Ridgewood's Village Council voted to revise the village's permit parking rules through two ordinances on Monday, folding two separate nonresident parking permits into a single annual pass priced at $2,000 and expanding access to the Hudson Street Parking Garage. The changes, approved Nov. 9, follow weeks of discussion that began with a staff presentation on proposed fee increases and permit restructuring.
As reported by TAPinto Ridgewood, the new $2,000 nonresident annual permit covers levels 2, 3 and 4 of the Hudson Street Parking Garage along with the Cottage Place lot, replacing what had been separate premium and non-premium nonresident categories. Ridgewood's 2026 parking calendar had previously listed those as a $1,800 premium nonresident permit and a $1,350 non-premium nonresident permit, according to the same report.
How the Proposal Took Shape
The restructuring traces back to an Oct. 7 workshop, when village staff presented proposed amendments to the parking ordinances, according to Citizen Portal. At that session, staff told the council that train station parking was fully booked and argued that smaller, incremental fee increases could help the village avoid a steeper jump after years without changes, per that same report.
The October proposal floated consolidating the nonresident premium and nonpremium permit categories into a single permit at a higher price, and it also called for limiting premium train-station parking permits to Ridgewood residents, the Citizen Portal account states. It separately proposed raising the daily stall reservation fee to $30, though the evidence reviewed does not confirm whether that specific fee change made it into the final ordinances adopted this week.
Other Fee Changes on the Table
Beyond the nonresident permit overhaul, the council also proposed raising several other parking fees, per TAPinto's report. Those included lifting the three-month overnight parking permit from $85 to $100, raising the downtown employee parking hangtag from $110 to $120 per month, and increasing the half-month employee parking rate from $55 to $60. The village's own parking page currently lists Central Business District hangtags at $110 per month, or $55 if purchased from the 16th of the month forward, according to the Village of Ridgewood.
Council members weighed Ridgewood residents' parking access against the revenue nonresident permits bring in, TAPinto reported. Council member Siobhan Winograd said the council heard from commuters and hoped the changes would improve parking, particularly at the train station.
Garage Access and Existing Rules
The council also expanded access to the Hudson Street Parking Garage as part of the changes, though the evidence reviewed does not detail every permit category or garage level affected by that expansion. Under existing village rules, the garage's second and third levels are already available for general parking after noon, and payment for general parking there is required by kiosk or the ParkMobile app, per the village's parking page. Residents can also buy one-day parking passes for use in the Train Station lot, the Hudson Street Garage's third level, and the Cottage Place lot, the same page notes.
Village code separately governs the Central Business District's annual employee parking permits, designating 60 spaces in the Cottage Parking Lot and 30 in the North Walnut Street Parking Lot for permit holders, according to the Ridgewood municipal code. Permit holders may park in those designated spaces for up to eight hours between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, but remain responsible for meter fees. On-street meter zones elsewhere in the village are governed by separate code provisions allowing parking Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with payment accepted via funds or an authorized mobile-payment vendor.
For broader context on commuter costs, The Ridgewood Blog reported that Ridgewood's premium parking permit had climbed to $1,500 for residents and up to $1,800 for nonresidents heading into 2026, a figure cited amid wider discussion of Bergen County commuter fees. The newly adopted $2,000 nonresident permit marks a jump from those previously listed nonresident rates.
