April 2, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 5 Midland Park Parents seek help with Ridge School parking Midland Park town officials hope that a meeting between the Midland Park and Ridgewood police offi- cials will result in improved traffic conditions before and after school hours in the area of the Ridge Elementary School in Ridgewood. Several residents of Maltbie Avenue in Midland Park asked the mayor and council during last week’s meet- ing to find a solution to the congestion caused in front of their homes by parents picking up or dropping off chil- dren at the school. The residents said the Ridgewood par- ents block their driveways, damage their lawns, obstruct the lines of sight at the intersection of Maltbie and Frank- lin avenues and put children in danger as they run in the street to reach their cars. The block-long street is north of Franklin Avenue and has only five houses on it, some of which are partially in Ridgewood. “Maltbie is a danger zone. Something has to be done - perhaps one side of street parking. Nobody can get through – not emergency vehicles, not the UPS truck, not the homeowners,” said Art “Skip” Marchetti, who had originally brought the problem to Mayor Patrick “Bud’ O’Hagan at a “Breakfast with the Mayor” meeting. “The traffic is unbelievable. They all have big cars and encroach on our driveways more and more. They don’t even care,” said Lorraine DeLuca, whose house fronts on Franklin Avenue a half block from the school. She said the school traffic and parking extends past her house to Cottage Street. O’Hagan said he had also wit- nessed double parking in front of the school. “We worry our kids or the Ridgewood kids will get hurt,” said Joan Skudera, a Maltbie resident. The mayor suggested painting lines on the roadway to keep cars from blocking driveways, as was done success- fully to alleviate complaints on Paterson Avenue. “We still wouldn’t be able to back out if there is park- ing on both sides of the street,” said Marchetti. “We have no sidewalks. Children walk in the middle of the street. Lines wouldn’t solve that problem,” said Maltbie resident James Canelas. “Cars park right up to the corner at all four corners of the intersections. You can’t make a turn, and you can’t see anything when you pull out,” said Maltbie resident Mark Schaffer. Council President Nick Papapietro, the police liaison, said Ridgewood Police and the Ridge School principal would be contacted for help in dealing with the situation. Councilwoman Nancy Peet said the borough’s traffic officer should evaluate the situation and make a recom- mendation as well. And Councilman Scott Pruiksma said the Village Manager should be made aware of the issues at hand. Councilman Mark Braunius cautioned that any deci- sion taken “should not penalize our residents because of the abuse of other residents.” He said some of the prob- lems might be improved with more vigorous enforce- ment of existing ordinances, including the no parking within 50 ft. of a stop sign. “Let’s address it with our police department first,’ he said.