Residents Pressure derails bike ticket blitz
Bicyclists: Time to change mind-set in Ridgewood
Thursday May 9, 2013, 4:01 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
The Ridgewood Council unanimously defeated a controversial bicycle ordinance Wednesday after a flurry of residents, business owners and other cycling enthusiasts presented arguments to show the proposal was counterproductive.
For months, council members had been mulling over whether to grant law enforcement and other authorities the power to cut locks on any bicycle secured in a way that impeded the proper use of a sidewalk. The ordinance was originally intended to address public safety concerns, with village officials suggesting that bikes chained to fences, sign posts and other fixed objects at the Ridgewood train station often block the way of pedestrians and those who require use of wheelchairs.
But opponents claimed the council was putting the “cart before the horse,” asserting that cyclists park their bicycles along fences because the village fails to provide an adequate number of bike stalls at the station and within the Central Business District. As a remedy, residents suggested that the village post signage and install additional bike racks as an alternative to an ordinance that is punitive in nature.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/206816151_Bicyclists__Time_to_change_mind-set_in_Ridgewood.html
Bikes were here before cars. Enough said.