Town Garage - Page 2 of 3 - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

Posted on August 7, 2017 August 7, 2017

Reader says the Village could obtain the Town Garage at a depressed price by declaring the area “blighted” and invoking its power of eminent domain

The Village would presumably be stuck with 100% of the remediation costs if it decided to obtain the property at a depressed price by formally declaring the area “blighted” and invoking its power of eminent domain. On the other hand, the Village could just make a free market offer with a lowball number that takes into account the anticipated costs of remediation. One wonders, however, if the current owners would be motivated to sell in that circumstance. More likely, they would take such an offer as an invitation to negotiate. In that event the Village would need to have a (closely guarded secret) topmost number in mind and be ready to threaten to walk, and then actually walk away from the deal, Trump-style, if (when) the current owners get too greedy.

Posted on August 6, 2017 August 6, 2017

Reader says I cannot believe that Ridgewood would buy the Town Garage without remediation by the present owners

I cannot believe that Ridgewood would buy that property without remediation by the present owners. They rushed in to buy it before Ridgewood could finalize their decision to buy. They knew they would make a large profit on it as they knew Ridgewood would eventually buy it from them. They knew massive amounts of remediation were necessary but bought it anyway. If we let them get by with that–and the names of the purchasers should show very familiar names–they have succeeded in proving that Ridgewood can be suckered as they originally believed. Wake up Council! Make them clean it up, or reduce the price by the cost of cleaning. That would probably leave them in the hole on the purchase. The buyers knew what they were doing. Does Ridgewood?

Posted on August 1, 2017 August 1, 2017

Reader says Town Garage is like some intergalactic stepping off point for a Steven King adult Day Camp

Town Garage is like some intergalactic stepping off point for a Steven King adult Day Camp..since the issues are hard..don’t ask don’t tell..lets it go to seed to be the whipping post instead of and for the bitching about how the whole town and its roads are a complete mess..
And the VC Still thinks fish needs a parking garage structure for good old times sake.,,another novel approach by the town leaders,

Posted on July 31, 2017 July 30, 2017

Reader says Denial is not an action plan for the decrepit Town Garage in Ridgewood

Town Leadership….Denial is not an action plan..The decrepit Town Garage as an Enviromental Hazard has got to be dealt with at some point..especially as those above ground structures fail and create a slum condition.as an abandoned industrial waste site there could easily be a fire or other collapse adjacent to the towns surface parking lot which at peak or event periods also has risks from that failing structure.what is the town doing to force a solution by the owners who possibly are an investment company,?

Posted on February 18, 2017 February 18, 2017

Rockland lawyer involved with the Town Garage gets prison for lying to investigators

February 18,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Reader pointed out that the owner, Ridgewood 120, LLC , the owner of the “Town Garage ” is either owned or represented by a Burton Dorfman, ESQ. Coincidentally, he was in the new four days ago.

Rockland lawyer Burton Dorfman gets prison for lying to investigators

Steve Lieberman , slieberm@lohud.comPublished 2:58 p.m. ET Feb. 13, 2017 | Updated 5:04 p.m. ET Feb. 13, 2017

Federal judge sentences Rockland attorney Burton Dorfman to six months in prison

A Rockland attorney was sentenced Monday to six months in federal prison for lying to federal Labor Department investigators looking into accusations he stole money from a profit-sharing plan at his former law firm.

Burton Dorfman, once a prominent development and investment lawyer, also must repay the fund $212.429, pay a $25,000 fine and $100 court fee under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel at the White Plains federal courthouse.

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2017/02/13/burton-dorfman-lawyer-sentenced/97851046/

Posted on February 17, 2017 February 17, 2017

Town Garage ,A History of Ownership Transactions

February 17,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, reader questions the ownership status of the “Town Garage” , “Last I heard an LLC or such owned it. Did they manage to pass it off to the town w/o cleaning it? The Village would be nuts to have bought it in an “as is” condition. The owner of the Town Garage property was bought out by the LLC (?) with little or no warning. I assume he sold “as is” because he really had not planned on selling it. I hope they didn’t make a tidy profit by selling it “as is” to the town. Or worse, the Village cleaning it up for the present owners with a deal to then buy it at a reasonable price.”

