file photo by Boyd Loving
March 16,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Several weeks ago residents of Bogert and Cambridge noticed that the police were in the neighborhood posting no parking signs. The No parking signs say :
No stopping or Standing
7:30 Am -4pm
Mon-Fri
Sept1-June 30th
A resident group contacted the Ridgewood blog looking to voice their concerns, “All the residents of Bogert and Cambridge afflicted by this were quite unaware of any potential ordinance which would prohibit us parking in front of our own homes. In fact I recieved a ticket in February when my husband moved the car early one morning and didn’t move it back.
My concern is that this ordinance was passed without any input by the people affected by it save for one person. There was a petition circulated around the neighborhood which garnered about 50 or 60 signatures. I’d like to get the word out that if people are upset by this they need to attend the next VC meeting and have their voices heard.”
A Village Council Meeting is scheduled to discuss the ordinance on March 22nd. Lately there seems a lot of complaints have been voiced about unilateral decisions made perhaps the by product of all these “committees” in the decision making progress.
On Fairfield Ave., near Travell, there is parking during school hours on BOTH sides of the street. As a new resident I cannot get out of my driveway, especially right before and when school ends. During the school day, it’s very difficult with the teachers parking on both sides of the street.
Today was a fiasco because of the snow banks.
If the town sees this post, please do something and allow parking on only 1 side of the street.
Please come down and look at this mess.
Thank you
J.R.
The parking restrictions on the two streets are the equivalent of hammering in a nail with a wrecking ball. Children’s safety is a top priority but surely there must be some consideration given to the homeowners.
The parking restrictions on the two streets are the equivalent of hammering in a nail with a wrecking ball. Children’s safety is a top priority but surely there must be some consideration given to the homeowners.
J.R.: instead of hoping the council reads your blog post, you’d have more success contacting them by writing to them all. Their email addresses are on the council page of the village website, under government.
What a poor, poor decision by the village. There is absolutely no need for this. Is the stretch of Bogert in front of Travell School subject to the same parking restriction?
If this council keeps going like this the only place you will be able to park in Ridgewood is the parking garage that has not been built. Tic Toc the election is coming soon.
Ridiculous. Residents asleep at the wheel again. Then complain that they didn’t know.
10:14 How are 50 to 60 asleep? A posting was possibly put in the classified section of the Ridgewood News, that nobody reads? The people on the two streets should have been given proper notice. The village never enforced the “no parking 50 feet from the corner” sign and this ridiculous ordinance has no parking halfway up the street. This member of the Travell Safety Committee has overstepped her bounds. The council has said they will re-look at the ordinance and hopefully they mean that. Bogert and Cambridge are quiet streets that do not have a heavy traffic flow and this is totally unnecessary.
Ignorance is no excuse. This change was not slipped in during the middle of the night. It was broadcast, publicized, discussed, discussed some more. So sorry that some of you are too busy having lattes and driving around in massive SUV’s to pay attention to local happenings.
How are these types of proposed changes communicated/broadcast?
How do 50 people not know about it, if it was so well publicized???
The Village did not include the people who are directly affected. A notice could have been sent to the people on the blocks affected and they would have been forewarned. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to make my own coffee and drive my regular sized car!
OMG 9:12. Oops, I mean Melanie. This is you, right?
Nope, 9:12 was not Melanie. Not even close. Sorry, try again.
9:50 the fact that someone thought you were Melanie should be of extreme concern to you. Seriously, brush that chip off you shoulder because it sure is weighing you down.
Seriously how are these changes proposed, researched and then communicated?
I am the most recent appointee to the Citizen’s Safety Committee. I know Melanie McWilliams has been talking about this safety issue with Travell and CSAC for years, but when I heard her describe it the idea was never halfway up the street. The discussion was more focused on the bend near the circle off Glen. The added restrictions must have come from the engineer’s office, no? Does anyone know how it actually ended up being the way it is now?
Melanie did not talk to the Travell community about this at all. She did this on her own.
Is it true that this was never discussed with the Travell community? Is it true that the Citizen’s Safety Committee only focused on the bend near the circle off Glen? If so, how does the parking prohibition end up at 500 feet? It would seem this benefits only one family in the area but disrupts the lives of many more.
Its obvious that this ban benefits one family but disrupts many others.
It is true that one member of Travell Safety Comittee used her title to advance her personal agenda without consulting the Travell community at all. If you asked Travell families what concerned them most about the parking situation around Travell, the majority will say the LACK of parking.
Council playing favorites with no regard for anyone else
If any Bogert or Cambridge residents are concerned about the parking restrictions now you might want to listen to the recording of the December 14, 2016 Village Council meeting on YouTube.com. During the public comments a person asked if there was any ‘wiggle room’ on the timing of the restrictions. The village clerk said the council indicated they would try it this way and if there continue to be issues during the summer the council would go back and look at again. Does this mean this mean the village council would consider extending the restrictions for the entire year?