Residents or businesses who want to place portable storage units on their property will have to apply for a license in the Village of Amityville under a new law enacted by the Board of Trustees last month.

"We have been seeing more and more of these units on properties in the Village, and while it has not become a major issue yet, we wanted to ensure that we had a law on the books so that we could control them," said Amityville Village Mayor Peter T. Imbert.

The Village reviewed similar laws enacted in other communities and decided that its approach would be to add the regulations to its existing storage trailer law.

"My thinking was, and the board agreed, that we had a storage trailer law that worked well, was flexible and had not been any problem for the Village or the residents, so we should use that as a basis for this new law," said Amityville Village Attorney Bruce Kennedy. "If we find that it needs to be tweaked down the line, then we can do that."

The law requires anyone who wants to put a portable storage unit, sometimes called PODS, on their property to go before the Village Board, which would issue a license for the unit permitting it to be on the property for up 90 days. The cost will be based on the size of the unit with the fee set at 25cents per square foot. That fee was recommended by the Village's Building Inspector, John Lauria, who also recommended the storage trailers' fees be increased from 75-cents to $1 per square foot.

Lauria said he is also recommending to the board that applicants be required to disclose the contents of the unit. "We certainly would not want someone to store 55-gallon drums of lacquer thinner or some other hazardous material in those storage bins," said Lauria. "So the Village will likely be inquiring as to exactly what will be put into the containers as a means of ensuring public safety."

"By enacting this law, the Village Board will be able to make sure that these units are not placed on property in such a way as to cause vehicular or pedestrian hazards, or problems for neighbors," said Imbert. "It ensures that the contents are not dangerous and they do not become an eyesore. It gives the Village control over them, and while they have not been a problem up to this point, this allows us to stay ahead of the curve."