One of the more effective tools on the Ridgewood blog is the “timeline ” it continues to roll and record the ups and downs of the Village of Ridgewood. Will a little search we found comments from March 1st, 2007 discussing the ownership of the Town Garage.

The Town Garage, 120 Franklin Avenue; the eye of the storm . . .

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The current hot discussion topic among those who monitor Village Hall happenings is how an out of town firm was able purchase the Town Garage property from right out under the noses of Village Council members. Village ownership of the subject property (see posted photo) is seen as key to the successful construction of a municipal parking garage.

Reportedly, Village officials had offered previous owner Richard Agnello more than the $1.265 million sale price. However, it is being reported that Mr. Agnello refused to sell until the Village found a suitable location nearby for him to relocate his motor vehicle repair facility.

So the fly would like to know: 1) How was the Wells partnership able to buy the property for less than what Village officials had offered Mr. Agnello? 2) Will Mr. Agnello be closing up shop, or has the Wells partnership found a location for him to move his operation to? And, 3) What prompted the Wells partnership to purchase a piece of property destined for involvement in eminent domain proceedings?

https://theridgewoodblog.net/the-town-garage-120-franklin-avenue-the-eye-of-the-storm/

And in May of 2007 we asked if the Town Garage was for sale yet again.

Is the former Town Garage property for sale, again?

Village Council members met behind closed doors on Wednesday evening to
discuss possible options for acquiring 120 Franklin Avenue, formerly home of
the Town Garage. Acquisition of this property is key to the planned
construction of a municipal parking garage at the northwest corner of North
Walnut Street and Franklin Avenue.

It is now rumored that Ridgewood 120 LLC, the site’s current owners, have
offered the property for sale to Village officials at a price much higher
than the $1.265 million paid in November of 2006. Scuttlebutt is that
Ridgewood 120 LLC’s asking price is at least $1.865 million, and possibly as
high as $2.265 million. The current owners have made no improvements to the
property since purchasing it from the Agnello family late last year.

Council members must decide whether to: 1) pay the asking price, or 2) enact
the right of eminent domain, or 3) revise parking garage building plans to
eliminate the need for that parcel. Still unanswered is the question: “How
did Village Council members manage to get themselves in such an expensive
jam? In other words, how was a real estate investment group able to acquire
the Town Garage property from right under the Council’s noses?”

https://theridgewoodblog.net/is-the-former-town-garage-property-for-sale-again/

Posted on February 15, 2017 February 15, 2017

Reader says Contamination at the Town Garage was well known to the purchasers who rushed to beat the Village in buying the land–hoping to make a substantial profit

Contamination at the Town Garage was well known to the purchasers who rushed to beat the Village in buying the land–hoping to make a substantial profit when they then sold it to the Village. They own it. It should be their responsibility for cleaning it up before selling it to the Village at a handsome profit. Is the Village going to subtract the cost of cleanup from the eventual purchase price? Or are we paying a premium to purchase the land and then must add cleanup costs to that? The lawyer groups were in such a rush to buy–why aren’t they being forced to do the cleanup? A homeowner with a leaking oil tank can’t just pass that cost on to the buyer, so why are we cleaning up land we don’t own?

Posted on January 24, 2017 January 23, 2017

Employee parking lots near Town Garage extremely underutilized in Ridgewood

January 24,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Monday 10.45 employee parking lots aside Town Garage extremely underutilized. These same spots held train pass holders who were moved into center crowded area of this same lot.

