Residents of La Forest Lane showed up at the East Hampton Village Board meeting on Friday to push the board to designate the road “one way only” to reduce traffic. The board agreed to hold a public hearing about the potential change on Dec. 15. The stretch is busy in the summer with vehicles headed toward Georgica Beach; it connects Georgica Road, to its north, with Apaquogue Road, to its south.
“I was approached by residents,” said Mayor Jerry Larsen. “It’s very narrow — we’re here to talk about making it one way headed south.”
“I understand their concerns, but what if someone on Jericho wants that one way?” said Sarah Amaden, a trustee. “Will that affect the traffic pattern on the other side roads?”
“Yes,” said Mayor Larsen. However, he said, Jericho is wider with no curves. Any resident could request their road change, but the board would treat each on an individual basis.
Carrie Doyle, a trustee, said the road has two blind curves and has been a construction zone for years. “Once the houses are all knocked down and rebuilt, it starts again,” she said. “It’s a scary walk.” Because of construction vehicles parked along the road, pedestrians are forced into the traffic lane.
“What happens when the construction ends?” asked Ms. Amaden.
“It won’t,” said a chorus of people.
The residents asked Mayor Larsen about the matter this summer when he responded as an ambulance driver to an emergency on the road involving two boys who crashed into each other on e-Bikes. “I don’t think it had anything to do with the road. It was a mess,” he said. William Dejonge, a resident of La Forest, said the bike crash was so grisly it caused his daughter to faint. While it wasn’t fatal, he said it could have been much worse and was “the last straw — evidence of what could happen.”
Alexandra Ourusoff, another resident, has lived on La Forest since 1960, and taught her children to ride bikes on the road, “I wouldn’t dream of that now,” she said. She had gained approval from the owners of all 13 properties along the road to request that the road become one way. “If La Forest goes south, Jericho could go north,” she offered. “They could drive one way to the beach and another way back.”
“As a board we have to be careful,” said Chris Minardi, the deputy mayor, though he indicated support for the proposal. One-way roads back and forth would make it look like “Manhattan behind Georgica,” Mr. Minardi said. “Safety comes first but — I don’t think it’s necessary everywhere.”
In other news from the board meeting, four public hearings were held without a single comment from the public.
The first involved granting a sanitary easement for East Hampton Square Associates, at 41-47 Main Street and 56-68 Park Place. Billy Hajek, the village planner, said that their sanitary systems are located in the Reutershan Parking Lot. Because they are being upgraded to new I/A nitrogen-reducing systems, the county requires an easement for access. “It’s beneficial to everyone,” he said. The hearing was closed, and the board granted the easement.
A second hearing regarding extending the moratorium on converting tennis courts to pickleball courts was closed, and the board passed a law extending the moratorium for six months. “We need additional time to engage a sound expert,” said Mr. Hajek.
“The purpose of this law is to try and hire local people first for village jobs before we go outside of East Hampton,” said Mayor Larsen, announcing the third public hearing that was met with more silence. Village residents would get preferential treatment followed by town residents, before the village searched farther afield for job candidates. The hearing was closed, and the law passed.
Finally, a public hearing on a common-sense law requiring people to clean up after their dogs in public spaces of the village drew no comments and was closed. The board didn’t vote to pass the law. That vote is expected for the December meeting.
