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Residents press Linden council on redevelopment, property-maintenance, lead service lines and a statewide puppy-sale ban
Summary
During public comment, residents urged caution on redevelopment and school capacity, sought clarity on landlord responsibilities and lead-service-line inspections, and asked the council to pass a resolution supporting state legislation to ban retail puppy sales.
Several Linden residents used the public-comment period on Nov. 19 to press the council on a range of local concerns.
On redevelopment, a resident asked the council to "think about what you're putting in there" and urged officials to consider school capacity and neighborhood scale before approving large new projects. That speaker said Linden "is not New York" and called for careful review of parking and infrastructure impacts.
Diane Wilverding asked the council to clarify a resolution consolidating Linden's welfare caseload into the Union County Department of Human Resources, Division of Social Services, asking whether Linden would retain local Social Services staff. The mayor and clerk responded that some services would continue in Linden and that the consolidation was a state recommendation.
Virginia Malek raised two concerns: who is responsible for maintaining rental properties and whether the city's lead remediation notification and inspection process addresses lead in service lines from the street to a home's main. In response, Mr. Antonelli (the city attorney) said the legal responsibility falls on the property owner and inspectors may issue summonses to either landlords or tenants depending on circumstances; Antonelli said the primary goal is abatement, not fines. Malek also described difficulty arranging a lead inspection and requested follow-up from city staff.
Larry Cohen, who said he led Linden's earlier local effort to prohibit pet stores from selling puppies, urged the council to pass a supporting resolution for a current Trenton bill (he cited the bill as S2511/A4051 or similar). "I really urge you to take this up and pass it as soon as you possibly can," Cohen said. The council president acknowledged Cohen's request and said the council would review the material he provided.
Other public speakers urged more enforcement of quality-of-life regulations (parking, event frequency on Wood Avenue), removal of a traffic divider described as hazardous, better tree maintenance, and clearer public communication about new fees and registrations residents had heard about.
Council members asked staff to follow up, and the meeting record shows no formal council action on the items raised during public comment at this session.
