Palmyra, N.Y. - The Wayne County Highway Supervisor and Palmyra town supervisor both say they are standing behind their decision to have a roadside memorial in Palmyra removed.
"We understand it's hard whenever a loved one is lost but we are 100 percent in support of the county that we do not want to create a safety issue for anyone traveling on Maple Ave," Palmyra town supervisor Ken Miller said Monday afternoon.
This is uncharted territory for the town, they've never had to ask someone to remove a roadside memorial before but officials say the area where that memorial is just isn't safe for people to stop.
"We don't want another accident to happen there," Miller adds.
That memorial was erected by the family and friends of Renee Corwin who lost her son Max in July of 2010 after he was hit by a car while riding his bike. The six foot tall roadside memorial Max's dad built along Maple Ave. in Palmyra is not just flowers or pictures of Max, but a wooden shadow box, complete with a Plexiglas cover to keep the memorial dry.
"We chose to build that memorial for him and also as kind of awareness to slow down in that area because there's a lot of children that play in the creek nearby," Renee says.
Two weeks ago Renee got a letter from the Wayne County Highway Department asking her to remove the memorial.
"They want it removed within 45 days of December 29," she adds.
The letter was sent in part because neighbors who live next to the memorial say they have legitimate concerns about how close it is to a busy road where the speed limit is 55 m.p.h.
"It's just a matter before another accident is going to happen here," says Terry Footer, whose house sits a few hundred feet from Max's shadow box.
Wayne County Highway Supervisor Kevin Rooney told 13 WHAM that he wants to work with Renee to help her remove the memorial by the end of February but if that doesn't happen, the county will remove it themselves.
