The Village of Flower Hill Board of Trustees deferred a vote during its March 4 meeting on renovations for a car dealership at 1047 Northern Blvd. because of questions about signage for motorists entering and exiting the location.
Representatives in attendance on behalf of Long Island Sports Cars, attorney Bruce Migatz and traffic engineer Wayne Muller, requested the board approve the renovation of the showroom and cosmetic work done to the exterior of Long Island Sports Cars, which is projected to be an Aston Martin and McLaren dealership.
Migatz and Muller said the signage was not necessary to notify motorists they cannot make left turns onto or off the property.
Board members said they wanted to review a planning board traffic student that called for the signage.
Village of Flower Heights Mayor Elaine Phillips said most new businesses along Northern Boulevard have no-left-turn signs but they are generally disregarded by drivers.
The board determined to defer its ruling until its next meeting, April 1, after reviewing a printed copy of the traffic study.
Prior to ruling, the board debated the necessity for no-left-turn signs as well as whether it had the authority to erect a sign on Northern Boulevard, which is state property.
“The state likes to make their own determinations, so the only way you can get signage is if the state does its own traffic study,” Village Administrator Ronnie Shatzkamer said. “For something like this, they’d probably not even do a traffic study because it’s not cost-effective.”
Shatzkamer said that the state had ignored village requests for signage in the past.
The board announced during its administrator’s report that a state traffic study will be conducted on the corner of Middle Neck Road and Port Washington Boulevard, a highly congested part of the road where accidents are prone to taking place. Phillips said traffic studies tend to take 3-6 months to complete.
Phillips said in her mayor’s report that the village received an A+ grade on an audit conducted by Satty, Levine, Ciacco, CPAs, P.C. for the fiscal year ending on May 31, 2012, which she called a “clean bill of health” for the village.
Suzanne O’Leary Mills, president of the Manhasset High School crew team’s executive board, requested the board’s approval on a 5K run the group is planning for Sunday, April 7 to raise money for the 2013 turf initiative at Manhasset High School. The run, Mills said, would involve approximately 300-400 Manhasset High School athletes.
The board suggested the runners start on Stonytown Road and run through Manhasset Woods Road to the Flower Hill Village Park, and conduct the run early Sunday morning to avoid traffic from church.
Trustee Tab Hauser reminded Mills about how narrow Manhasset Woods Road is and to take proper safety precautions, and the board motioned to approve the race pending approval from the village insurer.
The board also appointed Robert McNamara as chair of the village finance committee.
The board also announced its annual Arbor Day Celebration at the Village Park on April 27. The event includes the planting of a ceremonial tree in observance, as well as an activity for children and refreshments. The proposed budget is up to $200 for refreshments and up to $500 on printing costs for flyers and brochures advertising it, $50 for the children’s activity and $75 to $100 for a plaque.
“I think this is a great opportunity to come together as a village, because it’s not something we get to do all that often,” Phillips said. “It’s bette to do something like this in April instead of waiting until the summer because people go away during the summer and people do come out to the parks on a Saturday.
