
Once again, we’re given a “take it or leave it”, “all or nothing”, “our way or the highway” choice on an important matter. I’d love a small parking deck at that location but this referendum gives us two choices: 1.) A 5 story garage which will never be full and doesn’t fit on the lot or 2.) Vote NO.
I had held out some hope that after such a decisive election, the outgoing Council majority would have stepped aside on this issue and left it to the new Council. Yea, maybe not. I can’t say enough bad things about how these 3 elected officials have acted over the past 4 years and they’re apparently trying to go out with one last deplorable bang. They are ignoring the clear will of the people for what can only be personal gain or the desire for revenge against those that have disagreed with them.
I am voting NO, but you don’t have to worry about the garage being full. they mayor will fill it up with out of town commuters, restaurant visitors, or parking for the new housing. I’m guessing a back room deal was made for this extra parking.
A thousand times NO!
Vote NO and the downtown will basically turn into a ghost town.. Shops and restaurants will leave en-mass an the residents portion of the real estate taxes will go up and the value of your house will go down.
It is simple. Vote NO.
Let the new, honest, reasonable, responsible council figure this out for us.
https://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=82f6b613df47dec713fbbdb73&id=4f5dbd2ef7&e=ff873afb62
$11.5 million bond for garage: yes or no?
Special election Tuesday, June 21
On Tuesday, June 21—in less than 2 weeks—Ridgewood will hold a special election for a binding referendum (unlike the nonbinding referendum on the parking garage last November) on whether the Village should bond $11,500,000 for a parking garage on Hudson Street.
Bonding…and binding.
See below for important information on voting by mail.
What the ballot will say
You will be asked to answer yes or no to this question:
Shall ordinance No. 3521 submitted by referendum petition providing for the Council of the Village of Ridgewood to issue $11,500,000 [in] bonds or notes to finance the cost of constructing the Hudson Street parking deck, be adopted?
What the ballot doesn’t reveal
The $11.5 million bond was linked from the start to garage design “D,” consisting of 4 stories with 5 parking levels. The southern wall would extend 5 feet beyond the existing parking lot, over the sidewalk and into Hudson Street. The narrower street would contain two lanes rather than the current three: one for parking across the street from the garage and one as a combination “thru lane” and turning lane into the garage.
If the referendum passes
One might think that with a binding referendum coming up, garage-related activity would be “on hold”—but no. In their zeal to make this project happen and to fulfill promises made, the outgoing council “majority” of Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli, and Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck, aided by Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld, are actively pursuing completion.
Their goal is to sign a contract just before leaving office, committing the Village to Design D and letting the new council cope with the fallout.
Progress toward a construction contract is well under way. A consultancy firm was recently hired to confirm cost estimates by the architectural firm that created Design D and to engage in preconstruction preparations. If the referendum passes, that same consultancy firm will go out to bid immediately. Legal advice has been sought at taxpayer expense as well. Yet a “no” vote on the June 21 referendum would nullify all this. How’s that for fiscal responsibility?
If, as the “council majority” continues to insist, the bond is not tied to any design, why is a firm being paid $20,000 to work further on Design D, only weeks before the result of a binding referendum could stop the project in its tracks?
In addition, rumor has it that the contract would carry prohibitively steep penalties for making any changes (change orders), further tying the new council’s hands while committing the Village to this massive edifice permanently.
Residents who want a garage, please note: the three incoming and two continuing council members are not opposed in principle to building a parking garage, including on Hudson Street. All, however, acknowledge that the designs proposed to date are too big. They’d appreciate a chance to think smaller and to try lower-cost, less-disruptive ways to enhance downtown parking. They do “get it,” and they want to do something. But not this.
On May 10, voters made a clear statement of trust for the incoming council. The three new council members won in every district. A “no” vote on the referendum would allow them and their two continuing council member colleagues to do their job unshackled by “deals” of the past.
How to vote
If you want the new council to be given the chance to try comprehensive, achievable parking solutions designed to benefit commuters, residents, and the entire Central Business District, vote No to the referendum.
If you approve of the amount of the bonding, have no problem with under-the-radar deals, and are willing to let garage design “D” rise noisily in the mist, you may wish to vote Yes—with the understanding that the three council members who have pushed so hard for this project will be out of office on July 1, leaving the new council members—and us, the taxpaying residents— holding the bag. A very big bag.
It may be of interest that Rev. Msgr. Ronald J. Rozniak, P.A. (Father Ron), Pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (down the street from the proposed garage), stated flatly in the church’s June 5 weekly bulletin: “the parish will never endorse the [currently proposed parking] deck.” (Full statement at https://www.olmcridgewood.com/images/pdf/bulletin.pdf.) The church’s traffic consultant, he continued, considers the planned reversal of direction of Passaic and Hudson Street traffic unnecessary.
