59.0°,
Partly Cloudy Variances granted for controversial Sunrise facility in Oceanside
Town Board of Appeals approved them unanimously
The Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals recently notified Oceanside residents living near the site of the proposed three-story Sunrise Assisted Living facility, along Atlantic and Terrell avenues, that all of the development’s proposed variances had been granted. The decision came as a shocking disappointment for many residents, after a three-hour back-and-forth between them and the Sunrise team at a BZA hearing on Jan. 12.
The proposed Sunrise facility, planned for a 4,500-square-foot vacant lot along Atlantic Avenue, near Detective Luis Alvarez Park, will be 49 feet tall when it is completed, have 85 living units and will require 52 parking spots. All of variances for the facility were approved unanimously by the BZA. The board’s decision was announced in a letter to the community that went out on Feb. 16.
“It’s a major disappointment,” Oceanside resident Janet Pearsall said. “It will be a very different Atlantic Avenue in a few years.” Pearsall attended the January hearing, and voiced her concerns about possible increased traffic. At the hearing, traffic and parking expert Andrew Villari, of Stonefield Engineering & Design, argued that there would not be a significant increase in traffic because few of the residents would drive.
Another resident, Joyce Kane, said that the height of the building was her main concern, because it would block the sunlight that reaches her home on Brothers Court — a cul-de-sac off Silver Lane, right behind the building’s proposed location. Kane signed a Change.org petition, along with 474 others, urging the BZA to reject the variances. “I am directly behind this building. I am going to lose the afternoon sunlight,” she said. “And I’m going to be fighting for parking as if I was in Queens.”
Kane said she did not believe the 52 parking spots would accommodate the facility’s 125 full-time employees, though Sunrise argued at the hearing that employees work in shifts of only 25, and that about half use public transportation to get to work. Those employees could come from the nearby East Rockaway LIRR stop.
Kane, Pearsall and others said they were not opposed to the assisted-living facility, but wanted the plans altered to make the building shorter and with more parking in an area that also sees traffic from nearby Florence A. Smith Elementary School #2. “Sunrise builds a beautiful piece of property and they do a great job,” Kane said. “It’s just the height of it that worries me.”
Making the case for the opposition in January was Robert Litt, of the Rockville Centre-based Litt Law Group. Litt reiterated the contention of many residents that the proposal would hurt local property owners because of congested roads and overdevelopment of the area.
Litt brought in experts like architect Monte Leeper, of Oceanside, to point out flaws in the variances and explain how they could be altered to alleviate residents’ worries. Leeper, the Heralds’ Ask the Architect columnist, drew up plans based on feedback from community members as an alternative to Sunrise’s variances.
“It met all the same requirements, as far as the building volume was concerned, but did it at a lower height, because it could have been done on two stories instead of three,” Leeper said. “I know that what I presented would have been successful.” The third floor of the proposed facility will provide space for memory therapy for residents.
“We are obviously disappointed with the decision, and the Oceanside residents should be outraged,” Litt said in a statement. “We plan to appeal, and if necessary, to the highest court possible. The Board of Zoning Appeals’ decision — which gives no legal explanation — is also without consideration of over 400 local family residents petitioning against this application. Nothing should be built here without the community’s full support.”
