Offer developers incentives to build public parking
Editor, The Ridgewood Blog:
I get frustrated beyond belief whenever any member of the Village Council mentions all of the public parking spaces that will be permanently “lost” when the Brogan and Ken Smith properties are both fully developed (portions of both properties are now configured as surface parking lots and provide public parking to commuters and/or employees of CBD located businesses).
Yes; parking spaces will be lost during construction, but they don’t necessarily have to be lost permanently if someone on the Village Council would heed to my suggestion of offering incentives, in the form of tax abatements, exemptions, or reductions, to any developers who incorporate a public parking component into their development plans.
Believe me, if it were financially advantageous for a developer to incorporate a public parking deck/garage into their plans, they would rush to do so in a flash. Money talks, nobody walks.
So let’s get with it Village Council members – how about picking up the phone today and calling J. T. Bolger, Ned Cancelmo, John Saraceno, and Mike Smith to see what they have to say?
Boyd A. Loving
Ridgewood resident