Brookhaven Town rethinking emergency vehicle storage after Sandy
Brookhaven Town Hall Credit: Newsday / Bill Davis
As a response to thousands of superstorm Sandy-damaged cars being stored in Brookhaven, the town board will hold a public hearing at Tuesday’s meeting on proposed legislation to regulate future applications for storage of such vehicles.
The legislation would allow the commissioner of planning, environment and land management to review applications for “temporary storage of motor vehicles” in times of a state of emergency, such as during the storm.
The town board would vote on each application’s suitability, and storage would be limited to areas where no residential development has occurred, according to planning commissioner Tullio Bertoli.
“We determined the proper location for such storage is in commercial and industrial properties,” Bertoli said at the town board’s work session Thursday. Bertoli also noted, “We’re the only municipality that has created this legislation.”
The temporary storage permission would expire within six months, with the possibility to extend the permission another six months.
Town Supervisor Edward Romaine asked about penalties for applicants who break the proposed storage law. “Clearly we want to have fines significant enough to deter people” from ignoring the regulations, Romaine said.
Deputy Supervisor Dan Panico said he’d like to add a “sunset clause” to ensure the legislation will not be used for unrelated car storage in the future.
Above: Brookhaven Town Hall
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