Tag: Hudson Street garage

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Vote ‘NO’ on June 21st, and let the new Ridgewood council pick a contractor for Hudson Street Garage after July 1st

godzilla

June 6,2016

Text copied from post by “Take Back Ridgewood”Facebook page :
The referendum petition which over 1200 Ridgewood residents signed and submitted under Home Rule to the village clerk, called for a referendum question in November election with the following text:
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“Shall Ordinance No. 3521 authorizing the Council of the Village of Ridgewood to issue $11,500,000 bonds or notes to finance the cost of constructing the Hudson Street Parking Deck, currently contemplated as a 4 story, 5 level Parking Deck, be ratified?”
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Our Mayor and current council majority are forcing this election before they leave, and they changed the referendum question to:
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“Shall ordinance No. 3521 submitted by referendum petition providing for the Council of the Village of the Ridgewood to issue $11,500,000 bonds or notes to finance the cost of constructing the Hudson Street parking deck, be adopted”
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Summary: Over 1200 Ridgewood residents submitted a petition, asking for a question in November election for 11.5M bond for a 5 level garage. The Mayor and his team fast tracked that election and removed the text about 5th level from the question.
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1.Mayor Aronsohn is trying to ignore May 10th election and people’s will. If this question is voted “yes” on June 21, he will award a 5 level garage contract in his last 9 days. NO BIDDING has been done for this 11.5 Million$ contract and the details are only known to Gwenn / Paul / Roberta / Albert (I.e. Parking committee). The new council elects and Susan and Mike will have to work with this new contractor for project completion, while they are NOT being part of the contractor selection process or any other design / engineering discussions. Mayor Aronshon and his team will not be here to see through this project to it’s completion – and won’t have any accountability. Why are they hiding the contractor selection process from other council members?
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2. Mayor Aronshon is again pulling the “it’s only financing question” card, which he did in November election. He is writing to residents saying “Basically, do you support financing and building a parking deck at Hudson Street that could cost up to $11.5 million.”. He is hiding the fact that this special election was called for because of the size and design of the garage. The residents united to stop the financing because of the size of the garage.
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Please vote ‘NO’ on June 21st, and let the new council pick a contractor for Hudson Street Garage after July 1st. So they can see through the project to it’s completion and can be held accountable for picking the right contractor.
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Reader says Vote NO on the big Ridgewood garage

Ridgewood Parking

Reader says Vote NO on the big garage, Hudson lot half empty at 3:45 pm Saturday, 6/4

Please vote NO on the big garage. Once again we see the Hudson St lot with many open spaces on a busy Saturday. Everyone is in town, school is in session, the weather was great, and there is parking everywhere. Available parking in the CBR is the rule, not the exception even on a warm spring day before summer vacation.
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Wait a Minute Ed did you just say Ridgewood Does Not Need a Parking Garage ?

Ridegwood parking Town garage 12:10 5 24 2016

Ed says , “High rents are an issue from the past. Commercial rents have declined precipitioulsy since the last recession. Rents and house prices are not determined solely by landlords or home sellers they are determined by prevailing market conditions at the time a transaction is contemplated. The entire process is driven solely by supply and demand. If demand for a particular real estate product is high then the cost of that product will be priced to reflect the current market demand. Conversely when demand is weak prices will fall …..and .sometimes they will fall rather quickly …..and dramatically. Generally speaking at any given time rents are a fairly accurate reflection of either current or anticipated conditions in the specific market to which the property relates. The problem is if a business cannot attract enough customers ANY RENT THEY PAY IS TOO HIGH TO SUSTAIN THEIR BUSINESS. The problem in Ridgewood is a dearth of customers. On the retail side people increasingly prefer to buy goods online at incredibly good prices and they enjoy the added benefir of having the goods delivered right to their door.. A conventional retailer can’t beat that type of competitor.”

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Ridgewood Central District Parking Cottage place 10.58 am Saturday May 21st, 2016

Cottage place 10

I wish people would take photos of parking spaces all over town on different days of the week, ordinary and holiday, and at different times to show in aggregate that parking IS AVAILABLE. A large number of photos documented at various times and days of the week would tell the story. Walking a couple of blocks is good for your health! And unless you’re going to a Hudson St. or S. Broad Street venue, you’ll walk a couple of blocks (or much more) from the garage anyway. Please VOTE NO on June 21 and get an absentee ballot if you can’t.

send them in : onlyonesmallvoice@gmail.com   do not for get date, time

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Reader says the Ridgewood garage is the Trojan Horse the village now admits, we don’t need more parking, we don’t even utilize what we have

3 amigos

file photo by Boyd Loving

The garage is all about high density housing, not restaurants. Without it, the over development of Ridgewood cannot happen. Without over development the property owners, who paid a lot for the land, cannot make money. They need to develop the lots past what parking on the property supports to maximize rental revenue.

