Residents Dismayed at Push to Repeal Blue Laws

One woman's wish to end the Blue Laws in Bergen County has already hit a nerve with Paramus residents  who are dismayed at the attempt to end their peace and quiet on Sundays from the borough's extensive mall traffic.

Rosemary Shashoua of Westwood has proposed sending the Blue Laws to a November referendum in hopes of "Modernizing Bergen County." According to Shashoua, by repealing the blue laws there would then be additional revenue and jobs for the state. But her reasoning is not sitting well with many Paramus Patch followers who have taken to Patch and Facebook to express their displeasure.

"Crime increases so there are more cops to pay," Maryl Bogge wrote on Facebook. "The streets take more wear and tear like potholes that have to be fixed. Who do you think that burden lies on? Paramus tax payers, that's who. The taxes collected from Sunday is not relevant because food and clothing have no tax. The peace and quiet of one day from rude shoppers who won't let you merge onto any street - god forbid - is priceless. I live and work in Paramus and experience the rudeness every day. Why is god's name would we want all of the extra crap seven days a week?"

Bergen County has a long tradition with blue laws. The current law originated in the 1950s after the Garden State Plaza was built and became a popular destination for shoppers. The blue laws have been challenged twice: once in 1980 and again in 1993. Both times the attempts to repeal the law failed by large margins - 192,394 to 157,648 in 1980 and 185,821 to 105,040 in 1993.

"I grew up in Paramus near the GSP, I couldn't even pull out of my driveway," Donna Loggia wrote. "We Bergen County people put up with enough six days a week. There are many other shopping centers, Wayne, N.Y, that are not far away. We deserve one day of rest a week. This also will create more crime and the need for more police and emergency services. The highways will be more congested causing more accidents."

Councilman Pat Verile even entered the debate questioning, if shoppers having Monday through Saturday from 10am to 10pm wasn't enough time.

Judy Manni pointed out that shoppers who need to go to a mall can easily visit the Palisades Center in Rockland County or Willowbrook in Wayne.

"There is no reason to repeal the Blue Laws," Manni said. "They give this area relief on Sunday which should be a day of rest and family, from the ridiculous traffic of the other six days of the week. Passaic County and Rockland County are not far away and people can still shop for those 'necessities' they deem important enough to disrupt our Sundays. It's not as if there are no other options open to people for shopping. The residents of this county have shown time and time again that we want the Blue Laws to remain to preserve some semblance of quiet and quality of life." 

The County's Blue Laws were temporarily suspended following Hurricane Sandy by Gov. Chris Christie on the advice of County Executive Kathleen Donovan. That decision resulted in Donovan and Paramus officials going head-to-head in a courtroom.

"The Blue Laws are absolutely essential to keeping Paramus livable and I will never stop fighting to make sure they are always here to protect our quality of life," Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera said after a judge upheld the suspension.

And while the majority of residents that commented to Patch about Shashoua's intention are against the repeal, a small faction were in favor of asking voters to weigh in on the matter.

"I am all for this," Danielle McSherry posted. " As a working mom who only has Saturday to only to run around like a chicken without a head, we need an extra day to get stuff done. And if you opened it up, Saturday traffic might not be as bad being that there isn't only one day to shop."

Joseph Anthony Ianiro Jr also questioned if weekday and Saturday traffic would lessen on Rt. 17 as shoppers would have one more day to purchase items. All of Paramus' malls from GSP to Bergen Town Center and Paramus Park to the Fashion Center Mall are all accessible from Rt. 17.

"Paramus invited the malls," Lee Kuchenreuther wrote. "Its never going to be that quiet little bucolic quaint town. Bring in mass transit systems? No we built highways and then we built houses. It's like the Teterboro airport. It was there when there was just a swamp. They allowed housing. People move in and now they complain."

A Facebook poll on whether the Blue Laws should be repealed or not currently has 110 votes in favor of the repeal. For a referendum on the Blue Laws to be placed on a November ballot, a petition with approximately 10,000 signatures from Bergen County residents would have to be delivered to County Administrators.

What do you think? Tell us in the comments where you stand on repealing the Blue Laws?