Amityville plans to make street one-way, increase fines

Amityville trustees may turn Wellington Place into a southbound-only street and increase fines for parking violations there.

Drivers often use the street as a cut-through rather than wait for the light at Broadway and Oak Street to turn north, according to a preliminary traffic report by Babylon Town traffic engineer Donald J. Epp, who noted that many exceed Wellington Place’s 25 mph speed limit.

“It’s distressing,” Mayor James Wandell said at a Monday night village board meeting. “We want to end that as best as we can.”

Resident Janet Colletti said she supported the change. “It’s an inconvenience for me, because I’ll have to take the long way around, but I think in the long run, it’ll be worth it. Kids are out riding their bikes, and it is a concern, them speeding up and down the road.”

In an interview, Colletti’s husband, Randy Calamia, said that speeding cars making the cut-through have already killed several neighborhood cats.

“People will do crazy things to save 10, 15 seconds,” he said. “Do we have to wait for someone to get hurt or killed?”

A public hearing for parking fine changes is scheduled for Monday. A hearing for the one-way proposal is scheduled for June 13.