The Community Liaison Committee (CLC) of Manhasset revisited the traffic issue at its Feb. 16 meeting. The issue had been discussed at the group's December meeting, which was attended by Town of North Hempstead Supervisor May Newburger, 6th Precinct Commander George Morrish and Councilman Angelo Ferrara. The guests at the February meeting were Councilman Angelo Ferrara, Chamber of Commerce Co-President Richard Dundore, David Soehl, representing county legislator Craig Johnson, Ray Robera, assistant director of the Nassau County Department of Public Works, and Andrew Hyman, North Hempstead Commissioner of Public Safety.

CLC President Brian Vincent expressed surprise that he had received no follow-up from the officials who had attended the earlier meeting. "We expected to hear something," he said. "We did not expect silence. If a subject is worthy of discussion, something should be done." Mr. Vincent went on to talk about the big January snowstorm which came after four years of virtually no snow. "You can't blame the budget for insufficient snow removal. There was no money spent in the previous four years for snow removal. If there is a safety consideration, I don't think it's fair to leave mounds of snow."

Vincent went on to say that there is supposed to be no all-night parking on Plandome Road so the snowplows can go through. "There's a lot of signage," he said, "but it's not too clear." He also raised the issue of increasing the number of crosswalks on Plandome Road in which drivers are supposed to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks. Finally he spoke about the problem on Maple Avenue and Orchard Street where Post Office trucks park on both sides of the street. "When there's snow in addition to the trucks, there's only room for one car to get through," he said.

President Vincent said that at its executive board meeting, the CLC had recommended the following topics to be discussed at the February meeting: What happened to the town employees who used to clean Plandome Road? Who is supposed to enforce the "no overnight parking" regulation? Clear signage; crosswalks and an adjustment of traffic light timing.

Mr. Dundore opened the discussion, saying that the merchants in Manhasset "are in difficult straits. There is plenty of competition from major food merchants outside the community. Traffic is a problem. There is plenty of parking but commuters use it. Traffic is created by out-of-town commuters. The post office is excellent but it is cramped. There must be large-scale planning to deal with these problems."

Mr. Robera told the audience that the responsibility for traffic flow on county roads rests with Nassau County and Plandome Road is a county road. In September of 1999 Nassau County did a safety analysis on Plandome Road and made some recommendations for improvements. Some of these are under the county's jurisdiction but others are under the jurisdiction of the Town of North Hempstead, the Nassau County Police Department and the Manhasset Park District.

Mr. Hyman said that the town is responsible for parking enforcement in the unincorporated area of Manhasset. It is responsible for the east side of Plandome Road and the adjacent side streets. The Police Department is responsible for the west side. He said that the town is responsible for code enforcement of the clearing of sidewalks of snow and debris. "We usually work off complaints," he said, "but during the last snowstorm we tried to be pro-active. We warned people of their responsibilities and followed up with appearance tickets."

CLC member Phyllis Clark commented that Plandome Road is "absolutely filthy. Can't you remind store owners of their responsibility?" she asked Mr. Dundore. Mr. Hyman said that anyone with a complaint can call his office at 869-7628 and an inspector will be sent to check the situation. An appearance ticket will be written if the complaint is valid. Mr. Ferrara suggested that the fines for violating town ordinances might have to be raised. "We're evidently not fining people enough," he said. "We have to let them know we'll be here every day." Commissioner Hyman agreed that it would be a good idea to take a look at the fine schedule.

A young man in the audience told the group that his concern is safety on Plandome Road and its adjacent streets, which was supposed to be the topic of the meeting. "A year ago, Angelo, we discussed this at a school board meeting. The area from Dennis Street to Plandome Road and Norgate to Plandome Road is dangerous. People pass school buses. I offered to stand on the corner and count the cars that speed along. There's going to be a case of vehicular homicide or reckless endangerment one of these days."

A representative of the North Hempstead planning department said the Village of North Hills plans to institute shuttle bus service, which should ease some of the traffic and parking problems. She also said that there is a Master Plan Implementation Committee, which would welcome input from the Chamber of Commerce. The committee will meet at Town Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 28. She invited everyone interested in planning issues to attend.

Commissioner Hyman said that during the previous week three investigations of businesses who were alleged to be renting spots to commuters had begun. Such rentals are illegal in North Hemsptead.

After further discussion of traffic and parking issues, Mr. Robera told his audience that "Nassau County has not been sitting back. We have met with the Greater Council and we are continuing to study the situation."

Audience member and realtor Marianne Buzzitta probably summed up the sense of the audience when she said, "We need accountability from public officials. We need to get them to do what they're supposed to do."