Zoning board nixes apartments variance for North Central Avenue

The Valley Stream Board of Zoning and Appeals rejected a portion of a developer’s proposal to build a 9-unit apartment building on North Central Avenue on May 17, and adjourned a decision regarding a piece of the plan that calls for two colonial homes to be built on an adjacent single-sized lot on Benedict Avenue until next month.

Representatives from Riverstone Development presented the plans at a public hearing on May 3. The village code allows for six two-bedroom apartments, but the developer requested variances to allow for nine single-bedroom apartments instead.

Another variance was sought for the two colonial homes to be built on an 80-by-100 lot, dividing it into two 40-by-100 lots. The village code standard for a single-family home is 50 feet by 100 feet.

Zoning board members debated the impact that two-bedroom apartments versus single-bedroom apartments would have on the neighborhood.

“Based on what we heard from the neighbors, and I know we give that a certain amount of weight, they thought nine one-bedroom [apartments] was the end of the world … as of right now they can do six two-bedrooms,” said board member Ed DeLucie. “So how many more people are going to come in with six two-bedrooms? The nightmare scenario seems to be worse to me with six two’s rather than nine one’s.”

Board member Salvatore Pizzolo said he thought an exception to the village code was not warranted in this case because the builder is permitted to build the two-bedroom plan. Board member Peter Panzarino said he didn’t like that the building would be as close to the street as the neighboring commercial buildings are.

“The front setback [of the apartment building] is right on the street there — I realize there’s stores there, but stores are different,” Panzarino said. “It just seems like we’re stuffing a Queens building right on Central Avenue.”

The Nassau County Planning Commission reviewed the developer’s proposal and sent the zoning board general feedback about the project. The commission said that the proposal represented an “over-intensification of development” in the area and, if approved, could “establish a precedent for approving other non-compliant multi-family project[s] along this stretch of North Central Avenue.” There was no mention of the two colonial homes in the planning commission’s feedback.

The developer’s attorney, Dominick Minerva, said that a new plan has not yet been decided on, and that it was unlikely that one would be finalized until the zoning board reaches a decision about the two homes on Benedict Avenue on June 23.

“We don’t know yet,” Minerva said. “We are still hopeful the board will grant the single-family homes.” He said that the developer and architect were still determining if the code-compliant six two-bedroom plan would be “economically viable,” and that it was possible that future changes to the apartment building proposal would require zoning board approval.

The zoning board reserved its decision about the two single-family homes after Minerva asked for time to gather evidence that similar variances in the area had been granted.

“I have the same problem with this,” Pizzolo said. “A proper [single] house can be built on that property.”

Pizzolo said that an example of an area variance that would be appropriate would be for a property that was unusually small, in order to fully use the land. Pizzolo said he didn’t see why one home wouldn’t suffice.

Board member Ken Bond noted that there are smaller sized lots comparable to the proposed homes in certain pockets of the village.

“As Ed mentioned, you’ve got a lot of similar sized lots — if you went to Gibson, you’d have the same thing,” Bond said. “There’s a lot of smaller lots, so it’s not out of character for the neighborhood.”

In response to Pizzolo’s reluctance to disobey the village code, DeLucie said that the whole point of the zoning board is to evaluate plans that weren’t necessarily anticipated when the code was written.

“So I’ll just throw this in as the guy that wrote the code back in 1990 — when we changed it to 50-by-100, we certainly weren’t looking for a circumstance where somebody had an 80-by-100 piece of property,” DeLucie said. “And what were they going to do with the other third?”

The board will make its decision regarding the two colonial homes on Thursday, June 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall.