The coronavirus pandemic may be on the wane, but the quality-of-life issue, as a rural infrastructure groans under the weight of an ever-expanding population, is apparently here to stay. A public hearing on a proposed code amendment that would prohibit trucks greater than nine tons from a stretch of Accabonac Road in East Hampton drew three speakers urging its adoption, and one opposing it, as the East Hampton Town Board met in person for the first time in 16 months last Thursday.
Since the Long Island Rail Road trestles crossing Accabonac Road and North Main Street were raised, residents of the former have complained that a byproduct is a surge of large trucks onto the road, many of them using it to access Town Lane and avoid Montauk Highway. The span from the oft-congested intersection of Collins Avenue to Town Lane constitutes the bulk of the increased truck traffic, residents say.
Several residents told the board at its June 8 meeting that the increased truck traffic brought commensurate increases in noise and a threat to the safety of pedestrians, joggers, cyclists, children, and pets. Last Thursday, Lena Tabori recalled the trucks that would get stuck under the old trestles with regularity, noting that oftentimes, "in order to solve one problem another one is created." The higher clearance, she said, "allowed access to massively larger and heavier trucks that previously had remained on Route 27 as they traveled east or returned west."
The consequences "have not been good," she said. The trucks "ratchet down their gears at the stop signs on Accabonac and Collins" and then "rev up again as they barrel onward after the stop. It's an astonishing quantity of noise" as well as additional air pollution on a road where most houses are close to the street. "And there is the danger that their size poses to bicyclists, joggers, skateboarders. And we have a neighbor who is on the street in a wheelchair on his way to the I.G.A. a couple of times a week."
"We need a weight limit of nine tons if our quality of life is not going to be degraded, not to mention endangered," she said.
Kathleen Brunn, also of Accabonac Road, agreed. "Over the years, we realize that the neighborhood has drastically changed, and we accept that," she said. "However, due to the raising of the railroad trestle, the increase in the size of vehicles is a big concern for local residents." She asked that the town enact the prohibition as well as a lower speed limit than the present 30 miles per hour.
Joann Wildermuth told the board that crossing Accabonac Road to walk her dog on the sidewalk is dangerous given the traffic. "It's a neighborhood," she said, "and the trucks that go by, they don't belong in a neighborhood where somebody is crossing the street to walk their dogs."
But David Buda, who does not live on Accabonac Road, advised the board to "not act as politicians pandering to the public with a quick fix that, A) I don't believe will actually change much, and B) will only shift the problem elsewhere."
No other roadways in the town are regulated in terms of a vehicle's weight, he said. "Is this request by one particular section of the town going to engender similar requests for many other sections of town who live on town highways that are concerned about traffic, such as Cedar Street and other parts of Accabonac?" he asked. Most of the box trucks that couldn't get underneath the prior trestle weigh less than nine tons, he said, suggesting that the prohibition being considered may have less impact than its intent. Further, he said, the town may not have the authority under New York State law to enact such a prohibition.
The hearing was closed, with the board accepting written comments from those who did not attend the hearing in person for one week.
Also at the meeting, the board voted to expand the water protection district maps, which identify areas in the town that have the greatest potential impact on priority water bodies based on groundwater travel time and density of use. Mellissa Winslow, a senior environmental analyst in the Natural Resources Department and coordinator for the water quality technical advisory committee, had told the board in May that the districts' boundary lines should be modified to encompass the zero-to-10-year groundwater travel time, as the zero-to-two-year zone is not sufficient to protect water bodies.
Property owners within a water protection district who replace their existing septic system with a Suffolk County Health Department-approved low-nitrogen system are eligible for an incentive from the town toward the cost of that replacement, currently $20,000.
The board set next Thursday for a public hearing on the town's purchase of 32.6 acres of farmland in Amagansett from the Bistrian family using $28 million from the community preservation fund. The acquisition, following years of discussion and negotiation, would be the town's largest of farmland to date. The nine parcels making up the land have long been a target for acquisition to ensure the preservation of prime agricultural soils as well as the open vista extending north from the hamlet's municipal parking lot.
The town will purchase five of the lots outright, a total of 17.5 acres, and acquire an agricultural easement over the remaining 15.1 acres.
The board also voted to eliminate restrictions on beach parking and driving permits, which had been enacted amid the pandemic last year.