They are playing the long game to draw families here to multi bedroom rentals with our schools as the magnetic force. It is very simple. Problem is, our schools are over capacity and our high school is well past capacity. So, how will our schools stay at the top? They can’t. That doesn’t concern the developer, he’ll have sold by then. It will be someone else’s problem. It is simple and undeniably true. They lie about Brogan and Ken Smith parking spaces needing to be replaced, spots that are not a part of the public parking inventory. “Smiling faces with hidden agendas”.

The garage is the Trojan Horse. The village now admits, we don’t need more parking, we don’t even utilize what we have. Higher density, higher congestion, higher fees. They want a city.

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Its2BIG Petition Rounds Up 1227 Signatures in Ridgewood !

its2BIG
April 12,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood
Ridgewood NJ, Its2BIG Garage petition was completed on Tuesday afternoon! It was cheerfully accepted with 1227 signatures ,many more signatures than were needed. It’s a great day for democracy.

“Thank you so much to everybody who supported our petition. Total signatures: 1,227. The BCIA ordinance has been rescinded. It is our understanding that the local bond is now suspended until the council takes further action on our petition. One level down, shovels in the ground. Power to the people!”

Saurabh Dani,Dana Glazer,Ellen Mcnamara,Lorraine Reynolds,Melanie McWilliams

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“overwhelming majority of Ridgewood Residents” favored parking but far less support the over sized Ridgewood Garagezilla

godzilla
March 22,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Pro City residents continue to harp on the refrain:  Didn’t an Didn’t an overwhelming majority of Ridgewood Residents vote in favor of a garage? To say the council only cares about builders, restaurant owners and party bosses is a lie – they are listening to the majority of us who are in favor or a garage. vote in favor of a garage?

Ridgewood Council members have even expressed concern over the “overwhelming majority of Ridgewood Residents”. The staff of the Ridgewood blog turned up some interesting foresight with a recent OPRA request of the Mayor Paul Aronsohns emails .

“I voted for the parking deck like many other before realizing how big the plan was to be . It will never be self supporting inless it is filled with commuters who will clog the narrow streets . There of coarse will need to be stop lights put at the intersection of East Ridgewood and Broad . The parking lot as it now stands is a disgrace and dangerous .certainly build something but not the huge facility that is envisioned now. Floral Park Nassau County ,Long Island also built a parking lot near the LIRR and it was said it was going to be filled and self supporting .It never was and the tax payers make up the difference .”
The OPRA requests turned up many such emails , with the conclusion being that many voted for a garage but not the over sized monstrosity proposed . More did not believe the Mayor and sugested a lack of confidence in the Village decision making process
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Reader says Ridgewood garage process has been pushed through in such a deceitful manner from the start

Hudson_Street garage ridgewood

photo by Saurabh Dani

This garage process has been pushed through in such a deceitful manner from the start.

Lie #1 – Tell Father Ron in July the town plans to build a deck on the lot.
Lie #2 – tell voters the garage will be self-funding
Lie #3 – tell voters that nothing has been decided with respect to the design or size. You are just voting whether you want a deck at the Hudson street lot.
Lie #4 – hide the fact that the intended garage is 23 feet beyond property line, 12 feet into Hudson street
Lie #5 – bury Maser report that shows actual encroachment, claim it was in draft form and it didn’t need to be shared with all council members, only share with those that can keep the secret
Lie #6 – vote for option A, then tell the public that the “discussion” that was promised with respect to size and design just happened. Residents… You didn’t think we really meant that did you?
Lie #7 – when residents realize in late December the true extent of the garage the council majority VOTED on, they come to plead and beg to change this monstrosity. They are told “it’s too bad if you didn’t realize before the vote what you were voting on”.
Lie #8 – told residents that they were going back to the drawing board to pull garage back onto the lot. New design still does not fit on the lot.
Lie #9 – Council run a design meeting with the HPC before the vote but doesn’t clarify to the members that the garage is sitting 12 feet in the street. They write a letter to support garage not realizing they were lied to regarding intended garage being built 12 feet in street.
Lie #10 – architect renderings for option D, not accurately depicting true mass or height of garage or width of street.
Lie #11 – 1 lane of traffic with option D, not 2 as stated in resolution.
Lie #12 – mayor publicly calls residents liars during collection of signatures for a petition. Says they are lying about how much garage will cost if they choose to continue with financing through BCIA. Truth…it could costs thousands over 25 years.

