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Reader says , Restaurant owners who lobbied for Village Garage stick Patrons with more Parking Fees

Parking Garage

file photo by Boyd Loving

It is quite ironic that the restaurant owners who lobbied so long and hard for this garage (Saraceno, Sullivan, & Vagianos) screwed themselves and their patrons in the process by demanding a structure so large (i.e., expensive) be built that the only way to pay for it is by extending metered parking times until well into the evening.

I can’t wait until they come running back to the Council a few years from now asking that the metered parking be pushed back until 6 PM because their businesses are suffering.

Lesson to be learned John, Ed, and Paul – You can’t have your cake and eat it too!

13 thoughts on “Reader says , Restaurant owners who lobbied for Village Garage stick Patrons with more Parking Fees

  1. Lesson to be learned, the council are not your friends.

  2. there is no one eating in Ridgewood after 6pm who will avoid it because they have to pay $.50- $1 to park. There are many who avoid downtown because they cant find a spot or have to spend exorbitant amounts of time finding one.

  3. Brian: The meter rate on streets is going up to $1.00 per hour. Many will refuse to have their cars valeted. The garage will cost more than street parking, I am sure. And if people don’t care about having to pay to park, why did these same restaurant owners petition the Council a few years back to roll back the time for metered parking until 6 PM?

  4. I see all these “vote yes” signs in planters and along the sidewalks downtown. Is that village property? If so, should there be political signs on village property? Is that right?

  5. 8:50 – I fear you are wrong my friend, dead wrong. Not only will people go elsewhere to eat, they will shop elsewhere too. The meters are a pain in the ass, and people are fed up with the increasing prices. It is very nice to be able to park for free after 6 PM, nothing to worry about. It is also nice to be able to run errands in the morning before the meters start up, and now they will take that away too. yes, patrons can afford the dollar or two more, but they are fed up. A friend of mine owns a store on the avenue, and he said customers were complaining about it throughout the day yesterday. The Council thinks that everyone is on their side, but we shall see come election day.

  6. I’ll bet $100 cash that if signs calling for the Recall of Aronsohn, Hauck, and Pucciarelli started popping up on Village owned property, they’d figure out a way to have them all removed lickity split.

  7. Sullivan thinks he owns the town. Paul is now under orders by the Democrat party to toe the line.

  8. @12:28, I like your style. Would love to find out.

  9. I hate them all so much. Throughout the state of NJ and country (taxes, tolls) and now the town, everything goes on the back of the average person.

    Now they want money from people eating breakfast and dinner at all the restaurants–lunch wasn’t enough. I suspect that the restaurant owners will not be pleased.

    Thursday evenings when many stores were open and the meters were “off” used to be a convenient time to shop. That’s gone.

    Can I “afford” a dollar? I can afford a dollar. Am I willing to pay it? No. I also happen to detest valet parking for a long list of reasons–including that they change your radio settings and I simply don’t want strangers in my car or to tip someone for a service that I don’t need in the first place (parking in my own town).

    For me and surely many others, the downtown will become even more of a place to avoid than it is now. And we’ll be stuck paying for the garage that’s being built only to absorb lost parking spaces when the apartments go up.

    If we were paying more for parking to maintain Schedler as a nice park, or rebuild the dam at King’s Pond, or some other project I could support, I might feel differently. Who wants that stupid, ugly garage, anyway? Last week I advised Sook to move as soon as her lease was up (soon).

    I may do the same.

  10. “Paul is now under orders by the Democrat party to toe the line.”

    I was wondering why his lawn now displays a campaign sign other than his own.

  11. What’s the position of the Historic Church about to be Darkened by the evil Monolith to the Parking Garage fan club . After all they ,,the stores and restaurants have more important Needs to sell their crap..

    Lets put it up in the Heights and wire up a cable Car lift for the thousands of tourists to come.might Step on some Holy toes up there – where the air will still be fresh and clean,

  12. You’re right 1:54. It’s not a matter of “affording a dollar;” it’s the overall negative effect these clowns are having on the town. It started with (and continues ) with the big resident non-profit wanting to needlessly destroy a neighborhood and take the rest of the town with it over time. And adding insult to injury by not paying the town for anything they have been taking for granted. Then they sue. Lot of class. Then these three pushing the CBD and garage issue like there is no tomorrow.
    These elections can’t come fast enough !

  13. another reason to avoid Ridgewood…

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