Three residents voiced their concerns about a proposal to further limit parking on Halton Road at the Nov. 12 DeWitt Town Board meeting.
Supervisor Ed Michalenko said the proposal followed some complaints from residents of the neighborhood. The town highway and police departments performed traffic studies, he said, and found that banning parking along the southbound lane of the road would make it safer for emergency response vehicles.
“They are recommending that we put a no-parking zone on Halton Road basically from the intersection of Waldorf Parkway pretty much through to East Colvin Street,” he said.
“I live on Halton Road, kind of on the East Colvin side,” said Ravi Adhikary. His house has a one-car garage and a small driveway for parking, he said, and the opposite side of the road is already a no-parking zone. The town prohibited parking alongside the northbound lane in August 2010, Michalenko said.
“So we have little parking there, and it would be kind of an inconvenience,” Adhikary said. “Occasionally we do have to park in front of our house.”
Judy Hoysak, who lives on the corner of Halton Road and Waldorf Parkway, said the ban would not affect her, since her driveway opens onto Waldorf.
“So I don’t have a parking issue, personally, but I’m concerned for my neighbors,” she said.
Mary Perun, of Halton Road, asked why the no-parking zone was being proposed.
“I bought my house in 1998, and I never really dealt with any problems in terms of maneuvering the street,” she said. “Except recently with all of the National Grid work.”
As a member of a local church board, she said she relies on the street parking when she hosts their annual Christmas dinner.
“I have, once a year, a large gathering of people at my house for that occasion, and we utilize the street for parking. And it’s just an inconvenience,” she said.
She added: “We’re all taxpayers of the town, and we all deserve to have a place to park.”
Highway Superintendent Rocco Conte explained that the road narrows at the top of the hill.
“If someone’s coming up that hill and if there’s a car parked there and that car comes up the hill and goes around, you’re gonna have a problem,” he said. “You’re gonna be right nose to nose with another car because it’s so narrow right at the top of that hill.”
When asked by Perun if there was a record of accidents for that stretch of road, Conte said he did not know and that the police department would have that information on file.
Hoysak, who has lived in the same house in that area for 47 years, said she didn’t know of any collisions occurring there, “but as far as trouble, there’s been a lot of trouble.”
“This might be a short-term solution, but I’m asking if the board would consider some long-term solutions,” she said. “We still have ditches on Mary’s side, and I can tell you how many cars I’ve helped shovel out and push out [of the snow]. A school bus tipped over in my front law one time. It’s always been an issue.”
The board moved to not take action on the proposal. Councilor Ken Andrews thanked the residents for coming out and expressing their concerns about the proposed no-parking zone.
“If we don’t have some residents here saying this is gonna be a hardship on us, we can make a motion and there’d be no parking there,” he said. “But it’s good that you’re here, because we are listening.”