I’m sure I missed a few. We deserve better government. You can turn a blind eye to the way this process has occurred, because you want a garage so badly, but you shouldn’t.

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Ridgewood moves to locally finance construction of parking garage

Village Council Meeting2

photo by Boyd Loving

BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — The Village Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to introduce an ordinance allowing Ridgewood to bond for a new municipal parking garage on its own, despite recent assurances from Bergen County that it would provide the financing.

The ordinance, up for a second hearing and vote of adoption on March 23, would authorize the issuing of $11.5 million in municipal bonds to fund construction of a four-story parking deck on the corner of Hudson and South Broad streets.

Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, who’d voted against a similar $12.3-million ordinance in early January, said she was voting in favor of local bonding with the understanding the council was “going to look at some redesign options” for the proposed 325-vehicle garage, which some residents have called too large for the proposed site.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-moves-to-locally-finance-construction-of-parking-garage-1.1521132

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Ridgewood First responders may be unable to fit under the parking deck

valleyEmergency_theridgewoodblog
February 29,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, In the desire to fit maximum spots on the Hudson St lot the current proposed design still proposed 5 stories (including roof level parking) while the height of the building has been reduced. This was achieved by reducing the height of every story. Residents hope the council does the right thing and does not compromise on safety in their attempt to fit maximum cars at one spot. Here is what happened at Short hills mall: Quote from the article:
“Then, more time passed because the ambulance was unable to fit under the parking deck’s ceiling, forcing first responders to roll a stretcher up an entrance ramp to Friedland.”
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Reader says Petitioners were welcomed and greeted warmly ar Bergen County Freeholder Meeting

photo courtesy of Maura DeNicola Packed Freeholder Meeting Room for the State of the County

file photo by Freeholder Maura DeNicola

Last night a few of us went to the Freeholders meeting in Hackensack because the introduction of their ordinance to OK the BCIA funding our garage was on the agenda. We were welcomed and greeted warmly. Several came over to us before the meeting, introduced themselves, offered great support and adulation for our grass roots effort with the petition, explained the process, etc.

When one of us was speaking the timer went off, and instead of shutting the speaker down, they asked him politely to wrap it up and let him finish. It was unbelievable. Then I realized it was not unbelievable, it was simply not something that we are accustomed to after being beaten and bashed by the Council majority.

While our mayor calls the petitioners outright liars who are fueled by misinformation, these elected officials applauded our interest and passion. Mayor Aronsohn could take a huge lesson in civility by watching these truly fine individuals in action. Well it won’t be long until the three of them are gone and we will have peace, civility and decency once again.

The freeholders had already met with Aronsohn, of course, and they told us that Aronsohn assured them yesterday afternoon that it was going to be funded by Ridgewood and that he expected to have a vote on this by next week. At that point, we were told, the entire involvement of the BCIA and freeholders would go “poof.” (their word). In the meantime, they told us that they would be voting unanimously last night to approve the funding by the BCIA because they are not involved with design, height, location, or any of that. Their only job is to say yea or nay to the BCIA request, and they had no reason to say nay.

Two takeaways –

1. Aronsohn told them that it is definitely going to be funded in town. Interesting, because last night at the VC he refused to take the BCIA ordinance off the books and he continued to sing the praises of the BCIA.

2. Aronsohn will be taking full credit if it gets funded in town, when in fact the efforts of the petition drive is the sole reason that he got backed into this corner. Power to the people.

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Reject the lease/purchase agreement with the Bergen County Improvement Authority (BCIA) to fund the Hudson Street garage

garage new design

To the Editor,

I am writing to urge my friends and neighbors to let our council know we reject entering into a lease/purchase agreement with the Bergen County Improvement Authority (BCIA) to fund the Hudson Street garage.

Our referendum vote shows that the majority of Villagers support funding a garage on Hudson street. We enjoy a triple AAA rating, and do not need Bergen County for funding. The only reason to go to the BCIA is because our own Council can not agree on the design, and the Council majority believes they and only they know best.

If funding through Bergen County, the likely results will be a garage controlled by the county. All Bergen County residents, including out of town commuters, will have the same access and fee structure as Ridgewood residents. Ridgewood’s general parking fund, which has been used to absorb budgetary overages will no longer be allowed to do so, which most likely will impact our taxes.

