North Hempstead: Clear hydrants of snow
Snowed-in fire hydrants are causing concern throughout Long Island Credit: T.C. McCarthy
Note to North Hempstead commercial property owners with fire hydrants on their land: Clear the snow and ice around them or risk a fine and possible jail time.
The seven-member town board unanimously voted Tuesday night to require owners, tenants or managers to clear a 2-foot area around hydrants within four hours of snowfall. The regulation applies to commercial property, houses of worship, nursing homes and apartment complexes. The regulation does not apply to single-family homes and duplexes, and the hours between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. are exempt.
The North Hempstead Fire Advisory Council pushed for the measure, saying that uncleared hydrants can cause emergency response delays, putting property and lives at risk.
"The only way to get people to remove snow from hydrants is to penalize," council chairman Tom McDonough said.
If a hydrant is not cleared, the town would do the work and bill the property owner. Offenders would also face a fine of between $50 and $350, and a jail sentence of as many as five days, according to the resolution.
Supervisor Jon Kaiman said the penalties are set by state criminal procedure law and he didn't expect violators would go to jail.
The law and its penalties may be unique on Long Island, said Karl M. Schweitzer, chairman of Long Island Water Conference, a coalition of public and private water suppliers. Long Island has about 100,000 hydrants and 79,000 are operated by conference members.
"I don't think anybody has a rule on the books saying they have to do this," Schweitzer said. "It's going to force commercial establishments to take care of something they should have taken care of already."
An earlier resolution included residential property, but it was removed after some board members expressed concern about the impact on elderly residents, those out of town and properties that had cleared hydrants only to have them covered by passing plows.
Board Member Angelo Ferrara said the town will look at how to include residential areas in the regulation.
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