What is CUPON? Fact Based Advocacy is Catching on in
Rockland and Beyond
CUPON stands for Citizens United to Protect Our Neighborhoods. CUPON Inc. (a.k.a.
CUPON Rockland) is a recently formed not-for-profit, all-volunteer, nonpolitical
organization.
CUPON Inc. has established a core mission and code of conduct to be adopted and
followed by all CUPON affiliated groups. The core mission of CUPON is to educate
CUPON affiliates and local residents on how to get and stay informed of land use
hearings, how to get access to and understand land use applications, and how to
respectfully participate in meetings and engage local municipalities to:
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Ensure local elected governing bodies and their Land Use board
members’ decisions safeguard the health and safety of all our
citizens and first responders;
Ensure that Land Use laws as set forth by local, state and federal
governments are followed; and,
Oppose land use board decisions that are illegal, conclusory, and/or
arbitrary and capricious that result in adverse effects on the
surrounding community.

CUPON’s code of conduct is designed to promote respectful, fact based, and issue
centric engagement by CUPON members in municipal decision-making. In this way,
CUPON hopes to enable people of good will - irrespective of race, religion, political
affiliation or socio-economic statuses – to better engage in land-use planning
processes to protect their neighborhoods from: poor environmental review of
development applications; baseless or irrational land use decisions; problems in
code enforcement that lead to overdevelopment; segregated and/or illegal housing;
and abusive rental housing.
CUPON encourages diversity and hopes to foster inclusive neighborhoods where
diverse groups can coexist in harmony and mutual respect. We aim to engage in
respectful dialogue with developers, residents, and local officials when proposed
land use applications cause concern to existing resident’s. We advocate that local
governments fulfill their fundamental responsibility to protect existing resident’s
property values and community character in the face of the overreaching desires of
developers.
CUPON Inc. currently has several CUPON affiliated groups in Rockland and Bergen
Counties and additional communities are also looking to form more CUPON
affiliates. The central CUPON Inc. organization governs recruiting, education and
training of affiliate organizations and establishes the core mission and code of

 conduct that ALL CUPON affiliates must follow. Once established, each affiliate
operates independently but can access CUPON Inc. as a central resource.
To become a CUPON affiliate, interested town/village/area leaders along with
concerned residents are evaluated as to their land use concerns and need for
oversight in their community, as well as the communities’ attitude toward other
people and groups. This evaluation process includes a questionnaire, phone
conversations, and meetings. CUPON Inc. has always clearly stated that CUPON
groups must ONLY focus on improper or questionable Land Use activity and that any
group seeking to affiliate with CUPON must share in, and project, our stated core
values of:
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Integrity
Inclusiveness
Fairness
Dignity, and Respect

We impress upon all potential new organizations and their members our Basic Code
of Conduct. Every CUPON group, and associated individuals, shall conduct
themselves according to our code of conduct whenever their actions or
communications are related to CUPON, or risk being expelled from CUPON.
CUPON cannot control what non-CUPON members may say about us. We encourage
anyone concerned about CUPON’s motives and/or negative comments published
about CUPON to contact us so that we are aware of and can respond, as necessary,
to any inaccurate characterization of CUPON.
We welcome inquiries from community groups with land use concerns to learn more
about CUPON by emailing us at: cuponrockland@gmail.com.