Village of Great Neck Estates residents who have ignored a violation issued by the village may be in for a rude awakening if they are doing work on their homes or anything else requiring a village permit or license.
The Board of Trustees of Great Neck Estates voted unanimously Tuesday to impose restrictions on residents who fail to respond to violation notices issued by the village.
“We have historically had problems where summonses and violations are issued and people ignore them. They throw them in the garbage, they just don’t want to show up,” said Great Neck Estates Mayor David Fox at a regular board meeting Dec. 13 at the village hall.
The bill, which is effective immediately, requires suspension of permits, licenses and approvals in the event of failure to appear at the village court after 30 days.
“Any permits that you are looking for will be suspended until you can show that you have responded,” said Fox, noting the bill has nothing to do with guilt or innocence.
In an effort to urge residents to take care of outstanding notices which sometimes go unresolved for years, Fox said the bill will make people “more responsive and responsible.”
“I am emphasizing the response, not the guilt or the innocence. Just respond to it,” said the mayor. “I’ve seen cases that are two years old and three years old and then they are expecting officers to come back, sometimes retired, and respond to a violation that took place. It’s ridiculous.”
Also at the meeting, it was reported that heavy rain apparently caused an electrical outage in the Gateway area on North Clover Drive Sunday night which caused 62 homes to loose power for about three hours.
Fox used the incident to stress the importance of proper tree maintenance by area residents. He said line pruning proper limb maintenance are important in keeping lines secure for area residents.
“Sometimes people don’t get it … until they loose power,” said Fox. “It’s our quality of life and I think people should be very much aware of that.”
The board also commended the Great Neck Estates Police Department for a job well done throughout the year.
“Unfortunately one of the only ways people have to gauge the effectiveness of the police department is summonses, and that’s really not fair because there is so much more that’s being done on a daily basis … so, I for one am just very happy at where things are and how they are moving forward,” said Fox.
Regarding the Great Neck Estates Centennial Celebration planned for May 29, Fox said the planning committee needs to address parking needs for seniors and handicapped people who plan to attend. With a minimal amount of parking available, the mayor said now is the time to start thinking about the issue and coming up with answers.
“We are talking about understanding that we have older folks that want to come. They have to get closer,” said Fox.
Also at the meeting:
– The board appointed Susan Stone to the Environmental Committee by a 3-1 vote with Trustee Howard Hershenhorn abstaining. Trustee Sidney Krugman was absent from the meeting.
– The board assigned a $3,900 state-funded Selective Traffic Enforcement Program grant to the Great Neck Estates Police Department for selected traffic enforcement.
– The board added Cedar, Shore, Laurel and Hickory drives to a traffic impact analysis by Robinson Muller and Schiavone Engineering regarding possible construction of an indoor tennis facility on Shore Drive. The board set Feb. 1 as a due date for the study.
