September 11, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Ridgewood Heermance parking limited to staff, teachers by John Koster The 23 parking spaces on Heermance Place in Ridgewood are now open only to school staff and faculty members and are closed to students and to the general public. “The street belongs to the school,” a member of the municipal administration said, acknowledging, however, that the Ridgewood Village Council, which held several public discussions on Heermance Place parking in the recent past, had never formally voted on closing the 23 spaces to everyone but teachers and administrators at the high school. Board of education personnel said the matter of Heer- mance Place parking was being discussed “behind closed doors” and no formal statement was made to the press. Some residents had argued at Ridgewood Council meet- ings -- where no formal vote was ever recorded -- that stu- dents and ordinary taxpayers had just as much right to park on a Ridgewood street as did the teachers and faculty, many of whom are not residents or taxpayers. The objectors had urged that later-arriving teachers could park at Graydon parking, a 10-minute walk from the high school where space is almost always ample except when Graydon Pool is in operation. School officials had countered that the number of admin- istrators and teachers now outnumber the available spaces Signs display parking for faculty only. set aside for Ridgewood Board of Education employees and that the extra spaces reserved for teachers are important to the operation of the high school. The Ridgewood Police Department said last week they had no instructions with regard to parking on Heermance Place, a small dead-end street that starts from Ridgewood Avenue and runs between the high school and the football field. Some residents have also argued that non-street park- ing should be restored on the streets near the high school -- where students in past years had annoyed neighbors by crowding the streets and sometimes blocking residential driveways. Others said that students who do not live long distances from Ridgewood High should consider walking to school.