Town Hall comes to East Rockaway

Ongoing bulkhead work in Bay Park, the proposed construction of the Molloy College athletic fields, and a suggested ordinance limiting the amount of dogs a property owner can have were discussed in length by residents and elected officials at the annual Town Hall comes to Village Hall meeting in East Rockaway on April 25.

Councilman Anthony Santino and departments heads from the Town of Hempstead joined East Rockaway Mayor Francis Lenahan, the village board and representatives from various village departments at the open forum meeting where residents got a chance to voice their concerns and make suggestions.

East Rockaway resident Helene Sloan said her neighbor, who breeds Akitas — a Japanese hunting dog — makes her life at home very unpleasant, “to say the least.” She said the smell of dog waste has been a problem she and her neighbors have dealt with for 30 years. “This is unfair that I cannot go out and garden and I have to wear a mask over my nose,” Sloan said.

Trustee Stanley Lombardo addressed Sloan’s comments by saying the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals conducted a full investigation into the issue and their results yielded no unlawful behavior happening on the premise [of the dog owners]. “On multiple occasions they didn’t find any problems with odors, feces, and they were there unexpectedly,” Lombardo said. “They found everything either in order or above the standards of the ASPCA.

“We as a village, myself and Trustee Eddie Corrado, spent a lot of time and a lot of hours trying our very best to do what is by law best for the people of this village, and you, yourself and your neighbors,” Lombardo added. According to Lombardo, the investigation was conducted by the chief inspector and his second lieutenant of the ASPCA.

Sloan asked why the village does not put an ordinance in place to limit the amount of dogs one household can have. “The summer is coming,” Sloan said, “are we going to go through a 31st year of smells where we can’t use our gardens, our backyards?”

Lenahan said he would look into this issue by researching what other villages have done and how the law would be enforceable if put into action.