Posted on January 13, 2017 January 12, 2017

Reader Gives the Story Behind the “Town Garage ” in Ridgewood

A decade or so ago, the Ridgewood village tried, via an arguably aggressive application of eminent domain principles, simply to take by forced sale the property upon which the “Ridgewood Garage” building stands. This was hot on the heels of the controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision which, in order to find lawful the use by a Connecticut municipality of eminent domain to boot ordinary fee simple owners of residential properties in an “underperforming” (ahem!) neigborhood to make room for a proposed factory that mysteriously never got built, conveniently expanded the scope of the word “public” in the U.S. Constitution’s term “public use” to include a scheme that, at its heart, was nothing but a naked multistep attempt to eventually boost property tax revenue. The idea at the time was that the new U.S Supreme Court constitutional precedent rendered legitimate any property condemnation scheme that municipal powerbrokers could rig together that gave off the faintest whiff of a public benefit in the distant future, regardless of the immediately applicable common law rights of the owner of the targeted property or properties. One presumes the now battle-hardened owners of the Franklin Avenue parcel under discussion have been waiting to receive, at long last, a decent offer from the Village to purchase the lot that does not involve the coercion inherent in the use of the municipsl eminent domain power. Can it fairly be said that that particular lot, or, more broadly, that the “parking lottish” parts of the larger block defined by Ridgewood Avenue, Oak Street, Franklin Avenue and Walnut Street, is “blighted” to such a degree as to justify municipal action to use the eminent domain power to initiate a process by which it is redeveloped into a modern parking facility? The decision that was eventually taken years ago was that, despite the fact that the Village had already raised some $15 million via a corresponding municipal bond issuance to build a parking garage, the village would nevertheless relent, and not follow through on its threats to use its eminent domain power. We’ve since spent the proceeds of that bond issuance on other priorities. Unfortunately, we are still paying off the debt for a parking garage that, for good or ill, was never built.

Posted on January 11, 2017 January 11, 2017

Reader says I see the sign every day as I drive up Franklin and it says ” Town Garage”! can the message be any clearer?

The old town garage site which is in the process of being remediated due to gasoline and dry cleaning contaminants is the perfect place for a new garage if it is deemed needed. It is in the center of town baking it useful to employees, shoppers, diners and commuters. Franklin Avenue is in desperate need of a makeover. It is a wide much used street and could fit in quite nicely. In 2008 aproposal was made to put in apartments over some shops and a garage with a small park ( trees and a bench or two) on the Franklin Avenue side. At the time the developer would have done the cleanup.

Tanks have been removed already There is 900,000 dollars in the budget for cleanup and the DEP is coming in March to test soils in the area

It is now 2017, we are doing the remaining cleanup and could own the entire area with minimum difficulty. Now we have an asset and would be in control of how we develop it. An enviable position to be in and a much better spot than the Hudson Street location which is a narrow street, across from a church and could have a negative impact on small businesses in the area. I see the sign every day as I drive up Franklin and it says ” Town Garage”! can the message be any clearer?

Posted on September 2, 2016 September 2, 2016

Reader says Town Garage investors should be on the hook for the remediation

The problem with the town garage is that is a pollution nightmare. The property is now owned by a group of private investors who scooped it up to profit from a possible quick sale to the town as a parking garage. The investors should be on the hook for the remediation, but surely own the property in some sort of LLC with no assets. The town should take the property or start proceedings to have the current owners clean it up. the current cost of $1.2 million is an estimate and costs can surely be higher. We have let this pollution continue for too long and based on us having a ground water system need to do something NOW. we have waited wait too long. Hopefully the new council will shift into high gear and get something accomplished. That parking lot along with the town garage would make a nice parking garage. Forget about retail space.

Posted on September 15, 2015 September 14, 2015

Ridgewood continues talks on North Walnut Street site

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015, 9:35 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

With the prospect of a parking garage on Hudson Street and a vote looming on the fate of multifamily housing in the village, things are heating up downtown as summer comes to an end.

Last Wednesday, the council revived the subject of the North Walnut Street redevelopment zone and the potential future uses for the site, namely the possibility of housing for seniors in need of long-term personal care.

Preliminary negotiations have begun with Kensington Senior Development, which pitched an assisted-living facility for the Town Garage site at a council meeting in March.

One of the goals of redeveloping the North Walnut Street zone is to bring additional parking spaces to Ridgewood’s Central Business District (CBD).

The request for proposal (RFP) put out by the village stated a parking garage built on the site would have to result in a net gain of 100 spaces for village use. That number is beyond the spaces currently available and any spots reserved for the development.

