It took almost 20 years, but Ridgewood finally owns the Town Garage property. What's next?
RIDGEWOOD — After almost two decades of trying, the village has acquired the long-vacant Town Garage property at 120 Franklin Ave.
Efforts to purchase or acquire the property that housed the Town Garage repair shop date back to 2006, when it closed. The village's attempts also involved acquiring it via eminent domain.
"From a procedural standpoint, the village has become the owner of the property," Village Attorney Matthew Rogers said at the most recent council meeting. "It will mean paperwork exchanged and deeds exchanged. But at this point in time, the village owns the property."
The next step, Rogers said, is for the council to "decide exactly which direction to go in" and "get a handle on exactly the status and the condition of the property."
Village Manager Keith Kazmark said he has conducted a site visit along with Ridgewood Water Director Rich Calbi and Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser.
"Mr. Rutishauser is currently in the process of speaking with the Department of Environmental Protection about parameters for cleanup on that site, and next steps," Kazmark said. "So as soon as those answers are provided by the DEP, we will brief the council on that and set a path forward."
A complicated history
A Mobil Oil filling station and auto repair shop occupied Block 3806, Lots 2 and 3, on Franklin Avenue from 1933 until 1989. The filling station on Lot 3 closed in 1989, and its two 3,000-gallon underground gasoline storage tanks were removed. The village bought the corner property and turned it into a public parking lot. The Town Garage repair shop on Lot 2 continued to operate under different ownership until 2006.
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In 2007, the two lots were included as part of the North Walnut Street Redevelopment Area with the idea they would become one of two public multi-level parking garages. The plan was for 360 vehicles and 40,000 square feet of retail space. However, an attempt to acquire the property by eminent domain failed in May 2008 after the turnover of elected officials, and only the Hudson Street garage was eventually built. A 2011 proposal to convert the properties to retail/office space also failed.
The most recent attempt to acquire the property by eminent domain for "development of a park and similar public recreation use" was a verified complaint filed by the village in December 2022. The complaint said the owner, Ridgewood 120 LLC, had been offered $1.1 million for the site on condition that the property "is free of contamination or has been remediated."
There was no discussion at last week's council meeting of whether these conditions have been met, or whether the price stated in the complaint had been paid.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Ridgewood finally owns Town Garage property. What's next
