Letter: Attend Council's Public Forum on Land Use Ordinance

Are you concerned about protecting citizens’ rights to appeal land use decisions? If so, please tell the Mayor and Council of Oradell that we want them to preserve Article XI Section 240.6, to protect citizens’ rights to appeal decisions regarding the Zoning Ordinance or Official Map. Here’s how you can help:

1) Attend the hearing, Wednesday, Nov. 9 at Borough Hall, 7 to 9 p.m.,

2) Go to our website, www.cap-oradell.org, download and sign a letter, and

3) Bring a neighbor. Heck, bring all your neighbors!

We want to preserve our right to appeal to the Zoning Board of Adjustment – and the Mayor and Council – as we did to defeat the Walgreens project and defend our small town against overdevelopment.

Are you hearing any good reasons to remove this language? Herewith, please allow us to debunk three misleading lines of loopy logic – straight from current and former members of the council.

1) Loopy Logic – “Citizens still have the right to appeal.”
Sure, in Hackensack…we’d have to take that appeal directly to Superior Court, a venue which is much less likely to hearing the voices of the people affected most by these decisions – us. And guess what – it also costs more!  Sound like a win? We don’t think so. Citizens will bear greater individual financial burden and also face a greater likelihood that the court will not rule in favor of the people, unlike its own elected officials, who have greater latitude in interpreting the needs of the community.

2) More Loopy Logic – “This language is old and it should go.”

Hello? In Oradell, OLD = COOL. We think downtown Oradell is worth preserving, and our charming neighborhoods reflect this. Our “old” laws have repeatedly prevented overdevelopment, unlike neighboring towns that are turning into shopping malls and parking lots.  Thanks to forward-thinking public servants, we now have a lovely green space called Schirra Park – prime Oradell real estate that narrowly avoided becoming a McDonalds. Decades later, these laws prevented the Walgreens development.

3) And Even More Loopy Logic – “Laws like this are uncommon in New Jersey.”

Get the memo, people. Oradell’s uncommon in New Jersey and we like it that way.  It’s because of these checks and balances that Oradell remains small and beautiful.  The proof is in the pudding – we stand out, and we don’t want to blend in with the mall-ification of New Jersey.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

We know Oradell residents repeatedly contributed time and money, showed up at meetings and hearings, signed more than 1,400 letters, turned out by the hundreds to march in the street, and to pack Borough Hall at the pivotal Mayor & Council hearing that delivered our victory.

ORADELL? WE NEED YOU NOW.

We’ll see you at the meeting.

Kristin O’Meara
Citizen Action to Preserve Oradell (CAPO)