Ridgewood’s business community pushes a vision for the Central Business District

Ridgewood’s business community pushes a vision for the Central Business District
August 10 ,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, As predicted in previous blog posts a plan drafted by seven members of Ridgewood’s business community, all supporters of Paul Aronsohn’s election bid unveiled the village would have not one but two new parking garages and a large anchor store in the Central Business District (CBD) .

The group is made up of landlords, business owners and developers put together an ambitious parking/retail plan that they claim will be the key to revitalizing the village’s downtown. Members of the group include Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce president Tom Hillmann , landlord Ed Sullivan and urbanization promoter , realtor Bill Gilsenan, developer John Saraceno and It’s Greek to Me owner Paul Vagianos, architect Ken Schear, and landlord Rocco Orlando

Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce President Tom Hillmann and owner of long time business Hillmann Electric & Lighting led the charge and presented the new parking proposal to the Village Council this past Wednesday.

The new proposal has many aspects of similar parking schemes that have been proposed over the years . The main issues have been and continue to be : Who will pay for it ? Will it fit aesthetically and not detract from the down town shopping district ? And will it be a net gain for the Village costing less and consuming less Village resources than it generates.

Ken Schier Architect and village resident reveled preliminary drawings of the sites and told the Council the parking proposal seeks to be “revenue neutral.” Both parking garages would be between 20 and 30 feet tall. A two-deck parking garage on the corner of Hudson Street, which could offer more than 200 parking spaces, would be constructed to “look like it’s a building, and not just a parking garage,” Schier said. ( https://www.northjersey.com/news/165636206_New_vision_for_downtown_Ridgewood_is_unveiled.html )

The plan calls for a new anchor store that would be constructed in the parking lot next to The Gap, and two new parking garages would be built, one on North Walnut Street and another near the train station, on the corner of South Broad and Hudson streets.

Tom Hillmann, told the Ridgewood News that this latest parking proposal focuses on the central issues of funding and design. Hillman went on “The Village of Ridgewood has no funds for a parking garage,” he said. “And … any structure must fit in within the character of the beautiful historic downtown.”