Lynbrook homeowners protest proposed parking lot, rezoning

Residents who oppose a hotel owner’s request to have a residential corner rezoned so he can knock down three homes and create a parking lot were given a reprieve of sorts at the July 16 regular board meeting, when Lynbrook Mayor Bill Hendrick and the village trustees decided to table a scheduled hearing until their August meeting.

Alan Stein, the attorney for hotel owner Thomas Morash, requested that the hearing be dismissed until next month so he and his client can meet with residents in the area who oppose the plan. Morash owns the Holiday Inn Express and the Rockville Centre Inn on the east and west sides of Ocean Avenue at Sunrise Highway.

“We moved there, invested there, and now the whole environment is going to be changing,” said Juliet Kissoon-Pietracatella, who lives across the street from the site on Ocean Avenue. She said she was concerned about the potential increase in traffic if a parking lot is added, and implored the board to vote against it at next month’s hearing. “That’s not what we came to Lynbrook for,” she said.

The postponed hearing on the rezoning and special use of three properties — at 417 Ocean Ave., 3 Merton Ave. and 9 Merton Ave. — at the corner of the two roads was adjourned and rescheduled until Aug. 13.

Morash owns all three properties, and the homes that are there now, which are unoccupied, would be demolished. The proposed lot would provide additional parking for the hotels.

Patti Nicoletti, who lives on Merton Avenue and opposes the proposal, addressed the village board, asking trustees not to allow the lot to be built. “We moved to this lovely street because of the tree line and nice houses, and we don’t want that to change,” Nicoletti said, “so we’re really depending upon you to make a statement and to understand that we want to keep the integrity of the residential area, not just for Merton Avenue, but for everybody in Lynbrook.”