Kirtland Street issues discussed

The Whitehall Village Board revisited Kirtland Street at its Nov. 15 meeting, again looking for a way to resolve a concern.

This time, it was over the fact that the speed limit was too slow.

Under New York State Law, municipalities can only lower a speed limit to 25 mph on their roadways, unless the road is in a school district, when it can be lowered to 20 mph.

At the Nov. 1 meeting of the Village Board, the board voted to lower the speed limit on Kirtland Street to 20 mph after removing two speed bumps that were put on the street without full board approval.

“That is not a legal speed limit,” said Trustee Kenneth Bartholomew. “Whatever we do with the speed limit, we also have to do it through a local law, not just a resolution.”

Bartholomew also brought up the matter of delivery times at Green Mountain Marketplace, which was another concern residents along Kirtland Street had expressed along with lowering the speed limit at the Nov. 1 meeting.

“They are willing to put up a sign that clearly states the delivery hours,” said Bartholomew. “We asked them to reiterate those hours with their suppliers and with a sign up there, now the police have something they can point to if someone comes up there after hours and they can tell them that they have no right to be there.”

Trustee Walter Sandford said he wanted to make sure there was a way to enforce the delivery hours on the village’s end.

“The sign is not really enforceable,” said Sandford. “We could have a local law that sets those times for deliveries as well.”

“If you want to make a local law, then you can do that,” said Bartholomew. “The sign, however, does let drivers know when they can and cannot be there and I think that their sign will work better than our signs.”