Signs that read “No More Utility Poles” have sprung up in front of homes on either side of Hermosa Avenue in recent months, from 26th Street to 35th Street. The 10 blocks are the last stretch of Hermosa Avenue that still has utility poles. Homes on the west side front on The Strand.
A group called Greenwich Village Underground Association, named after the neighborhood’s tract, has been working for three years to get the utility lines undergrounded, according to association committee member Vicki Patman.
She said the association is now collecting $5,000 contributions from property owners to pay for a $270,000 undergrounding design plan. She said the collection effort has been underway six weeks and that to date, over 40 residents have agreed to help pay for the the design costs.
Once the design costs are met, Patman said, her group is hopeful of forming an assessment district to pay for the undergrounding. Design cost payments will be subtracted from the assessments, she added.
The approximately 100 homeowners in the district will have the option of paying their share of the undergrounding assessment up front, or having it included on their property taxes for approximately 20 years. Patman declined to say what the estimated assessment will be. ER
