East Hills toughens building codes

Bill Whelan

The Village of East Hills Board of Trustees approved a more stringent set of building regulations and discussed the condition and upkeep of town roads at its meeting last Wednesday.

The board passed three local laws, pending the approval of the Nassau County Planning Commission, amending building regulations with regard to on-site sanitary systems, storm water retention and cesspools as well as retaining walls. 

All new homes being built would be required to meet these regulations, Village Attorney William Burton said, but would not put existing homes out of compliance. 

The village’s building inspector, Barry Lamb said the laws are designed for residents planning substantial work on their homes and clarify what qualifies as substantial work. 

Lamb said the laws were necessary because contractors have been skirting building regulations when putting additions on houses, which village officials said puts homeowners at risk, particularly with the installation of drainage and storm water retention systems, for flooding.  

“It’s industry standard not to [build toward exact regulations] but you get contractors who insist on doing it,” Lamb said. “We don’t have anything codifying that, that we can say, ‘You can’t do it,’ and we’ve had a number of floods.”

Village of East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz added, “This is to protect the homeowners from the contractors.”

The board passed another local law which extended the deadline for leaf removal on residential properties from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15. 

Koblenz said he met with state Sen. Jack Martins on April 21 to discuss conditions of the Roslyn Viaduct he feels are dangerous, in addition to state roads that still have potholes even though construction has already been done to fix them. 

“It’s hard to believe that you can spend millions of dollars on a project and the road is bumpy.” 

Koblenz said Martins is working toward meeting with the state’s Department of Transportation for an update on the viaduct, but at the time of publication he had not received a response from the senator’s office. 

The board also announced plans to erect a second stop sign at the corner of Lakeville Court and Hummingbird Drive at the request of residents who have complained that the intersection, with only one stop sign in place, is prone to accidents. 

In an effort to cut down on traffic congestion in the area, the board passed a resolution to restrict parking along Palm Court daily from 7 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Klobenz said the restrictions are similar to those on Town Path, which intersects with Palm Court.

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