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In 2015 a 4 level Garage in Ridgewood could pay for itself what changed ?

walker study Ridgewood 2015

April 1,2016

Ridgewood Nj, from the Take Back Ridgewood Facebook page , Here is walker study from July 2015. The village administration and council had commented in July 2015 council meeting that the cost of this new structure can be paid by the parking revenues. What changed? Why is a 4 level plan not financially feasible now?

dont forget we have since raised meter rates….

https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/20150705WalkerStudy.pdf

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Walker Study : Rosy Assumptions have missed the mark in the past

122614-rn-hudsongarage

DILIGENCE OR NEGLIGENCE? 02/17/00

By Ted S. McGregor Jr.
Analysis by Ted S. McGregor, Jr.

“I think the council really has exercised honest and forthright due diligence. ” That’s how, in January, 1997, then-Mayor Jack Geraghty described the events that led up to the city’s decision to participate as a partner in the River Park Square project. Now, three years after that controversial decision and just seven months after the new mall opened, the degree and quality of that due diligence is being reexamined as a way to understand why the parking garage – the city’s portion of the deal – is failing to meet expectations.

As the specter of having to tap the city’s parking meter fund to help the garage stay afloat has emerged as a real possibility, the scramble for solutions has begun. A few want to refinance the entire deal; others flirt with the idea of somehow reneging on the pledge of the parking meter money; and some want to stay the course, waiting for the second phase of the mall to open and the additional parkers it could bring. But even after just seven months, the garage’s performance is so far below expectations that some are saying holding course isn’t really an option.

How could so many people be so surprised by the garage’s performance? Weren’t the best consultants in the country hired to test the feasibility of the entire project, specifically the garage? That Walker Parking Study, most agree, is where the garage’s problems begin. How a document that appears to be so deeply flawed came to be relied on so heavily for this project raises new questions about that study and the city’s self-described due diligence.

https://www.inlander.com/spokane/diligence-or-negligence-021700/Content?oid=2173738

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Village of Ridgewood Plans Parking Ticket Blitz to Fund Parking Garage on Hudson Street

parking_enforcement_theridgewoodblog

Walker study update

https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/20160203revwalker.pdf

•   Construction to start in May 2016, with the garage opening in February of 2017.

•   Non-resident permit rates adjusted to be the same as resident permit rates.

•   The first set of rate increases going into effect in July of 2016. These include extension of the

meter hours to 9 p.m. as well as increasing on-street meter rates in the core area to 75¢ per

hour.

•   The second set of increases – core meters to $1 and all other on- and off-street parking to

75¢ per hour – is projected to begin in February of 2017 when the garage opens.

•   It will be imperative that enforcement schedules are extended for the new meter hours and that enforcement is active. Weak enforcement will have a significant negative impact on the revenue stream from the extended meter hours; once people note that they never see people writing tickets in the evening and/or they “get away with it” once or twice, word will get out and the extended meter hours will not produce the level of revenue they should.

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Walker Study : Key verbatim assumptions on Ridgewood Parking Garage

parking garage cbd

Key verbatim assumptions/findings taken from the Village Council commissioned parking study prepared by Walker Associates:

Easing crowding does not, in and of itself, create a new revenue stream; it transfers revenue
from other metered spaces in the Village. The garage will likely encourage people to come
downtown who have been avoiding it due to parking constraints, but this is not a quantifiable
revenue stream and is not included in our analysis. More conservatively, we project the
following net new revenue streams for the garage:

• The 72-space Brogan Cadillac lot on South Broad Street at Essex Street and at the 92-
space Ken Smith Motors lot just east of the train tracks and north of Franklin Avenue are
going to be demolished for development. Both of these dealerships have closed and
lease out their parking. The Ken Smith Lot is permit parking for downtown employees.
The Brogan Lot accommodates commuters during the day and is leased out for
restaurant valet parking at night. We anticipate these demand streams would transfer
to the garage.

• We understand from Village staff that there are other restaurants downtown that use
valet services in private lots that would use the garage instead (probably doing away
with valet service since self-park options would be easier).

• The Village used to have 120 non-resident commuter permits, but doubled non-resident
permit rates because there was not enough space for these commuters. Currently
there are very few non-resident commuters parking in the train station area. The Village
plans to reduce the non-resident commuter rate to $875/year to increase that demand
stream again.

It is typical in downtowns that the revenue stream in a given garage is not sufficient to cover its
operating costs and debt service. Downtown parking systems are just that – systems – that rely
on pooled revenue from all resources, and especially the on-street meters (which tend to
have the highest turnover), to cover the higher cost associated with building and operating a
garage. This is the case in Ridgewood, where the net new revenue projected for the garage
is not projected to offset its expenses. Therefore, our revenue projection includes all downtown revenue and all expenses associated with the parking system. To operate the
garage and have a revenue-positive parking utility (with funds available for other parking lot
maintenance projects), we project that the Village will increase meter rates as follows:

• In 2016, meters will be extended until 9 p.m. and meter rates on key downtown streets
will increase to 75¢.

• In 2017, 75¢ meters will be increased to $1 and the rest of the on-street and off-street
meters will increase to 75¢.

• If needed, rates would increase by 25¢ after five years.

• Commuter permit rates would increase by $25 in 2021 and 2025.