Law bans hoops from right of way in Munsey Park

Munsey Park Village trustees voted unanimously to adopt a new law that bans basketball hoops from the village’s right of way.

The law still grants homeowners automatic permission to construct the hoops on their garages or on poles in front of or next to their garages. The board of trustees will consider poles in other locations on a case-by-case basis.

The law bans the hoops from the village’s right of way, facing the street.

At Wednesday night’s meeting, Trustee Patrick Hance said the law was prompted by a request he received a few months ago from a resident who wanted to construct a hoop on his grass facing the street. The board denied the request.

“There was some disagreement with the resident on how to interpret the law, so we decided to rewrite the law to make it more clear,” Hance said.

Also at the meeting, trustees voted to pass a law allowing themselves to override the state tax cap in the village’s 2014-15 budget.

Mayor Frank DeMento said the law simply allows the village the option of exceeding the cap on the tax levy in the new budget in case of an emergency. “It doesn’t mean we are going to override the 2 percent tax cap,” DeMento said.