New clause dashes corps’ hopes

The Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps now has one fewer option for a headquarters building in the village.

Although discussions about the use of a half-acre of land that the village will acquire in the Grossmann’s Farm sale to Nassau County have not yet begun, the Malverne Board of Trustees announced during the public input portion of its meeting on Jan. 6 that the parcel cannot be used for police, ambulance or fire services. This news comes after the Malverne Planning Board ruled in October that the parcel could be used only for village-related purposes, which meant that a residence or business could not be built on it.

Village trustees explained that the county added the second restriction on the Arlington Road property as part of the deal, and that the village will accept the new terms in order to acquire the parcel in the sale. The county is slated to purchase the farmland from the Grossmann family for $6.5 million and maintain it as open space.

“The village wanted to use the parcel for municipal purposes only, and the county put a clause in the deed and sent us the language to further restrict the property’s use,” Village Attorney James Frankie said at the meeting. “This is a county request, and this has nothing to do with the village.”

Under the terms of the deal, the property will be subdivided into three parcels, one of which will be given to the village. The village will get a 25,561-square-foot parcel on Arlington Road, a 10,529-square-foot (or .242-acre) parcel on Ocean Avenue will remain the Grossmann family’s property and the county will acquire the farm itself, which is roughly five acres.

The county plans to partner with the Nassau Land Trust, a not-for-profit organization that will develop and manage an organic farming operation at Grossmann’s. The deal, county officials said, is expected to be finalized early this year.