu this weekend, stop by to try it or order in. Chef Daniel Montoya with over 18 years of experience oversees the kitchen at the location for Radicchio. He prepares classic home style Italian dishes for your enjoyment.
Radicchio Pasta And Risotto
radicchionj.com
34 Franklin Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 · ~59.2 mi
(201) 670-7311
September 6,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Join us on Sunday, September 10, 2017 (rain or shine) at Memorial Park in Van Neste Square from 1pm – 7pm, Rain or Shine for live music, fine food from local restaurants, a beer and wine garden, raffles and prizes, and more!
Live Bands Featuring: The Declan Power Band, Country Joe Trio, Blue Place Special, Eugene Thomas and No Big Deal, Stilettos, Treble and No Money Down! This is a free event with food, drink, and music, music, music!
