The Village of Roslyn Estates is in conflict with its easterly neighbor, the Village of Roslyn, over a boundary on Mineola Avenue.
Roslyn Estates Mayor Paul Leone Peters addressed the conflict at his village’s Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, telling residents that it involves the sidewalks of Mineola Avenue, which borders the east side of Roslyn Estates and the west side of Roslyn.
“There’s a conflict between the Village of Roslyn and the Village of Roslyn Estates over who is legally responsible for repairing those sidewalks,” Peters explained.
He said that Nassau County had decided that repairs to the sidewalks on Mineola Avenue were the responsibility of the Village of Roslyn, not the Village of Roslyn Estates.
“Our jurisdiction stops on our side of the sidewalk, in other words we’re the right of way of Mineola Avenue, which is a county road,” Peters said. “Where that right of way stops and the property owner’s property begins, that’s where our village ends. [The Village of Roslyn has] contested that with no legal justification, and we’ve been going back and forth.”
Roslyn Estates substantiated its claim with a letter from the county’s Department of Public Works, sent in 2009, from then-Commissioner Raymond A. Ribiero.
“Please by advised that although Mineola Boulevard is a County road, according to Nassau County Administrative Code, Paragraph 12-4.0 and amended by Local Law 10-1985, the Incorporated Village of Roslyn is responsible for the necessary repair to sidewalks and curbs on County roads and as such, all that matters that involve sidewalk fall under their jurisdiction,” Ribiero’s letter reads.
Roslyn Village Attorney John Gibbons said that even if the sidewalks are technically Roslyn’s property, a law in the village gives responsibility for sidewalks to the property owner.
“The Village of Roslyn has a law that says the contiguous land owner is responsible for sidewalks, not the village,” Gibbons said.
Peters says the conflict began when Roslyn Estates wanted to make repairs to the sidewalks in 2011, but was unable to.
“We can’t even legally put up ‘No Parking’ signs along that way, because it’s not our village,” Peters said.
Peters then presented a letter dated Monday and written by Christopher Prior, the village attorney of Roslyn Estates, to Gibbons, but Gibbons said he hasn’t received any communication.
“I haven’t heard back from anybody,” Gibbons said.
