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The increasingly complex issue of the status of Hillside and Brookside avenues has affected a variety of businesses, homeowners and legislators in Pelham. Each side has different interests and allegiances in this tense debate.
The Picture House
Those who run Pelham's iconic landmark want to add a second theater to its current position on Wolfs Lane. In order to do so, the zoning board mandated that the theater construct a pipe to run off any excess rainwater that would fall on the roof of the Picture House. The theater planned to run the pipe onto Brookside Avenue but cannot do so if it is not recognized as a public street by the Board of Trustees.
The Board
Mayor Ed Hotchkiss said at Tuesday nights board meeting that the Picture House's plan is its own issue. Regardless, the board still sought to pass a resolution that would accept Hillside and Brookside avenues as public streets.
"We feel it always has been a public street," Hotchkiss said at Tuesday's meeting.
The board also had resolutions on the agenda that would necessitate the distribution of permits to park on the two avenues. It is currently illegal to park overnight on a public street according to village law, creating the need for the permits.
The Clovelly Residents
Those who live in the Clovelly complex, which sits on both Hillside and Brookside avenues, typically park their cars on the street because they do not have driveways. If the board makes the avenues public they would have to pay for permits to park overnight.
The Clovelly people held a meeting prior to Tuesday's board meeting and voted that the 31 families in the complex would receive the permits for the 31 spaces on the streets, according to Brookside Avenue resident Ron Muzzo. This drew the ire of some homeowners on those two avenues.
The Homeowners
This group has different reasons to combat the board's proposal. Ron Muzzo, at 1 Brookside Ave., does not want the Picture House's pipe to dump water in front of his home. Jamie Cabarrocas of 9 Brookside Ave. said he does not want to look down his street at the upgraded Picture House towering over his home.
"We're going to be looking at the Berlin Wall," Cabarrocas said after Tuesday's meeting.
Muzzo said the homeowners and Clovelly residents had been relatively united prior to Tuesday's meeting, but Clovelly's internal vote to claim the parking permits cause a rift between the two sides.
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