Many residents are surprised that a condo project approved in 2020 is picking up where it left off. How does the community feel about this?

I found out that there was a variance hearing in front of the Board of Zoning Appeals coming up, so all of a sudden, people were like, ‘What do you mean?’ Everybody thought this project was dead.”

Pat Alonge Lynbrook Resident

After a letter about a zoning variance meeting was shared on social media, residents of Lynbrook learned that condominiums are still in the works for Union Avenue.

In 2020, the village board voted unanimously to approve an 18-unit condominium complex at 161 Union, where a sushi restaurant now operates. Over two years later, neighbors thought the project was dead. That changed, however, with an announcement that a meeting about a parking and yard variance for the condos was scheduled for February. It was later postponed after residents argued that it should not be held during the school break, and a new date has not yet been set.

One Lynbrook resident, Pat Alonge, said she thought the condo project was not moving forward, because “such an extended period of time elapsed.”

“Then I found out that there was a variance hearing in front of the Board of Zoning Appeals coming up,” Alonge added, “so all of a sudden, people were like, ‘What do you mean?’ Everybody thought this project was dead.”

The Long Island Building Corp. proposed the construction of two condo buildings, to be called Parson’s Corners at Lynbrook, containing two one-bedroom and 16 two-bedroom units. The 27-foot-tall buildings would have basement storage units and 38 parking spaces for condo owners.

The proposed variances that will be voted on at the upcoming meeting are related to off-street parking requirements and a rear yard at the Union Avenue site. A zoning board approval of the variances would give the property owner, William Geier, the legal permission to use his property in any way he sees fit when it comes to parking and installing a yard.

One East Rockaway resident, Eric Weiss, called the development “Traffic Disaster 101.” Another from Lynbrook, Jenny Lengyel, said, “That corner is already a mess, especially for all the students walking home or to South (Middle School) for after-school sports.” Both sentiments were echoed by dozens of other Lynbrook community members. At a village meeting in 2020, however, an attorney for the Long Island Building Corp., William Bonesso, contended that neither traffic nor taxes would increase.

Bonesso said that the developers would not seek a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, agreement from the Nassau County or Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency. Property taxes on the new project, he said, would increase to roughly $234,000 a year, or triple the $78,000 that is collected now. Bonesso brought an appraiser who said that area home values would increase if the project were approved.

At a village board meeting in November 2020, Bonesso presented the results of a traffic study that showed little to no impact on the area from the condo construction. The developers, he said, did not expect the project to affect nearby traffic or the schools. After voting to approve the project, Mayor Alan Beach said he felt that it was the right thing for the village.

“The board reviewed the proposal, and was unanimous in their decision that this would be a good project for the village,” Beach said in a statement at the time.

Lynbrook resident Gina Lee disagrees, and she and other community members worry that the village is starting to look more like  a city than a suburb.

“We’re turning into a borough of NYC real fast,” Lee wrote in an email. “Once this is allowed, it will snow ball and buildings will be knocked down left and right to accommodate these massive housing units. Our elementary schools are already over crowded. We cannot handle this influx of people.”

Although the project was approved in 2020, residents who weighed in on social media said they felt that picking up where the process left off was unexpected.

Alonge, who lives near the Union Avenue property, and other community members are encouraging people to attend the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting to make their opinions heard, in the hope that the board will reverse its more than two-year-old decision. 

The meeting, which was initially rescheduled for March 23, is now “TBD” according to Beach’s office.