Traffic ban in Leonia is bad for business, shop owners say

LEONIA — Dante Pascali, owner of Dante’s Place on Broad Avenue, has taken phone reservations for his Italian restaurant for 21 years.

Three weeks ago, on the day the borough began closing off 60 residential side streets to nonresident commuter traffic, the tone of his customers suddenly changed.

“People are now nervous when they call. They’re concerned,” Pascali said. “They have a choice to go anywhere else; they don’t have to go to Leonia. They can go to any surrounding community and have the same thing.”

And they appear to be doing just that. Business at Dante’s Place has dropped 30 to 40 percent since the traffic laws — dubbed the Leonia Safe Streets program — went into effect, Pascali said.

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The loss of customers, half of whom come from neighboring towns, has been profound.

“We don’t work for much,” Pascali said. “This isn’t corporate America, this is Main Street business. The profit margin is very small, so any drop affects us.”

At Andres Wine & Spirits, foot traffic decreased by 17 percent the first week of the closures and 13 percent the second week, said owner Luis Morales.

At the nail salon Chic Shop, owner Clara Cho said her small business has also taken a significant hit.

“We have a bottom line and we make a little more money than we pay rent. How can we make it?” Cho said. “People love coming here, but now they’re too scared to. They’re so afraid of a $200 ticket.”

The fear of receiving one has successfully kept side streets free of commuter traffic, borough officials say. But it’s also unintentionally hurt businesses.

Mayor Judah Zeigler and the Borough Council sent a letter Wednesday night urging residents to visit local business while the administration works on a solution.

"As we said all along, this plan is meant to be an iterative process, and if we identify unintended negative consequences, we are committed to addressing those issues as quickly as possible,” the letter states. “This is clearly one of those unintended consequences — and we must fix it.”

The letter placed blame for the business slowdown on the media, which have covered the road restrictions extensively but rarely mentioned that nonresidents driving to and from Leonia businesses or homes can use any Leonia street at any time.

The borough's main thoroughfares — Fort Lee Road, Broad Avenue and Grand Avenue — remain open to all traffic.

It is not clear how police will be able to determine the difference between motorists traveling through Leonia to go to a destination in the borough and those traveling though Leonia to get the George Washington Bridge.

Zeigler and Police Chief Tom Rowe could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Morales, the liquor store owner, said his customers have been scared away by the dozens of “Do Not Enter” signs that now greet drivers as they travel through the borough.

“They see the sign and they don’t want to come into town,” he said.

Cho also blamed the signage and said the closure of the street next to her salon, Elm Street, is particularly problematic.

“They decided to put up the signs and they didn’t ask us,” she said. “This is really unfair to us.”

Pascali, of Dante’s Place, said he wants to see the borough change the signage as well as the hours the road restrictions are in effect. Side streets are off-limits to nonresidents nine hours a day, from 6 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 9 p.m.

“We understand that the residents have had a big issue with traffic but it’s not every day,” Pascali said. “From 4 to 9 at night — I don’t think it needs to be that.”

Morales is also lobbying the borough to reconsider the evening rush hour closures. His store sees 70 percent of its customers for the day during that time period.

“We’re just waiting to see what’s going to happen and what they’re going to do for us,” Morales said.

Concerns over the road closures have intensified since Leonia launched its Safe Streets program on Jan. 22 to combat cut-through traffic heading to the George Washington Bridge. Many Leonians have praised the effort, marveling at the reduction in cars on their formerly clogged streets.

Others have questioned whether the closures are legal. An Edgewater woman argued last week that they are not, alleging in a lawsuit that Leonia is infringing on her access to public roads and violating the public’s right to freedom of travel.

A Leonia woman getting her nails buffed at Chic Shop on Thursday morning was torn over the initiative.

“I like it because my kids are safe and it takes me half the time to take my kids to school, but at the same time, I wouldn’t want Fort Lee to start saying we can’t use their streets to get to the bridge,” said the woman, who declined to be named. “But ultimately I think it’s illegal. There must be a middle ground.”

Email: shkolnikova@northjersey.com