August 15, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 5 Wyckoff Township opens door for fall vote on raffles by John Koster The Wyckoff Township Committee has adopted an ordinance that will allow Wyckoff residents to vote on whether they want to permit raffles in the township. The ordinance as adopted on Aug. 7 will place the raffle question on the November ballot. Wyckoff has officially banned raffles since 1954. The people who wish to sponsor raffles as fundraisers circulated a petition that had to be signed by 15 percent of the township’s registered votes. Approximately 650 signatures would have been required, but more than 1,100 individuals signed the petition. After checking the signatures against the voter registration books, Wyckoff Township Clerk Joyce Santimauro confirmed last week that more than enough signatures had checked out to put the question on the ballot. The referendum question approved last week for the Nov. 6 ballot will read: “Shall the Raffles Licensing Law (P.L. 1954, C.5) be adopted within this municipality?” The interpretative statement will read: “This binding referendum will adopt the provisions of the Raffles Licensing Law which would permit specific kinds of games of chance, commonly known as raffles, to be conducted by certain qualified organizations including, but not limited to, charitable, educational, religious, and civic organizations, within the Township of Wyckoff upon the issuance of a license to the township.” Calvinist churches, such as the Reformed and Presbyterian churches, have traditionally frowned on gambling, especially under religious auspices. Wyckoff officials noted that there had been a substantial demographic shift in the population since the 1950s and believed that many people no longer had objections to games of chance, especially for charitable purposes. Notably, however, the Wyckoff Lions Club Carnival was relocated some years ago because some township residents objected to games of chance as part of the fundraising effort. A second ordinance adopted last week will update the regulations for canvassing in Wyckoff. Mayor Christopher De Phillips said the change strengthened the ordinance in the prohibition department. The ordinance as adopted Aug. 7 states that “(n)o person shall canvass, solicit, distribute or vend, within the mean- ing of this chapter, in the Township of Wyckoff, before the hour of 9 a.m. or after sunset on any day of the week; however, a person may obtain a waiver from the prohibition of canvassing, soliciting, distributing, or vending after sunset upon application to the chief of police and a finding by him that that existing weather and road conditions present no significant threat or danger to the safety and welfare of the people in the community.” The Wyckoff Township Committee had received a favorable comment from Police Chief Benjamin Fox about (continued on page 17)