Posted on

Votes fall short for Ridgewood parking garage ordinance

village council meeting

photo by Boyd Loving

JANUARY 8, 2016    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Residents listen to public comments on a proposed parking garage during Wednesday’s council meeting.

Wednesday’s marathon Village Council meeting ended with the governing body voting 3-2 on a $12.3 million bond ordinance to build a parking garage on Hudson Street.

Because the ordinance requires a supermajority vote (four out of five council members), it was defeated.

Following that vote, a second ordinance was introduced that would enter Ridgewood into an agreement with the Bergen County Improvement Authority (BCIA) for a garage. The ordinance, introduced with a 4-1 vote on Wednesday, would require three votes for final approval.

Council vote

Prior to the meeting, which went until almost 3 a.m. Thursday, Mayor Paul Aronsohn sent out a statement explaining that while he is still in favor of the largest garage option (option A), he was willing to compromise.

He lent his support on Wednesday to the smallest option (option C) in the hopes of approving the bond ordinance.

“The idea of building a garage is an idea that has been discussed and debated for decades,” he said at Wednesday’s meeting. “While I still think that building a larger garage is the way to go, in the spirit of compromise … maybe at the end of the night, we can come to an agreement.”

Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli and Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck, who had both been strong proponents of option A, also agreed to support option C if it meant moving forward in the process.

“We clearly need to think about this opportunity very carefully,” Hauck said. “I would like to work together in the spirit of cooperation to see this parking deck built.”

Though he noted that he is still in favor of plan A, Pucciarelli said that he understands that there is “objection on the part of plan A,” causing him to reconsider.

“It is clearly time to get going on this garage,” he said, adding that “studies in this town have become a mantra for not making tough decisions,”

While he had initially been in favor of bonding the ordinance for plan C, Councilman Michael Sedon expressed reservations with the idea due to new information about the proposed plan.

He opined that the public did not really have a true view of what the garage would look like before voting in the non-binding referendum in November that started the entire process. Sedon also said that he thinks the process was not made very clear to the public before they voted, which caused him some consternation.

Sedon said that instead of voting to bond option C, he is in favor of looking at less expensive alternatives for adding parking.

“We could do this, and it wouldn’t cost nearly $12 million,” he said. “If it’s decided that it doesn’t work, it’s easily reversed. I can’t support this bond at this time, and I’m voting no.”

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/town-government/ordinance-fails-to-receive-enough-votes-for-approval-1.1487376