The Town of North Hempstead unanimously approved the expansion of no parking zones on Carle Road in Carle Place Thursday morning to diminish the hazards presented by parked cars.
The Carle Place road previously had a no-parking zone established on the west side from 25 feet north of the north curb line of Mineola Avenue for a distance of 80 feet north. This was enforced from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. except on weekends and holidays.
The new ordinance expands the no parking zone distance to 175 feet in length, extending north of 25 feet from the curb line.
Also changed is the addition of a no-stopping zone from the north curb line of Broadway for a distance of 30 feet north, or to the corner.
Councilmember Robert Troiano said the change would restrict parking used by three people who park in the area for work or use the train station. He said the parking there is a safety hazard as it reduces driver visibility on the road.
He said neighbors have been alerted to the change and have agreed to it.
Resident Pete Gaffney applauded the town for the expanded ordinance but said it needs to be paired with increased code enforcement in the neighborhood. He said that despite the signs, there are individuals continuously violating the parking regulations.
“They’re all affecting our quality of life,” Gaffney said.
The resolution was adopted Thursday morning at the town’s first morning public hearing, which Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said would hopefully ease the town’s lengthy monthly meetings. The morning public hearings are held in tandem with its regularly scheduled town board meetings held at nights.
“Hopefully, this will help even out the late nights that we’ve had for some of our evening meetings,” DeSena said.
While the morning meetings may now shorten the town’s monthly night meetings, the initial proposal faced backlash from town Democrats, who argued it would diminish the ability of members of the public to attend and affect the schedules of councilmembers who work during the day.
Robert Troiano, who works for the Nassau County Board of Elections and serves as president of the Westbury Board of Education. He previously said the board is “changing the rules in the middle of the game” and that he will have to leave work to make the morning meetings.
Gaffney said at Thursday’s hearing that an added concern is parking in the area to attend meetings.
Town municipal parking is restricted to employees at the time of the morning meetings and other parking options are time-restricted, ranging from one to two hours. This could pose challenges if meetings run longer than an hour or two. Thursday’s meeting was less than 10 minutes.
DeSena said the town will look into the parking issue.
The Town of North Hempstead board will convene again at 7 p.m. on March 5 for its regular monthly meeting.