By Kate E. Salute
D¹Agostino contended that Smith Street, a site of just one proposed lot in a 53-lot development plan, was a county road instead of a private road, as its residents and the Lakeview Community Council, a civic association, assert. The first 51 lots of the development had been previously approved, though a variance is needed for the final two lots. No one has come forward to argue against a lot being placed on Cayuga Street, though Smith Street resident Viberta Caesar worries about another house on her street and the added congestion it would create on the narrow road that she claims doesn¹t even qualify for snow removal because it¹s not a county or town road.
³It was told to us by the town and the county that it is not a county road or a town road ‹ they both keep denying that road,² said Lakeview Community Council President Julian Jones.
³I have letters from both [the town and county] saying that it¹s not their responsibility ‹ either, or,² says Caesar. ³I¹ll take those letters to [the county] and show them ‹ they gave us a hassle and a half to explain to us that neither the county or the town was responsible for [Smith Street]. Now, all of a sudden, in the end they¹re going to be responsible for the road so that they could hand off the property to the developer?²
Caesar¹s letters were responses to the many letters she had written to the town and county to ask that Smith Street be repaired. ³She wrote hundreds of letters to them, and she got letters back that said that Smith Street is not a town or county road,² said Jones.
The problem that needed repair, Caesar says, ³was a ditch in the middle of the road that filled with water every time it rained.²
³That¹s when [State Assemblywoman] Earlene Hooper got involved,² Jones said. ³[Hooper] asked [Assembly Speaker] Sheldon Silver for the money, and he gave her $75,000. Then she gave a check to [Nassau County Executive] Tom Suozzi for Smith Street and the road was repaired.² The road repair commenced in late 2003 and was finished by the spring of 2004.
Though both Caesar and Jones attended the Board of Zoning Appeals hearing, neither was present at the Nassau County Planning Commission meeting.
Smith Street residents for just over two years, John and Kate Davis-Koutsounadis attended the planning commission meeting, because they had heard a rumor that the proposal was for Section 8 housing.
Steven Krieger of Engel-Burman assured the couple that through its various proposals over the past few years, the developer never proposed Section 8 housing. ³Originally we wanted to put golden age living in the area, but after meeting with the residents we changed to single-family homes, but at no time was Section 8 housing a proposal,² Krieger said. ³Our homes will boost the value of your homes 100 percent. It¹s a great thing for the neighborhood.²
The Koutsounadises agreed with Krieger. ³I think it will be good for the community,² said Kate. ³Hopefully it will stop the crack and drug smoking and sex that goes on at the end of Rhodes Lane. I find condoms behind my truck almost every morning. It can only make the neighborhood better.²
So is it a private road?
D¹Agostino could not be reached for comment after the meeting, and when asked for clarification of whether Smith Street was a private or a county road, Krieger said, ³It is my understanding that the deed to Smith Street is in the name of the county and has been.²
Caesar said that the property on Smith Street is deeded to the county, though the road it sits on is a private road. ³Like you have your house sitting on a piece of property, it has to be deeded separately from or different from the road that runs across or in front of your lawn,² said Caesar. ³The category that [the lot] is in is not a road category, it¹s in a piece-of-property category.² And that property, she added, is all of 50 feet wide and 500 feet deep. ³But the road is still a private road,² she said.
The matter will be discussed at the next planning commission meeting, scheduled for March 30. Until then, Krieger says, ³We look forward to getting started. Hopefully we will be successful in our variance application. It¹s going to be a great, positive thing for the neighborhood. I think it¹s a great neighborhood already, and I look forward to selling the homes.²
