Homer officials could place a stop sign, or multiple stop signs, at this spot on Hooker Avenue and Sunset Drive in the village. (Photo provided by Kevin L. Smith of The Cortland Voice).
A village board in Cortland County has set a public hearing for the potential of a new stop sign in the area.
The Homer Board of Trustees on Tuesday unanimously approved to have a public hearing on the potential of a stop sign, or multiple stop signs, at Hooker Avenue and Sunset Drive in the village. The hearing has not been scheduled yet, but could take place sometime in March.
The call for a stop sign comes from requests of residents in that specific area. First noted last summer, village police chief Bob Pitman said in the past that Hooker Avenue has a high amount of foot traffic.
Hooker Avenue stretches from Route 281 to Main Street in the village. Pitman said new stop signs, which would be placed in the middle of Hooker Avenue and at Sunset Drive, would be an effort in “just trying to slow people down” driving from Main Street.
“There’s no sidewalks. It’s another safety issue as well,” Pitman said at a board of trustees meeting last August, noting that Hooker Avenue is a “very smooth road.”
Homer board member Ed Finkbeiner counted close to 50 houses in the general area of Hooker Avenue and Sunset Drive. When a stop sign survey for residents was conducted, 27 individuals commented. Over 15 were for a stop sign, while nine of them were against it.
“I’m more than willing to go with the stop signs,” Finkbeiner said on Tuesday. “People had a chance (to speak), and the majority of them wanted (a stop sign).”
Village deputy mayor Pat Clune said on Tuesday that a handful of residents asked for a sidewalk.
“It would be great, but it’s cost-prohibitive,” Clune said. “We’d have to get the landowner to cough it up and might be responsible for it. It’s a heavy lift.”
Clune added that a stop sign “would be the easier way to go.”
“People were saying that if we can’t get a sidewalk, then a stop sign (is good),” Clune said.
Further details on stop signs at Hooker Avenue and Sunset Drive in the village remain to be seen.
