Ridgewood Council Unanimously Votes To Rescind BCIA Agreement

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. - The five-member Village Council voted unanimously Wednesday to rescind the village's agreement with the Bergen County Improvement Authority to fund the $11.5 million downtown parking deck.

The vote comes a week after the council voted to self-fund the construction of the 325-space structure. Residents voted nearly two-to-one in favor of building the deck on the vacant Hudson Street lot via a non-binding referendum in November.

The vote came as a small group of residents tries to collect enough signatures to present a binding referendum to residents. The referendum would ask residents to repeal the ordinance permitting the deck's construction.

The group collected more than 800 signatures earlier this year to get another binding referendum question placed on the May election ballot. That referendum would have asked residents if the village should self-fund the project.

If the petition effort is successful, a special election would be needed to present the new referendum to voters, the village bond counsel said Wednesday. A special election would cost the taxpayers $45,000, the counsel said.

The council is scheduled to hold a second and final vote on the rescinding ordinance next month.

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