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Council Fails in Attempt to Update Antiquated Village Leaf Policy
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Council Fails in Attempt to Update Antiquated Village Leaf Policy
October 26,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, After all the talk, promises and big plans changes to Ridgewood’s leaf removal policy have been reduced to little more than Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli telling the Ridgewood News , “[The village] asks all residents to not throw branches in with their leaves” . http://www.northjersey.com/news/175840541_Leaf_policy_gets_left_alone_in_Ridgewood.html?page=all
In what one observer described as nothing less than an “epic fail” ,under heavy public pressure and criticism the Village Council on Wednesday night back tracked on an ordinance that, if passed, would have altered the fall leaf pick up in the Village . Eye brows had been raised over many of the changers in the policy and the onerous penalties imposed on those that fail to meet the new strict guidelines. Many critics voiced concerns that the burden on residents was to high and unrealistic.
Mayor Paul Aronsohn and Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli felt the sting of defeat in a major setback to their agenda and have all but abandoned hopes of any updates in the century old policy.
While officials told the Ridgewood News they might revisit the issue next year depending on the results of 2012.Mayor Paul Aronsohn sang a different tune saying,”At this point, there is no substantive reason for a new ordinance,” adding that he was “not convinced” that any changes, including increased fines for violations, were necessary for this season. http://www.northjersey.com/news/175840541_Leaf_policy_gets_left_alone_in_Ridgewood.html?page=all
Homeowners had also attacked the “seven-day rule” saying the Department of Environmental Protection or DEP no longer enforced it but Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser, the DEP lifted the seven-day rule, but Ridgewood opted to keep it a municipal law for safety concerns. http://www.northjersey.com/news/175840541_Leaf_policy_gets_left_alone_in_Ridgewood.html?page=all
Initially the village looked to a” bag-your-leaves” solution , but scrapped that idea as wholly unrealistic , then the Council developed a list of specific roadways that would have been the target of a specific set of rules which left residents on those streets wondering what they paid taxes for . The council dropped the list and opted for a greater enforcement policy ,ie more tickets with strict financial penalties for violators.
Leaving the council after all this time with nothing more than a new “no branches” stipulation, and a reiteration of the policy currently in place states that homeowners are to place leaves in the street no sooner than seven days prior to the area’s scheduled pick-up date.
Maybe they failed to change the policy…..because the existing policy is fine.
What is not fine, is that I live in the same town as a bunch of entitlement minded cry babies with no sense of proportion.
We had a MAJOR storm last October and “certain” residents wanted to snap their fingers and have everything cleaned up. Guess what….you are about to see if Ridgewood residents are patient and understanding ….or still a bunch of cry babies. By the way, don’t feed me that safety line…….just slow down until the leaves are gone, be a little late for your cup of latte.