Kensington proposed a 60-foot-high facility with 98 assisted-living units and retail space on the first floor for the 1.1-acre site, along with a parking garage to be built and donated to the village.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/talks-on-ridgewood-housing-proposal-continue-1.1409623

Posted on February 13, 2014 August 21, 2019

Reader Suggests Locating a Town Garage at the Schedler Property

Reader Suggests Locating a Town Garage at the Schedler Property

Not sure if we really need a third firehouse to handle the half a dozen fires we have in town each year but if we combined it with a police station to handle the increase in the size of the police force it might be cost effective. If the police were stationed there it would also stop the spike in crime.

A town garage would be a perfect use for that property. With the easy on/off access from Rt. 17 the Village could move all of its trucks, loaders, and equipment over there. Sanitation could move all of their garbage trucks over there as well as the recycling that is currently behind the fire house. There would be plenty of room for storage of sand and salt and I would bet there is even room for the mulching unit that property is so big. The Village could explore a joint usage agreement with the BOE who could store all of their trucks, mowers, tractors, and plows there as well and get that stuff out from behind BF where it takes up a lot of parking spaces and looks like hell. With the property completely fenced in with 10 foot high privacy fencing and a police substation, crime would not be a problem. It would also be a natural spot for the cell tower that is currently across Rt. 17 and is causing so much consternation. I think the cell tower would be a revenue generator as well.

With the recycling moved from behind the firehouse that land could be allowed to return to its natural state and Village’s net open space remains the same. The brook that carries the treated sewage water from Waldwick will then be able to flood and not damage any Village vehicles.

Thankfully the Village Council has not accepted the Village Engineering Dept’s plan for a multi-use park that contains an athletic field that might have been used a couple of hours a day. Although many residents could have used such a facility, by using the property for a multi-use Municipal Garage, Firehouse, Police Substation, Recycling Center, and Storage area everyone in town will benefit from a reduction in taxes as well as the revenue from the cell tower. Brilliant!

I would recommend that the plans for such a facility be drawn up as quickly as possible. Once the snow and ice are gone construction could begin as early as this spring and the site could be fully functioning by late fall.

Posted on September 5, 2012 August 21, 2019

“Town Garage” looks to make a comeback

“Town Garage” looks to make a comeback
September 5, 2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, With the Village facing a “”Park-pocalypse” next week the Village council looks to continue discussions during the councils next work session on the recently proposed “Chamber of Commerce” parking plan for the Central Business District and a new plane for the you guessed it “Town Garage” property.

As previously reported members of the Ridgewood business community presented an elaborate, through expensive multifaceted plan last month that included not one but two parking structures and a new retail space as well as a strategy to fund the entire venture. This plan has become known as the “Chamber of Commerce” parking plan.

Criticism has centered on whether the plan can come in on budget to meet the very aggressive requirements to fund the parking complexes without risk to tax payers. A rosie scenario was presented but given the Villages past inability to meet construction budgets ie, the $2 million Village Hall that became a $9 million fiasco or the $400,000 ‘Golden Toilet” at Vets field that much chronicled on this blog leaves readers with doubts .

Tonight the “Town Garage” project is expected to be resurrected by the owners .Village Council members are expected discuss the plan at length. Past plans for the property have always been based on the socialized taxpayer financing with profits kept in the hands of the few. Taxpayers in Ridgewood up till now have been in no mood to finance someone else’s profits., but with the new regime the jury is still out.

There is also the issue of old fuel tanks , and soil contamination at the site if needed with no one really sure what the Village is on the hook for.

Posted on July 27, 2012 June 27, 2021

Long-vacant “Town Garage” back on in the news again

As previously reported in reader commentary : Urbanization of Downtown Ridgewood is coming

Massive development set to take place in the Central Business District

https://theridgewoodblog.net/reader-urbanization-of-downtown-ridgewood-is-coming/

Long-vacant “Town Garage” back on in the news again

THURSDAY JULY 26, 2012, 1:49 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Village Council members are expected next month to resurrect a discussion initiated by the Ridgewood Planning Board, which has asked the governing body to review the stipulations and intentions of the North Walnut Street Redevelopment Area and Redevelopment Plan.

The Village Council will reopen discussions next month on what to do with the Town Garage property.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/163887616_Long-vacant_lot_in_Ridgewood_is_back_on_table_for_discussion.html

The Town Garage, 120 Franklin Avenue; the eye of the storm . . .

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