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Fair Day care center approved at Blessed Sacrament
Precious Spirit Child Care, of New Hyde Park, will soon have a home at the vacant Blessed Sacrament School on Rose Avenue in Valley Stream. The village’s Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved plans for the day care center on Sept. 20. It will be Precious Spirit's second location.
Ken Bond, BZA chairman, said that village code does not list a day care center as a prohibited use in a residential zone. Since the Rose Avenue building, owned by the Diocese of Rockville Centre, is a former school, its use as a day care center would be similar enough that a variance would not be needed, Bond noted. “I think it’s within the scope of the zoning board to make a day care use similar to school use in an R-1 zone,” he said.
The center would use four first-floor classrooms for children 1 to 12 years old, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., according to Precious Spirit co-owners Debbie Nicosia and Robin Cohen, who appeared before the BZA on Sept. 6. The women said they were very happy about the decision. “We are thrilled to be coming to the Blessed Sacrament Church,” Cohen said.
Nicosia and Cohen are awaiting written approval from the village before they can begin moving in.
The Rev. Peter Dugandzic, pastor of Blessed Sacrament, said he hopes the day care center can move in as soon as possible. The parish will continue to use the building’s remaining dozen classrooms for religious education while the day care center is beginning operations, Dugandzic said. The center will be a separate company, he added.
After getting written approval, the owners will begin overseeing construction, including the replacement of two classroom windows with a door and the addition of several sinks in a first-floor bathroom, according to Cohen. The owners are required by law to add a second exit when a building does not have a sprinkler system, said Thomas Curro, a Bronxville architect who has been hired by the day care center.
Infants and pre-K children will attend the center during the day, and older children will be there after school and on holidays, Cohen added. The day care center will be open year-round, closing only on major holidays. As of now, Cohen said, it will not open until December or January.
The Washington Avenue School building, in District 30, is also vacant, and Precious Spirit’s approval could make it easier for another day care operation to move into that property, noted Lisa Rutkoske, the district’s assistant superintendent for business. She said she would consult with legal counsel to see if a variance would be needed.
