Rockville Centre law changes air conditioning distance requirement

The Rockville Centre Board of Trustees voted Tuesday, April 3 to approve a reduction in the required space between a home’s out-door air conditioner unit and the edge of a property.

The previous law required side yard air conditioning compressors to be located at least thirty feet from the side property line.

The law, which was passed on a vote of 4 to 1 at the meeting, changes the required space from the air conditioning unit from 30 feet to not more than six feet from the building and at least three feet from the nearest property line.

“Most people don’t have a thirty-feet side yard setback,” said Trustee Michael Sepe prior to the vote. “This is one of those nice situations where the technology has sort of outstripped the politics or the disagreements, in that the units are so quiet that [the current law] just doesn’t fit modern reality.”

The law also imposes a decibel requirement of 60 dBA, or decibel’s adjusted, to ensure that the air conditioners are modern, and thus quieter, units.

Trustee Ed Oppenheimer voted against the measurement, saying that he felt the setback should be five feet.