Neighbors Confused After Street Signs Are Removed

Residents who live in a four-block stretch near Port Chester High School have been lobbying for months to have alternate-side street signs removed so they don't have to move their cars every morning.

They just didn't expect it to happen without notice.

Neighbors on Perry, Wesley and Fairview avenues were surprised to find the street signs missing Friday, and some trustees are not happy that the decision to take the signs down was made without a board resolution.

That's prompted accusations that Port Chester's Democrats acted "unilaterally" to score points with people who live in the impacted neighborhood, while one trustee said the new drama makes board members "look like circus clowns."

Neighbors who live on the above-mentioned streets began calling village hall, while others began reaching out to trustees for an explanation.

" I did have someone come up to me with a question this morning about the signs and I no clue what the hell he was talking about," Trustee Sam Terenzi wrote to Village Manager Christopher Russo on Friday. "I have Starwoods and G&S reaching out about future development and we can't get to square one and we have the people making unilateral decisions about things that should be staff issues."

A board resolution is required before signs can be placed or taken down on a street. 

After alerting trustees on Friday, Russo said he'd have DPW put the signs back up. But village Republicans told Russo to hold off -- trustees will address the issue tonight, and Republicans said it would be a waste of money to replace the signs for two or three days if the board ultimately votes to suspend the alternate-side parking rules.

"Do not spend one cent putting them back up," Trustee Bart Didden wrote in a reply to Russo.

Reached Friday, Mayor Dennis Pilla said the decision to take the signs down wasn't a political one. The mayor said a miscommunication led to the order to take the signs down. That order came from the police department and not village hall, he said.

Trustees are expected to clear up any misunderstandings -- and settle the issue for people who live on those streets -- when they meet tonight at the village courthouse.

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