NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - North Salem is circling back on a recently enacted local vehicle and traffic law that had prohibited parking at all times on parts of Peach Lake Road.
A public hearing on the proposed change has been set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the Town Meeting Hall, 66 June Road.
Last fall, the town enacted a law banning all parking within certain distances of the intersection of Peach Lake Road (state Route 121) and Bloomer Road (county Route 39) and at the intersection of Route 121 and Dingle Ridge Road.
It is now proposing to continue nixing parking on Route 121, but only during specific times on Saturdays and Sundays. The full parking ban would remain in place on Bloomer Road.
The town has received multiple complaints over the years about vehicles parking on the two roads and blocking the view of motorists trying to pull out onto Peach Lake Road from Bloomer Road.
Folks walking in the roads, especially on certain weekend days when Hayfields Café is holding its popular Cars & Coffee event, are also a serious problem.
It’s the lack of sufficient sight distance - combined with drivers speeding - that had created a potentially lethal situation, police and emergency services officials said.
“Someone will get hurt. And that’s not if, that's when,” North Salem Volunteer Ambulance Corps president Kurt Guldan had told the board at a public hearing in October on amending local vehicle and traffic regulations.
Traffic volume and noise around the bucolic community tends to get worse during apple-picking season anyway. North Salem is also a notorious cut-through – from Routes 84 and 684 – for commuters from Connecticut and other parts of Westchester and Putnam counties.
The town’s attorney recently pointed out that local codes differentiate between “No Parking” at all times, and “No Parking” with time limitations. Hence, the new proposed code amendments.
The intent – to improve safety for motorists and pedestrians - remains the same, according to Supervisor Warren Lucas, who told Halston Media recently that the new owners of Hayfields have been “supportive” of the parking regulations.
THE NUMBERS
If the new law is adopted, parking will still be prohibited at all times on Bloomer Road from its intersection with Peach Lake Road, west (on both sides) from a distance of 900 feet.
Parking will be verboten on the west side of Peach Lake Road (Route 121) from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays going north from its intersection with Bloomer Road (Route 39) for a distance of 2,400 feet and on its west side going south for a distance of 1,500 feet.
Also, the weekend parking rules will affect Route 121’s east side from its intersection with Bloomer Road going south for a distance of 1,500 feet.
The same regulations will apply to the east side of Route 121, going north to the centerline of Dingle Ridge Road for a distance of 290 feet and from Route 121’s east side going north from the centerline of Dingle Ridge Road for 900 feet.
SIGNAGE RESPONSIBILITY?
The town has to apply to the NYSDOT for a permit to install the new “No Parking Tow Away Zone” (with time limits) signs.
The signage must meet the state’s “specs,” but it’s not going to install (or pay for) them itself, according to Lucas.
The estimated cost of doing that was $70,000, a figure that the supervisor said sounded “way high.”
Councilman Brent Golisano asked Lucas at the Town Board’s Sept. 8 meeting if North Salem was going to “get any kind of refund” in light of the fact that it was going to have to install the signs itself.
“Well, the DOT said they’re not going to do it because they were up here on a weekend and it looked fine to them, so it’s a zoning problem, it’s not their problem,” Lucas explained.
(That got a rueful laugh from board members.)
Lucas added that he had pointedly asked the agency if it had been there on the “first Saturday of the month" when there's a gathering of classic and vintage car lovers and Hayfields' parking lot tends to overflow onto Peach Lake and Bloomer Roads, according to town officials.
There are other small businesses located near the intersection as well.
OTHER SAFETY CONCERNS
Councilwoman Katherine Daniels pointed out Tuesday that there was more to the situation “than just parking.”
She suggested that the town also talk with the DOT about traffic volume and speeding on the two roads.
(Speed limits on Route 121 are generally 45 mph. On curves and in certain other areas, it’s 40 mph. Bloomer Road is posted for 40 mph along its whole length.)
Lucas responded that it could have that discussion with the DOT, but the state’s “job is not to slow traffic up.”
“They couldn’t care less; if the road can handle 55, it goes 55,” he added.
Daniels understood that that was the way the DOT views its “role,” but the town also has a role to play with regards to “public safety.”
“I don’t think they would want to create an unsafe condition and with all the cars going to Hayfields, it’s definitely unsafe,” she said.
There are also other times when speeding makes the Peach Lake Road unsafe so it wouldn’t hurt to further engage the DOT while the town has its "attention," Daniels added.
She also brought up the issue of pedestrian safety in Croton Falls, which is bisected by state Route 22, a winding, two-lane road.
The hamlet’s master plan addresses things such as crosswalks and sidewalks, but so far the town and DOT haven’t “moved forward” on them, she said.
Lucas pointed out that no one’s asked the state for funding for such projects yet.
“That’s what I mean, we need to have these conversations with the DOT about some of those traffic-calming ideas and get them into existence,” Daniels said.
Lucas didn’t disagree but noted that such projects would probably require “applying for grants and stuff to get done.”
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