Karnofskys Hire Attorney as Crosswalk is Painted

The battle over the crosswalk at Highland Avenue and Sinclair Place is moving to another level, just as the crosswalk was painted Tuesday.

During the agenda review meeting before Tuesday night's formal Town Council meeting, the Council discussed a letter it had received from the legal counsel for Brian and Karen Karnofsky, homeowners who live adjacent to the new crosswalk who have become the crosswalk's leading opponents. In the letter, the attorney said the Karnofskys were asking for the crosswalk location to be reconsidered and had requested him to retain a traffic consultant to conduct a formal study.

"The letter ends that if the town does not reconsider the decision then the firm has been asked to retain a traffic engineer and possibly seek judicial relief," Town Attorney Bob Cockren said in his briefing of the Council at the agenda review meeting.

Following his briefing of the Council regarding the contents of the letter, Cockren advised the Council that they should refrain from speaking publicly about the crosswalk at future Council meetings because of the threat of litigation.

The Karnofskys have become a public face of an effort which has drawn multiple residents of the Gardens neighborhood into the fight to move the new crosswalk. The residents, who were part of over 300 residents townwide to sign a petition on the subject last month, are asking for the crosswalk to be moved to the other side of Sinclair from where it is now. The concern is that a car backing out of the Karnofsky's driveway could potentially hit someone in the crosswalk and that cars making turns off of Sinclair on to Highland could hit someone in the crosswalk, given the volume of cars traveling at the intersection. A sewer grate at one end of the new crosswalk is another concern. There have been calls to move the crosswalk to the intersection of Colonial and Highland. All three locations are adjacent to the Karnofskys' property.

The crosswalk became an issue after the redistricting of children in the Gardens from Wilson School to Franklin School. The Council has said they want to keep the crosswalk in the new location because it will keep children on the same side of Sinclair as Franklin. The Council has said in the past that the new crosswalk is a safety boon since it will take children out of the Karnofsky's driveway where they had been crossing Highland.

Town Engineer Kris McAloon used the agenda review meeting to update the Council on the crosswalk's status. The thermoplastic paint was placed on Tuesday and the crosswalk is in place. The curbing has been removed from next to the crosswalk on the Karnofskys' side of Highland in order to put a curb ramp in place. The ramp is expected to be in place in the next two weeks.

The ramp will be put in after PSE&G moves a utility pole to the side of the sidewalk. The pole is currently in the exact spot that the ramp would be placed. McAloon said there was concerned expressed about moving the pole, which serves as a support pole for other utility wires, to the side of the sidewalk closer to the Karnofskys' yard. He said that it is legal, as the spot is 13 feet from the curb and the public right of way is 16 feet from the curb.

During the formal Council meeting, Gardens resident John Devitt spoke out about the crosswalk, at one point reading a letter from Joseph Wheatley, the crossing guard at Lawrence Avenue and Sinclair, one block from the new crosswalk. In the letter, which was submitted to the Council by Devitt on Wheatley's behalf, the crossing guard wrote that he has seen a record amount of children crossing from the Gardens because of the redistricting and he has seen the high speed that cars use on Sinclair heading towards the intersection with Highland.

In the letter, Wheatley urged the Council to come and observe the intersection first hand in the mornings. Several Council members, including First Ward Councilman Frank Arena have said they have observed the intersection before the decision was made regarding the crosswalk. McAloon has also said that he has observed the traffic at the intersection, along with traffic safety professionals working with the town government.

In keeping with the advice given by Cockren earlier in the evening, the Council sat silent during Devitt's presentation. Devitt said he agrees with the Karnofskys and the crossing guard with regards to the need to move the crosswalk's location.

"I feel it is a risky spot to put a crosswalk there," he said.