After having their previous ordinance invalidated by a superior court judge in August, Leonia has passed a new set of revised ordinances aimed at closing their streets to non-residents every morning and evening.
The judge in the case granted the Attorney General’s motion for summary judgement because the law would affect on traffic on state roads such as Route 93/Grand Avenue and Route 46/Bergen Boulevard, but Leonia had not received approval from the DOT as required by NJSA 39:4-8(a). However, Leonia Mayor Judah Zeigler released a statement afterwards indicating that the judge’s opinion affirmed Leonia’s right to pass the ordinance if done properly.
The new ordinances (#2018-14 and #2018-15), adopted in mid-September, again prohibit non-residents from traversing most streets in Leonia (see map below) from 6-10 AM and 4-9 PM. However, they attempt to work around issues brought up in the initial lawsuit by delaying the application of some restrictions on state roads until after the DOT has signed off.
Previously, concern was also raised on how this law would affect traffic patterns in neighboring towns such as Englewood and Teaneck and how this ordinance would be enforced on visitors to residences and businesses in Leonia without randomly pulling over cars. Allowing such an ordinance to stand might just shift the problem to other municipalities and encourage them to pass similar laws until densely populated areas become a tangle of residents-only streets.
Attorney General and the DOT have already filed an amended complaint against Leonia, seeking to have the new ordinances invalidated as well. They claim that Leonia still has no legal power to create “no-through” streets or to restrict traffic based on residency and that proper approval and public notice was still lacking for the new ordinances.
Plaintiff Jacqueline Rosa has filed an amended complaint as well, reasserting that the new ordinances still violate state law and her constitutional right to “travel freely without being stopped and questioned”. She also asks the court to sanction Leonia for flouting the judge’s order by simply passing a new set of ordinances with the same restrictions.
The full amended filings and exhibits can be seen below. The amended complaints were accepted by the judge at a hearing on October 12th.
Documents
- 01/30/2018 – Complaint filed by Jacqueline Rosa
- 02/12/2018 – Amended complaint filed by Jacqueline Rosa
- 06/11/2018 – Complaint filed by DOT
- 07/11/2018 – Motion for summary judgement filed by DOT
- 09/20/2018 – Motion to reconsider filed by Leonia
- 09/21/2018 – Motion to amend complaint filed by DOT
- 09/28/2018 – Motion to amend complaint filed by Jacqueline Rosa
- 10/04/2018 – Opposition to DOT motion to amend filed by Leonia
- 10/05/2018 – Reply to opposition to DOT motion to amend filed by DOT
- 10/12/2018 – Order granting motion to amend
Please note: The restriction is 7 days per week, not just weekdays.
Fixed, thank you!