The Village of North Hills introduced two new local laws for consideration at its recent meeting, which, if enacted, would make the maintenance of private roads fall on property owners and implement a new system for those wanting to change their address.
On Wednesday, Aug. 20, the North Hills’ Board of Trustees held its monthly meeting where board members discussed the proposed legislation scheduled for a public hearing in September.
The first, which was in an early draft at the time of the meeting, would ensure that property owners maintain the portion of the road they own. This would include violations and fines issued if they fail to do so.
The proposed local law would issue notices to owners whose roads are in an unsafe condition, such as having potholes, with the notices providing a specified period for the owner to rectify the issue. Failure to do so would lead to an initial violation being issued and subsequently issued violations as long as the road remains unfixed.
According to the board, failure to comply with the violation could lead up to a $1,000 fine.
The initial draft had punishment for violations be up to 15 days imprisonment, however, Mayor Marvin Natiss argued against this to “keep things civil.” The rest of the board agreed, and this was taken out.
“The overall goal in all these things is not punishment, it’s compliance, and we want compliance,” Natiss said. “We don’t want to punish these people. That’s why I wanted to take out the up to 15 days. That didn’t make any sense to me. They’re still our neighbors and they’re still our residents. So that’s why I wanted to delete that.”
For roads in private communities that lie between properties, the Homeowners Association for that community would likely be found responsible, according to the board.
Following the meeting’s adjournment, a resident told the board that notices should give a sufficient amount of time to fix the road since the process could be slow. The board said the proposed law doesn’t have a specific period to fix the road set for all situations, and if the resident shows they are acting in good faith to comply they could consider an extension.
The second proposed local law that the board discussed, also in an early draft, would entrust the responsibility of changing addresses to the board of trustees.
The mayor said he’s received calls from property brokers requesting that the address numbers be changed to be more attractive in the housing market. The board also discussed the plethora of situations where someone would want to change the address numbers, with Deputy Mayor Dennis Sgambati recalling how a resident told them they wanted to make the change to something that referenced their ethnic background.
The board said the process of address alteration in the past was done through the post office, however, the trustees discussed how this new legislation will implement a formal application process. This application process would fall under the village’s board of trustees.
“If they want to change it, they come to us,” Natiss said.
The public hearing for both proposed legislation will be held at the next board meeting on Sept. 17.
