By:Carrie James
Auto body shop, neighbors battle over where to park cars
Every day, Patricia Fonte Daniels of East Meadow looks out the window of her Fourth Street home and sees a row of wrecked vehicles that are waiting to be serviced by Masters Auto Collision, just a few yards away on Hemptsead Turnpike.
For years, she and her neighbors have complained about the cars and the danger they could pose to children, not to mention the eyesore they are to the community, said another neighbor Bill Zau.
"I live on the same block," said Zau, who just moved to the area. "I like the neighborhood. The only thing that bothers me is every time I pass there I see broken cars, twisted parts on the street. This is not an employee's car. This is a junk car and this is not safe in the neighborhood."
Recently, though, Masters Auto Collision owner Dean Poupis approached the Town of Hempstead Board, petitioning the board to approve several requests. He wants to rezone a small portion of his property from residential to business so that he can build a 13-spot parking lot to house those cars from Fourth and Roosevelt streets; to construct a new addition to his existing building; and to revoke a restrictive covenant between himself and the neighbors dated June 30, 1980. Poupis now awaits a decision by the town board.
"He would like to change the zoning from residential B to commercial on the rear portion of his business property," said attorney Michael Mirotznik. "This is the property he covenanted to not touch in 1980. He hasn't touched it in almost 21 years. There have been some complaints about Fourth Street with cars being parked there. Our whole project is a well thought out project that will remove the cars from Fourth Street [and into a proposed parking lot in the back of the property]. If the board allows it, it would help alleviate the problem on Fourth Street."
But neighboring residents and business owners don't like the proposal, in part because it will turn the back lot into what they consider a junkyard. It also won't solve the parking issue, and many neighbors said they find it hard to trust Poupis.
"What's to stop him from continuing to be a bad neighbor once its approved," said Kevin Hneghan at a public hearing June 5, the first of many to voice their opposition to the proposal.
Problems with Masters Auto Collision go back several years, said Fonte Daniels' mother, Lorraine Fonte, who helped establish the restrictive covenant 20 years ago. In the past 10 years, the auto body shop has been cited for numerous violations and fined as punishment.
Neighbors have often asked Poupis to take care of the cars parked on the roads, comply with the covenant and listen to their other concerns.
"Even in 1999, he presented this plan," Fonte said of the proposal presented to the town board recently. "He hasn't spent one dime to clean [the back lot] up. He hears us, but he doesn't listen. He knew even then [in 1999] that the people wanted the plan readjusted and wanted a new plan."
Beside parking, Fonte Daniels said neighbors have complained about what appears to be paint fumes, vehicle fluids flowing onto the streets, the general lack of upkeep on the back lot and the neon sign Poupis placed on the building without consent from the neighbors or town board.
"I don't hate him. I don't want him out of business. We just want him to comply with the covenant," Fonte Daniels said. "We are worried about our health. We just want a good quality of life here."
Even Poupis' attorney admitted the business owner hasn't been a good neighbor in the past. Mirotznik pleaded with the board and residents to give Poupis a chance to show he now wants to be a good neighbor.
"Yes, there are times he could have been a good neighbor," he said. "He now realizes that he needs to be a good neighbor, and he'd like to make a change. He wants to improve the property. He has the money and is willing and able to do this proposal. The property will be improved and buffered. It will minimize the impact on the neighboring residents."
Residents and board officials, however, said they've heard the plea before. Fonte Daniels said Poupis not only presented this plan before the town's Board of Zoning Appeals last year, he also offered it as early as 1994. She and her mother both said nothing has changed in all that time. They still have the same concerns.
Now Fonte Daniels and the rest of the neighborhood await the town's decision.
Councilman Gary Hudes, who represents East Meadow, has publicly shown his support to the residents along Fourth and Roosevelt streets.
"After hearing the presentation that evening, I was certainly moved by the opposition from the community and heard nothing in the application that would alleviate the fears of the residents," he said. "If the vote were today, I would vote against the application."
Expecting and hoping that the rest of the board will think the same way, Fonte Daniels said she looks forward to working with town officials and Poupis to find a solution that accommodates everyone. One suggestion her mother has is that Poupis find an alternate location to park cars waiting to be serviced.
"He's got to find another place to put his extra business," she said. "Rent a piece of property and put them in that."
As for Poupis' saying he wants to be a good neighbor, both Fonte Daniels and her mother said it would take at least a year of good-faith actions such as repairing the fence on the back lot, moving the cars and eliminating the fumes coming from the shop by shutting the open doors.
"He'd have to show for a year that he respects the neighbors and act as if he lived here, too," Fonte said. "If he wants to show he is sincere, then start working with the neighbors."
