file photo by Boyd Loving
February 1,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Village reported that a total of 267 cars were parked during the trial period for the centralized valet parking in the central business district of Ridgewood .Leaving the Village with a tab of $23,000 to pay the vendor. While we commend the Village Council for trying as many options as possible we are wondering why the CBD restaurants did not support the project ? One can only conclude from the results that the CBD does not need more parking .
Last night it was clear that Hache has made promises for the garage and was getting frustrated with the delays caused by due process.
He has either made promises to the building owner next to the garage who is going to gain from this taxpayer funded building, or he has made promises to the builder who is going to get this bid.
He really showed his desperation to build it “now”.
$82.44 per car parked. Put a fork in it.
N-O G-A-R-A-G-E. Thank you.
267 cars parked at a cost of $23k? That’s a whopping $86 per car. About what it will cost to park in the $14.5 million garage Ramon Hache is all hot to build. Are the people up on the dais smoking dope or what?
$23k spent – lesson learned = NO ADDITIONAL PARKING NEEDED! What is up with Hache? Is he not a graduate of the great RHS?
Village Hall was renovated following Tropical Storm Floyd. Estimated costs were under $5 million. Actual costs exceeded $11.5 million.
If they say the garage will cost $14.5 million, double that number and you still might not come close to what the actual construction costs will be.
This is going to be the biggest financial disaster to affect Ridgewood taxpayers in history.
Build the garage..
No Garage or let private money build it with no town backup
Repeat zero public backup
Sell them the Land for 100 k then tax the hell out of it
Hache is selling Real Estate now. Be very careful of him. Suddenly he is PUSHING the garage like his life depends on it. Does not pass the smell test.
Hache not influencing CBD on valet, employee parking, participating in tax rebate card, staying open late during the holidays, adhering to walls and plants and sheep in front of stores and limited participation in his most recent meetings. nice guy though love him and his family values
Boy oh boy we have some real dummies run this town . Maybe they do need a project manager. ?♀️
Several months ago Councilman Hache publicly (during an open public meeting of the Village Council) voiced his strong opposition to the construction of any sized parking garage that would result in either increased parking fees, expanded metered parking hours (he cited both of the aforementioned as simply “another form of taxation), and/or an increased property tax burden for homeowners.
Now, all of a sudden, he’s Gung Ho on proceeding with the review of parking garage designs even prior to the financials being discussed. He went so far as to publicly chastise Mayor Knudsen for “stalling” when she suggested that financing arrangements should be discussed first.
WTF Ramon? What gives? Why the sudden about face?
What is UP with Ramon Hache???????? He got in bed with the business owners, for sure. We do not need that damn garage. It will cost us all a bundle and will be a fiasco.
Why are we still arguing every week about a garage we don’t need.
It’s become the national pastime in Ridgewood. It’s been happening for over 20 years.
At this rate it will happen for twenty more. We voted it down and it refuses to die.
Politicians continue to ignore the voice of the people and make side deals with developers.
There are much better uses of our tax dollars that can be made in our Village’s infrastructure.
Is there anyone on the council with some real vision?
No garage. Having lived in the village for 30 years i must be very lucky because i always manage to find a parking space if you are willing to walk a couple of blocks.
There is ZERO chance the garage could be built without increased parking fees, expanded meter parking hours, and increased property tax burden. ZERO.
Ramon Hache – “Your Ridgewood Realtor” – That kind of explains everything. Must have parking for commuters otherwise can’t sell houses in Ridgewood.
https://ramonhache.kw.com/
Aside from the outrageous costs, how long was the trial period?. 267 cars doesn’t sound like much. That number would fill a garage for one night….again more proof it’s not needed.
Now its time for the CREW to attack Hache
I really had high hopes from Hache. Looks like high density developers have enough power to influence even good people.
On Friday and Saturday evenings between around 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm you might have to park a couple blocks from your restaurant. Outside of that there is plenty of parking in town all the time. The garage’s most vocal supporters are all somehow affiliated with developers looking to build apartments. Hmmmm
Can’t sell condos or rent apartments without ample parking, right Ramon? And for the record, Ramon is not my Ridgewood realtor.
Those that are announcing “No garage, we voted it down.” better stay very, very aware. We actually only voted down the “Taj Mahal”. “A garage” is still obviously still in active consideration and will have to be fought all the way. I fully agree it is for the use of the developers so they can promise enough parking to their prospective occupants without having to provide adequate on site parking.
I thought Ramon Hache was one of the sane people on the dais. (well actually four are sane, Voigt is insane)
But now Hache is pushing the garage and accusing the Mayor of “stalling” when she suggests we ought to look at the Walker report and the numbers before we pick a pretty design. Stalling? What the heck?
n o g a r a g e
Ramon Hache is a real estate guy. This town is spectacular in its intrigue. This guy back then was sold to us as someone from Wall Street if I am not mistaken. Now he decides to do real estate and pushes for the garage? He was elected on a No Garage platform. What a crook.
Ramon Hache is not my Ridgewood realtor.
8:55 you don’t even know what you voted down. A small fraction of the village voted against a bonding proposal. This was after three times as many people voted for an actual garage. Here’s an idea: Let’s make the upcoming election about who is in favor of a garage or not, and see who gets elected!
How about attaching a yes/no garage question to the next election ballots?