County originally denied appeal for condo rezoning request

Before R&B Acquisitions & Development appealed to the Town of Hempstead last month for a zoning change that would permit the developer to build 12 condominiums on two properties just outside the Village of Malverne, the company had directed its appeal to Nassau County’s Planning Commission.

The county, however, wasn’t in favor of the idea.

The zoning change request, which is still being deliberated by town officials, was denied by the county last April 16. Three weeks later, however, Martin Katz, a member of the Planning Commission, wrote to Michelle Hanson at the town clerk’s office, telling her that the commission was unaware of the “current lot configuration” of the development, and issued a recommendation for a “local (or town) determination.”

Calls to the county requesting comment went unanswered last week.

The properties at issue are at 494 and 1104 Hempstead Ave., a county road, not far from the Malverne Park neighborhood. Many residents of Malverne, including Mayor Patricia McDonald, Chief of Police John Aresta, and numerous Malverne Park residents, are opposed to the condos, citing traffic and other concerns.

Despite turning the decision over to the town, Katz wrote in his letter that the Planning Commission “expressed concerns relative to the potential traffic implications of the proposed development, as well as the ingress and egress on Hempstead Ave. that should require further investigation. Given the county road status of Hempstead Ave., the project will be further vetted by the Nassau County Department of Public Works in terms of site access and drainage.”

Responding to requests for comment on the Planning Commission’s letter and the town’s ongoing deliberations, town spokeswoman Susan Trenkle-Pokalsky said only that the town “generally does not speak about applications prior to rendering their decision.”