SKANEATELES - The Skaneateles village board of trustees will revisit a proposed parking resolution for West Lake Street and the new fire station after new suggestions and concerns were brought up during Monday's public hearing.

Last month, West Lake Street resident Dave Blackwell approached the board with a petition requesting the trustees limit parking on the west side of street because it had become a hazard to public safety. Parking is already illegal on the east side.

“Parking is allowed on the (west) side of the street, but the cars are still in the driving lanes,” Blackwell said during Monday's hearing. “When one car fails to yield the right of way while driving, it almost turns into a game of chicken between oncoming traffic coming north and traffic coming south, and safety becomes a serious issue.”

In a proposed resolution to the village's vehicle and traffic laws, no parking would be allowed within 47 feet from where West Lake Street intersects the south side of Genesee Street.

The next 250 feet south would be legal parking, while the 1,000 feet after that would become a no parking zone.

During Monday's hearing two more petitions were handed in by the street's residents asking for additional amendments to the parking law.

One petition requested that no parking be allowed on the whole street with the exception of one small parking area, while another requested that the village ban all parking on the street.

Many residents believed that by creating a no parking zone on one end of the street, the village will inadvertently push the parking problem further south, Blackwell said.

Because the street is connected to Route 41A, it has become a main route into and out of the village, Blackwell said.

Several of the people who park on the street are not residents, but instead work in the downtown village area.

Most of the residents who attended the hearing said they would support banning all parking on the side of the street, and as a result the village said it would revisit its previous resolution and decide if it would make additional amendments.

Village Mayor Bob Green said the board would have to investigate all options before they made any decisions on other proposed suggestions to alleviate the parking problem.

Other possibilities mentioned included reducing the street's speed limit by creating an ordinance to prevent trailers, such as ones that carry boats, from using the street and by cracking down on people who are already illegally parked.

“There will be another meeting,” Green said. “I promise you there will be a meeting once we get all of our ducks in a row.”

Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext.248 or nathan.robson@lee.net