The Tale of Two Harbor Roads

What's in a name? Well, apparently a lot, or at least enough to gain the attention of the residents of Harbor Road in Sands Point.

At the Village of Sands Point's most recent Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday night, a petition to change the name of Harbor Road was on the docket. The reason: Just a short drive down Port Washington Boulevard or Sandy Hollow Road, there is another road that bears the exact same name.

"There are multiple reasons why we want this," said Debbie Kramer who started the petition and lives on Sands Point's Harbor Road. "One of them is safety; we get a lot of huge trucks coming down the road, which is a cul-de-sac. Just the other day they had to back out of Harbor Acres and it was very disruptive. It's a real task to get those trucks out when it's impossible for them to turn around. And there's obviously lots of confusion."

According to Kramer, the people of Harbor Road want the street renamed Harbor Acres Road, since the road is in the Harbor Acres development. But she said that they are open to a complete name change as well.

The biggest issue according to residents is that Sands Point's Harbor Road is completely residential while the one in the unincorporated area of the Town of North Hempstead and the villages of Port Washington North and Baxter Estates is home to many local businesses.

Kramer said one of her neighbors came home last year to find two men putting up a foreclosure sign on their front door but it was meant for a business at the address on the other Harbor Road in Port Washington.

"I have a business on 75 Harbor Road in Port Washington," said Annette Oestereich, who runs a power equipment distribution business, "and when I get deliveries, truckers call and say they can't find the building. I ask if they made a left or right off of Port Washington Boulevard. When they answer right, I say turn around immediately. It happens too much. I get calls from the residents in Sands Point saying our packages are there. It's not right for either of us."

Tales of tractor trailers stammering past homes at odd hours and important documents being delivered to the wrong address are common occurrences for the residents and merchants of the twin roads as well.

"Once every couple of months, one credit card bill doesn't come to my house," said Mary DeNisco of Harbor Road, Sands Point. "It irks me. I wouldn't get as angry if it was something else, but my credit card bill is very important. I never want to be delinquent on a payment."

The residents at the village meeting asked the trustees for reassurance that if  the street name does change,  their house deeds will still read Harbor Road. "The deed would stay the same," Mayor Leonard Wurzel said. "When you bought the house, the deed said Harbor Road, therefore it would stay the same. The street sign would change, obviously, but the deeds would remain the same."

Deputy Mayor Edward Adler said the petition was brought before the board for the first time on Jan. 22, but the topic was has been discussed in the past. Fifty-eight residents signed the petition to have the streets name changed. There are 53 homes on Harbor Road in Sands Point.

The board decided on  a public hearing, which will be advertised in local newspapers and newsletters, to gauge the entire community's interest on the matter and give them a chance to voice their opinion. That meeting will take place on Feb. 23 at Sands Point Village Hall.

"I guess we should go and get as many signatures as possible between now and Feb. 23," Kramer said. "We'll create fliers and send e-mails. We'll do whatever we have to do to get this done."