Wheels turning on Ken Smith lot in Ridgewood
FRIDAY DECEMBER 7, 2012, 6:37 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Council will ask the Planning Board next week to develop recommendations for the future use of the Ken Smith Motors property and the adjacent buildings and land along Chestnut Street.
Council members are expected to vote on a resolution authorizing the Planning Board to explore site rehabilitation on Wednesday.
The former automobile dealership closed in September and has remained vacant. According to Mayor Paul Aronsohn, property owner Mike Smith has entertained discussion with a private developer for a multi-family housing development, though a formal proposal or application has not been filed.
In the interim, Ridgewood governing officials held informal discussions with Smith and suggested that the property was ideal for a parking facility. That notion, Aronsohn said, had been raised in years past by previous councils.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/182606101_Wheels_turning_on_Ken_Smith_lot_in_Ridgewood.html
Wounder what deals were struck between Mayor Aronshon and Terminal Construction at their private meetings?
Aronsohn does nothing but bitch about the lack of parking then orders Gabbert to shut this perfectly legal operation down. What a buffoon.
Its private property. The owner can do what he wishes with it if it complies with current zoning and permitted uses. Lets not take another piece of real estate off the tax rolls please.
Why the push to urbanize the Village by increasing the density of housing and parking? Isn’t there enough traffic and congestion?
Parking in Ridgewood has been a problem for decades with no one doing anything about it but paying lip service until it gets pass along to the next guy in office… As a kid growing up a few towns north, it was always a pain coming into Ridgewood because of parking… 17 or Westwood always was more convenient.. Fast forward 30 years later and now as a resident, I’ve still seen nothing substantial being done about it… pass the buck folks! Attracting commuters and visitors with ease of access to convenient parking will only help increase revenue for the town and its businesses… The Ken Smith lot is an ideal location for large parking facility with close proximity to station and downtown. There is a traffic light already at the entrance to manage traffic flow and I am sure there are opportunities for the town and land owners to leverage NJ Transit in a beneficial partnership… This is what strategic, sustainable land use planning is supposed to be… the availability of centrally located property like this only comes around once in a generation…