Manorhaven to institute new snow parking laws

Luke Torrance
Four cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Manorhaven. (Photo courtesy of the Village of Manorhaven)

The Manorhaven Board of Trustees approved changes Thursday to the law governing parking during snow emergencies, although more could be on the way.

The laws will not be official until they are voted on during the Sept. 27 meeting, but what the trustees will be voting on was set at the work session. A definition of “snow emergency” will be added to the law, and alternate street parking will only be required during snow emergencies between Dec. 1 and March 31. Snow emergencies will be in effect from midnight until 2 p.m. each day, and the parking fine during emergencies was raised to $150. Parking would be limited to the south side of Cambridge Avenue during snow emergencies.

The board considered changing the law to increase general parking fines and having street sweeping year-round, but attorney Jonathan Fielding said the board would have to wait until the October meeting to vote on such changes. The trustees decided to go ahead with what they had.

“Why don’t we get this thing going, and then if we have to change it down the road, we can,” Trustee Ken Kraft said.

Mayor Jim Avena said the village would get the word out to residents through Manorhaven’s website, social media and by placing stickers on signs.

The board then looked into how it would regulate cell node usage in the village. The proposed law is based largely on the one in Plandome Manor that requires village oversight throughout the process.

Environmentalists had expressed concern about radiation from the nodes, Avena said, but any village regulations over radiation would be pre-empted by the Federal Communications Commission. Manorhaven can only regulate the nodes on aesthetic grounds.

“The FCC gets to determine what’s safe and what’s not safe,” Fielding said.

The board also approved a vote to increase parking fines from $40 to $60 per offense. Avena pointed out the rate hadn’t been raised in 13 years and that the Town of North Hempstead charged $80.

The trustees adopted two resolutions: one to submit a grant application to renovate the Village Hall bathrooms, and another to adjust line items on the village budget.

“The good news is that our accumulated surplus has reached $1 million,” Avena said. “And that hasn’t happened in seven years.”

The meeting closed with a long discussion over whether Kraft should be authorized to issue code tickets. But the board could not come to an agreement, and it was tabled for future discussion.

Reach reporter Luke Torrance by email at ltorrance@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516-307-1045, ext. 214, or follow him on Twitter @LukeATorrance.

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