By:Cindy J. Roth
Spending the better part of last year working to get the Monty Bros. property cleaned up and eventually shut down, NBCA members are now after new 1345 Newbridge Road property owner Diamond Demolition. This time their fight is not about cleanliness, but rather the company's hours of operation.
"He has no respect for the neighbors," said John Capozzi, Wallen Lane resident whose house faces Diamond Demolition. "He just doesn't care. It's obvious. He cleaned up the place, but doesn't care about noise and people getting up early."
Wallen Lane residents say the stadium-like lights atop the property's buildings shine onto their properties and even into some of their bedroom windows. Beyond the lights, the company's hours of operation, from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on average, are a nuisance, residents say. The company's loud trucks wake them in the mornings and keep them up at night.
Diamond Demolition Manager Tom Costa said the company is just as frustrated with the local residents as they are with Diamond. When representatives of the demolition company were invited to a NBCA meeting several months ago to introduce themselves, Costa said he thought they would build a good rapport with their neighbors. Since then, Costa said the company has tried to be accommodating, but at some point, residents need to realize the company has the right to run its business.
"We came in and cleaned up the buildings, and we keep getting problems," said Costa. "No one is happy here. I don't know what more we can do for these guys. Do you want the garbage or the noise? I don't know what else we can say or do."
Costa said the lights were put up on the property for safety and security reasons. He said they are on automatic timers and go off at 11 p.m., and without the lights, the demolition company's workers would be in danger during non-daylight hours.
Nick Fucci, NBCA vice president and Wallen Lane resident, said unless the demolition company is willing to make changes to the lights on its property and the loud trucks coming and going both early and late in the day, the NBCA will be forced to get local elected leaders involved in the matter.
"I bought a house and I knew it was off a main road," said Fucci. "I expect trucks pulling out, but not at five o'clock in the morning and 11 p.m. at night."
The Town of Hempstead has zoned the proeprty for light manufacturing. Town ordinances limit noise from machinery such as drills and saws from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. The town, however, has no official ordinance dealing with the operation of loud vehicles after normal working hours.
NBCA members living on Wallen Lane said they are willing to find middle ground with Diamond Demolition. Capozzi said that, if the company had workers living on Wallen Lane, its owners would be more sympathetic to residents' complaints, which he believes Diamond Demolition should consider before ignoring their pleas for change.
"We're just asking him to respect our basic neighborhood," said Capozzi. "We're more than willing to live with him, but he has to meet us half way."
