Any resident who lives near or drives by this location can attest to the fact that 500 to 1,000 more cars, even if all parked on the premises, will add tremendously to traffic congestion and parking challenges of the area, whether by residents, guests or shoppers. Will tower residents be required to pay for parking in the development’s parking spaces? If so, you can rest assured many will seek to park on the streets of the surrounding neighborhood, which is already glutted with Broadway, LIRR and beach overflow parking.

As noted in the Comprehensive Plan, “Although there is a significant amount of on-street parking along Broadway in the beach areas, it is insufficient during the popular summer season, resulting in spillover of parking into the adjoining residential areas.” Do the benefits of this development as proposed outweigh these issues? Have the residents of the immediately surrounding and affected neighborhood been polled on this?

Foundation Block

A 2007 comprehensive plan, as well the 2005 report, emphasizes the importance of the Superblock and Foundation block and careful consideration to complementary design and use. Saccardi & Schiff note that, “Any development [of the Foundation Block] should complement the surrounding community and the adjacent Superblock, for which a 10-story plan had already been approved.” Surely, 160-foot towers do not “complement the surrounding community,” instead dwarfing everything in Long Beach, including the 10-story Avalon. In fact, the iStar towers would dwarf everything on the South Shore of Nassau County. Any consideration of development of the Superblock and any requested variances must consider the effect on development of the Foundation block and the impact on density and demands in the immediate area with both parcels developed.

“This plan or no plan”

The impression given by iStar representatives is that “it’s all or nothing,” and “this plan or no plan.” I would not expect iStar to suggest differently and undercut its variance request. But, surely, an applicant’s intentions to not build anything if it doesn’t get its variance cannot be the cornerstone of the zoning board’s decision.