Residents sound off at public hearing about proposed ‘Promenade’ building

About 40 people showed up at Village Hall for the Valley Stream Board of Zoning and Appeals hearing on January 6, voicing concerns about the apartment building proposed for 49 N. Central Avenue before the board adjourned the hearing until its next meeting, citing a need for more information.

Residents turned out in droves for the hearing on the proposed Promenade building, a five-story apartment complex that, if approved, would occupy 49 N. Central Avenue. The Village Board voted to rezone the plot from a commercial space to a mixed-use site on December 15. Zoning board members decided to adjourn the hearing after ordering the project’s developers, KAY Development Group of Manhattan, to commission a traffic study.

“We have not made a decision about the project at this time, nor will we make one at our decision meeting later this month,” said Board Chair Ken Bond. “We have set a tentative date to reopen the hearings, solely on the subject of the traffic study, for our February 3 meeting. If everything goes according to plan, we will render a decision on this project at our decision meeting later that month.”

In a presentation that kicked off the hearing, the developer’s attorney, Michael Sullivan, said the building would benefit the community.

“I’ve heard time and time again that this is exactly the kind of project that Valley Stream needs,” Sullivan told the board, citing the success of apartments in communities like Rockville Centre. “This is a marvelous enhancement to Valley Stream. It will bring younger working professionals who want to be close to the train station and the airports.”

Voices in support of the project were absent among residents in attendance, though. More than a dozen spoke against it. Some rejected Sullivan’s notion that it’s similar to the model Rockville Centre has seen drive the success of its downtown.