The Maybrook Village Board adopted a local law July 20 that raises fines for parking and traffic violations, gives police expanded authority to remove vehicles, and restricts parking on one village street to improve access for emergency vehicles.

Introductory Local Law No. 2 was first presented at the board’s June 15 meeting. It was designed to increase penalties for illegal parking, particularly during snowstorms, and to give the Maybrook Police Department greater authority to remove vehicles abandoned on public streets or in parking lots and to restrict parking during emergencies.

“Your penalties for offenses were pretty low relative to New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law,” Village Attorney Elizabeth Cassidy said. “And what was happening was folks would say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to move my car; I’m just going to pay the fine.’”

One of the law’s main provisions nearly triples the maximum fines for local traffic violations. Previously, maximum penalties were $50 for a first conviction, $100 for a second conviction and $250 for a third or subsequent conviction. Under the new law, maximum penalties rise to $150 for a first conviction, $300 for a second conviction and $450 for a third or subsequent conviction.

“Our fines are now in line with New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law,” Police Chief Dennis Barnett said. “And it gives more teeth to our local law.”

The law also raises fines for violations related to snow removal, including interfering with snowplows or snow-removal equipment, leaving a vehicle parked on a public road after snowfall and before the road is cleared, and failing to move a vehicle out of a snowplow’s path. The maximum fine for these violations is $200 for a first offense, $300 for a second offense and $450 for a third or subsequent offense. The law does not create a new snow-parking ban but increases penalties for existing village rules.

“Somebody will move their car for a $200 fine,” Barnett said. “What that will tell you, and I will tell you, and anybody who’s worked here in a snowstorm, is it’s the same people who don’t move their cars. And at the end of the day, now they will.”

The law also expands police authority to remove vehicles that are abandoned or illegally parked, including those left in prohibited areas such as village highways and public parking lots, or those lacking valid license plates or registration.

Additionally, the law prohibits parking on the east side of Prospect Avenue between Broadway and Clark Place, a change requested by the Maybrook Fire Department over concerns about emergency vehicle access on narrow streets.

“Some streets, we’d barely get the truck through,” Fire Department Assistant Chief Ed Prosko said. “We have a bunch of qualified drivers, but if we have a new guy behind the wheel of the truck and he’s a little shaky going through there, we don’t need to hit anyone’s car. We don’t want to hit anyone’s car.”

The board approved the law in a 4-0 vote. Village officials said it marks the first fine increase for traffic and parking violations in more than 30 years.