Why that reversal? Because behind the scenes, an agreement with special interests was made to reroute the traffic.
The traffic-direction-reversal plan can be reversed. But the enormous structure that has been dubbed GarageZilla and GarageMahal, once built, would loom over us for a very long time, as would paying for it.
Please ignore whatever means may be used over the next two weeks to entice or confuse voters into approving the $11.5 million bond (and, unspoken, Design D) on June 21. Let’s recall the acres of “Vote yes for parking” signs that littered the landscape before last November’s referendum, when it was known but not divulged that all the garage designs under consideration at that time would have occupied a significantly larger chunk of Hudson Street than Design D. Many who voted “yes” later wished they hadn’t. What else don’t we know?
Developers and others are desperate to build this thing. The lame-duck council members pushing for it would not be accountable for it.
Let’s JUST SAY NO.
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Consider voting by mail
If you can’t vote in person on Tuesday, June 21, or if it would be inconvenient, consider voting by mail.
June 21 is the day after RHS graduation. Ridgewood schools will have closed for the summer. Many residents will be on vacation already or busily planning trips. You don’t even need a reason to vote by mail; if it appeals to you, do it.
If you or your teenage children (age 18+ by June 21) who are registered voters wish to have a say in what happens with this enormous and precedent-setting downtown project, but may be out of town or otherwise occupied or preoccupied and might not vote that day…you can vote by mail (now called Vote by Mail Ballot, no longer Absentee Ballot), if you start soon.
There are two steps: applying for a ballot and receiving it, then completing the ballot and mailing it in.
For each voter in your household, print and complete a copy of this application form:
https://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/form_pdf/vote-by-mail-forms/vote-mail-ballot-bergen-english.pdf
Or pick up a copy at the Village Clerk’s office (5th floor) during Village Hall business hours (8:30 am–4:30 pm, Monday–Friday). Or call today and ask to have one mailed to you: 201-670-5500 ext. 201.
Where you are asked in which election you wish to vote by mail, check “Special.” Where you’re asked to specify, write: Referendum. For the date, write June 21, 2016 (or 6/21/2016).
For your vote to be counted, you must write and sign your name precisely as it appears in the voting records. If you aren’t sure about a middle initial, spelling, or other item, you can check. Go to: njelections.org or voter.njsvrs.com. Click on “Am I registered?” and follow the simple instructions.
Fill in your address, the date, etc. Fold, seal, and apply first-class postage (one 47-cent or Forever stamp).
If you mail the application form, the county clerk in Hackensack must receive it at least 7 days before the election (that is, by Tuesday, June 14). Therefore, it’s best to send the form promptly.
You may submit the application in person at any time up to 3 PM on the day before the election (that is, by 3 PM on June 20).
If you mail the application, in due course you will receive a ballot for the election requested. On the ballot, check the desired box (Yes or No) and mail the form. A return envelope will be provided, but you must use your own first-class stamp (again, 47 cents or Forever). (Ballots for future elections may require more postage, depending on weight.)
Vote-by-mail ballots must arrive in Hackensack before the closing of the polls on election day (June 21). Mail early—at least five days before.
Once you have applied for a Vote by Mail ballot, you must vote that way.
If you have questions about obtaining or using a Vote by Mail ballot, you may call the League of Women Voters of New Jersey at 1-800-792-VOTE.
From The Preserve Graydon Coalition, Inc., a nonprofit corporation
June 8, 2016
preservegraydon.org
To join email list: preservegraydon.org/join
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Ya gotta be sh****g me!
No businesses are leaving if the garage isn’t built. If they leave, it’s because of other reasons.
Thed
You go Big against Big and Wrong for that small cafe comminity vote No
Deveopers on broad cadilac site likely got a deal to dump one way garage exit traffic down into the village by hudson street reversal chaos of boozed up restaurantees racing home for jimmy kimmell on largest wide screens on earth
3.24 wrong village is thriving. Its Greed at work here
Who cares if the businesses leave…?
Nice try 3:24. 67%
You should care 8:14. The friggen value of your house will drop…..and you will be paying higher taxes to boot !!
The current administration played their sneakiness card in their black deck and is about to Loose JUNE 21 st. VOR VOTE NO…whole garage deal was a back room deal against the citizens debt load and those folks who actually live and worship quietly in that Neighborhood..Not a slum yet…nor shall it ever be …note to developers and restaurant owners.lets park that concrete polluting monster in your driveway up on the heights and where the beautiful people sleep quietly all night.Homeless center,,crime magnet
AJOINING a Bus station and a rail station..gasoline needing a match…
Criminal conduct requires a criminal investigation.