Ridgewood Council OKs Starting Work On Hudson St. Parking Garage

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — The Village Council Wednesday approved beginning work on the Hudson Street parking garage.

The council approved a resolution granting Epic Management LLC permission to begin work on the long-delayed project.

The village has bonded $12 billion for the 240-space garage. Meter rates have increased to 75 cents an hour to help fund the project.

The $12 million bond is in addition to the $810,000 appropriated for the project; $100,000 was appropriated in 2014, $500,000 in 2015 and $210,000 earlier this year.

Vehicles will enter and exit the garage on Hudson Street. Construction is expected to begin in September and the existing lot on Hudson Street will remain open until then.

The project has had a long history.

Voters approved a design of a 400-car garage on the site in a non-binding referendum in November 2015 by a 2-to-1 margin. They also, by the same margin, rejected an $11.5 million bond ordinance in June 2015 that would have funded the building of a 325-car garage after a grassroots campaign by residents put the matter on the public ballot.

The Planning Board last year voted to recommend the Village Council designate the Hudson Street parking lot as an "area in need of redevelopment" in order to move the project along.

The project even brought about fines against former Mayor Paul Aronsohn and ex-village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld. They appeared in a video urging residents to vote "yes" on the original referendum. The fines were the result of a complaint filed with the Local Finance Board in 2016. The board enforces the Local Government Ethics Law. Six residents also sued the village over the video.

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com

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