We elect our Council with the expectation that they will work together to represent the best interests of our Village. I would like to think they wouldn’t make decisions for our Village that they wouldn’t make in their own personal lives. Yet they approved change orders and are pushing forward with a plan to have the BCIA fund the garage when the public and the Council haven’t received photo simulations, rough site plan with footprint, details of how on street parking will be impacted etc. Would you approve funds for work on your own home without knowing what it would look like? Would you build into the street and not let your neighbors know? if you did so would you expect them to be upset?

Council members Sedon and Knudsen have stated that they would support a garage that fits on the lot, fits within the streetscape, and when their is a clear financial plan in place. Councilwoman Knudsen has repeatedly said she would like to have photo simulations to bring to the church and neighbors for their input. Isn’t that what we would desire from our neighbors? Councilman Sedon has expressed interest in having the specific financial plan in place. Again, this is a very reasonable request. We know the garage is not self funding and meter rates will rise but it has not been determined how much and what the impact will be on local businesses. Would you be willing to pay $.75-$1.00 for a coffee in town or to mail a package or might you visit Glen Rock or Midland Park instead?

I believe when all these details are known, we can achieve a 5-0 vote in favor of a garage we can all be happy with. Please email your council and ask them to work together and say no to the BCIA.

Paul Aronsohn – paronsohn@ridgewoodnj.net
Albert Pucciarelli – apucciarelli@ridgewoodnj.net
Gwenn Hauck – ghauck@ridgewoodnj.net
Susan Knudsen – sknudsen@ridgewoodnj.net
Michael Sedon – msedon@ridgewoodnj.net

Thank you,

Carrie Giordano

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Too many anti Ridgewood garage letters bad for newspaper business?

Hudson Street Parking Garage
February 18,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Several persons who object to BCIA involvement in the ongoing parking deck debacle have recently written letters to The Ridgewood News only to find receipt of those letters unacknowledged, and also never published.
As a result of a full page ad supporting BCIA involvement that appears in this week’s edition of The Ridgewood News, which was paid for by the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce, the staff of The Ridgewood Blog now wonders if The Ridgewood News has chosen not to publish too many anti garage letters to the editor for fear of losing advertising revenue from local merchants who belong to the Chamber.
Two letters in direct support of the garage and BCIA involvement are printed in this week’s edition of The Ridgewood News. There are no letters specifically opposing the BCIA becoming involved, although one anti garage letter was printed.
Is it possible that The Ridgewood News sold out its readers in favor of its advertisers?
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Questions Arise on the “New Walker Report” for Ridgewood Parking Garage

garage new design

February 12,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Some questions from the most recent walker report. May be some of our readers who are more financial savvy can answer them / explain them, as residents are a little confused:

1. The main argument for the biggest garage is that it is needed for CBD’s revival. This week’s Walker Report projects up-to 20% reduction in cars coming in to CDB. So, how exactly will this help?

“We project a 10% reduction in volume from rate increases and a 7.5% – 10% reduction in volume for the extension of meter hours through the dinner hour”..
https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/20160203revwalker.pdf

2. OLMC was promised that no rates will increase on Saturday evenings. This report doesn’t reflect that.

3. They mention that this report cannot be used for financing. So, the consultant themselves are not confident about this report?
“As with the previous study, this is considered a preliminary analysis. We have not done the very detailed analysis that is required for a financing document and our projections cannot be used as such.”

4. On Jan 27th, in village council meeting, when this new contract was awarded to Walker Consultants, we were told that they will provide us the new makeup of the parking garage, i.e. how many commuters, how many shoppers and how many CBD employees should park there. That break down is not provided in this report (I think we paid somewhere between 12-20k for this piece of pdf).

5. This report recommends additional enforcement for the extended hours, but it doesn’t consider additional enforcement officer’s compensation in the calculations?

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Referendum petition to repeal the BCIA Funding ordinance Circulating in Ridgewood

garage new design

Hi James,
As expected, the council voted 3-2 on ordinance 3519, which allows them to  enter into a lease purchase agreement with the BCIA for the Hudson Street parking garage.

There are a group of residents that started a referendum petition to repeal the ordinance. We need to get about 1000 signatures in 20 days. Then a binding referendum question would go on the May ballot asking if the ordinance should be adopted?

People can go to no2bcia@gmail.com to find out where they can go to sign the petition.

Thanks