Wait, so the argument now is… because a previous council approved the building of condos, in order to “save” the Village we need to appease the developers and build a garage for them given that they will obviously not have the needed parking spaces for their new tenants….and if we don’t build this thing, this town will become a glorified Rt 17 strip filled with gyms, banks and more condos? Come on people…..let’s all assume they build this thing, how does that change anything in terms of the parking landscape in this town? Yes, commuters will use it, yes shoppers will use it, but lets be realistic, probably only those looking to shop on Broad St or very close to it. We all know that everyone in this town or those that come here want to park right across the street from where they’re going, as stated in many of the posts before, if you look for parking you will find it, but you may have to walk a bit. So the taxpayers of this town should spend millions of dollars to alleviate a problem that may or may not exist for two to three hours on Friday and Saturday nights?? Do the math, it doesn’t add up and with Uber that problem is going away. Let’s spend money on updating the current run down parking lots we have or reconfigure current parking lanes and see how that goes….what’s the downside? We need to stop looking backward and look forward….Uber and Amazon to name a few are changing how we live our lives….less brick and mortar, less cars being driven for nights out….that’s the future, not building a garage that maybe in 1990 there was a solid argument for.
This is a voice of reason that the council should listen to. The garage has become such political fodder that issue might never be settled in our lifetime. Lets make the most of the parking areas we already have first before even discussing the building of a large, expensive structure. Ridgewood should have enough train station parking for village residents who need it and will pay for it. It does not make sense to provide commuter parking for people in other towns. I don’t think doing this will invigorate the stores or restaurants. These people will park their cars at 7am, (maybe) grab a coffee, leave at 6 or 7pm to go home to their families. They won’t be popping in to Mango Jam for a Ridgewood sign or butter dish after a long day in the city.
JUST THINK FOR A MOMENT ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF LEVERAGING A LOT THAT ALREADY EXISTS RATHER THAN CREATING AN EXPENSIVE PARKING STRUCTURE. How about the YMCA lot on Oak Street for additional commuter and shopper parking? It sits nearly empty for most of the day. How difficult/expensive would it be to add a deck to make it 2 levels (or not), charge commuters to park there, and provide that overflow for Friday and Saturday night diners. It already exists, there are not many houses that would be impacted by increased car traffic and I think would be a win/win for both the Y and the Village depending on how the financial deal is structured. The Village could lease the space from the Y, providing much needed income to that organization. The residents who wish to park would pay the annual fee, (it should be less than the cost of the train station lot due to the walk involved in getting to the station.) Or, this could also be employee parking, freeing up spots near stores where shoppers would park. Just think about the possibilities…
We have already handed the developers our future. Let’s stop now and force them to build as much parking as the law requires. Giving them this garage would be stupid. Why not just give them the keys to the Quarter Room?
Yes, there are so many other solutions to “fixing” the downtown then building a garagehahla. I am kind of disappointed in the inability of this council to think outside the box. They may have inherited some bad game plans from the prior council, but couldn’t they come up with some of their own strategic thinking by now????
People, this is a done deal. All debates are worthless. Nothing can stop developers train. Our local politicians are so small they seem worthless. Some like Hache have realized that having a chair at VC can be very rewarding.
YES!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!
Dow Jones is again down over 1000 points in one day.. Thursday ..this AFTER Tuesday’s suicide Dow session
parties over NO GARAGE
NOT NEEDED
bulldoze town Garage..plant tulips ..share ice cream with the kids..ignore the haz mat leech field.
It seems that very few people can even think of a realistic reason to build the garage. Add to Ridgewood taxes so people in other towns can park near the station? Provide extra parking for the builders who refuse to supply what is legally required? (How are they getting by with that, anyway? Did they change the town rules about how much parking is required for any construction? Or do they think their building permits do not require adequate parking? Council, the doctor on Broad Street has plenty of parking and has been struggling for several years to be able to use the 210 building which she owns. Why do outsiders get by with every single thing they want?) This building on Hudson doesn’t do anything for Ridgewood residents, except taking away a large part of the parking for Mt. Carmel’s activities. Two decks might help in separate parts of town but no-one is going to walk from Hudson to Oak, much less further. The only beneficiaries will be the commuters and the apartment dwellers, and for that Ridgewood must have higher and later parking fees as well as an astronomical increase in our taxes? At least the schools benefit OUR children. How will that garage benefit any of the residents?
So here we have in The Ridgewood News from today:
“We have a massive parking problem,” Councilman Jeffrey the hothead Voigt said Monday. “We are short over a thousand spots on weekends.” Ha ha ha, Voigt. Really? There are upwards of 1,000 cars roaming up and down Ridgewood Avenue on Saturday night looking for parking? Come up out of your basement where you post incessantly on the blog…..and take a look at the downtown on Saturday nights Voigt. There are plenty of parking spaces, plenty. People repeatedly report this, post pictures of spaces, and yet you say there are 1,000 cars unable to find a parking space.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is what you get when you elect a pathological liar. Fooled a lot of you, didn’t he?!
Short over 1000 parking spots each and every weekend says Voigt, but yet only a total of 275 cars valet parked over the entire period in which the centralized valet parking was trialed. The man is insane.
I understand that the apartments are a done thing. Did they become a done thing while legally requiring the village to build a garage for the parking the builders don’t want to include or pay for? Why do they assume that they can get by without enough parking? Did the prior council sign an agreement with them that we would supply their parking needs? Or is this just an assumption on both of their and our sides?