Pleasantville Considers Parking Restrictions, Safety for Romer Avenue
Pleasantville officials are exploring whether to enact tighter parking restrictions on Romer Avenue in hopes of making the street safer, but one village trustee is worried the action could entice motorists to speed.
That is the dilemma the Pleasantville Village Board must weigh as officials opened a public hearing Monday night to discuss the issue for one of the village’s busiest streets.
On-street parking on Romer Avenue would be restricted for an additional 50 to 60 feet from the north end of the Mount Pleasant Library toward the high school. Parking would be restricted from 7 to 9 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. on school days only, the peak times for pickup and dropoff at Pleasantville Middle School and Pleasantville High School, both located at the end of the street.
Currently, similar restrictions are in place in front of the library on the Bedford Road and Romer Avenue sides and the end of the block closest to the high school.
Traffic and safety have been concerns on Romer Avenue for years. The library hired a security guard a few years ago to help with overflow parking problems in its lot. The village also approved earlier this year to install a speed hump on the street to curb speeding.
“There are various concerns about Romer Avenue on all sides,” Mayor Peter Scherer said. “It gets extremely congested. We’re balancing a lot of different issues. There are concerns from neighbors, the library and the school. I think it will take a little bit of discussion if anything should change.”
Trustee Colleen Griffin Wagner, the village board’s liaison to the Mount Pleasant Library Board of Trustees, said safety at dismissal time continues to be a pressing matter. Additional restrictions on parking would make it easier for drivers and pedestrians to see. Many of the pedestrians are students on their way to school in the morning or following dismissal in the afternoon, Wagner said.
The plan to enhance restrictions has the support of Police Chief Richard Love and library Executive Director John Fearon. Wagner said she also met with Superintendent of Schools Mary Fox- Alter and Board of Education President Lois Winkler.
One official opposed to the change is village Trustee Brian Skarstad, a Romer Avenue resident. He said having fewer
parked cars would make it easier for drivers to speed on Romer.
“There haven’t been accidents,” Skarstad said. “There haven’t been kids who have been hit. It’s a relatively safe place to be. Why we are thinking about changing it is
beyond me.”
Skarstad said other residents who live on the street are also against the proposal. “Various times we’ve had to station police cars and take a radar gun to slow people down,” he said. “Why would we make it easier for cars to speed? Those are dangerous conditions. This is a potential problem. I don’t think it’s making things safer.”
Wagner said she would like the village board to consider the restrictions before the first day of school Sept. 5, though Scherer said last week that the board would keep the public hearing open to accommodate residents who might be away and to make sure both sides are heard.
The village board’s next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 10.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
