By ANGELA MARSHALL
Many of the rumors surrounding the historic Arbor Inn's former site on Woods Avenue were put to rest during a meeting of the South Side Civic Association on Thursday, Feb. 1. Three prospective buyers shared their plans for the property with approximately 20 residents gathered at the Sandel Senior Center. At least one developer interested in the property, Breslin Reality, was not at the meeting.
A representative from Fantasy Playhouse in Lynbrook, which has also expressed interest in the property, left early after it was explained that the property has reverted to residential zoning. The special use exception that allowed the Arbor Inn and its predecessors to exist in the residential area expired after the property was left dormant for more than a year.
At least two businesses, Golden Age Development and the Rosa Lee Young Childhood Center, have given Eastern Savings Bank of Maryland, the owner of the property, letters of intent to purchase.
While residents voiced objections to parts of both plans, they were far more receptive to Golden Age representative Jim Lukas' plan to build single-family homes. The childhood center, which is a non-profit private school, would like to move from their Village Avenue location, according to Jeff Kluewer, who has been on the center's board for many years.
Lukas' plan calls for the creation of seven four-bedroom colonial homes and a street he already calls Arbor Court. According to a map he created of the area, he would need to get a variance for each of the houses. The area is zoned for 80 feet by 100 lots. The majority of the seven plots proposed are only 60 feet wide.
However, Lukas compensated for the lack of width by increasing the length to a minimum of 120 feet. The smallest is 8,300 square feet, well over the 8,000 required by the Village code.
Lukas said that the purchase would be a gamble for him. In addition to the variances, the property alone will cost more than $1 million. He hopes to sell the homes for between $400,000-450,000 each. "If the market goes down, I'm going to lose," he said.
Residents expressed concern about possible noise created by the new neighbors and the dangers of construction. Lukas said that the first thing he would do is build a fence to keep children out of the area.
As for noise, one resident pointed out that the noise of residents could not be as bad as people going in and out of the restaurant.
Noise was also a bone of contention when Kluewer discussed the plans for the school. Many residents said they didn't want a playground in their back yards with up to 150 children throughout the day.
While the plans for the school are still not complete, Kluewer said that they plan to use the first third of the property as a parking lot, the second third to house the school and the last third as a children's playground.
At their current location, the school can only hold up to 88 children. "We're busting at the seems," Kluewer told the crowd.
If they buy the Arbor Inn property, the school would hope to increase their enrollment to 150. At least 40 of those children would only be present for the after-school program, he said.
The school would be a one-story building designed to look like a Tudor house. It would be approximately 13,000 square feet, similar to the Arbor Inn.
In response to neighbor's concerns, Kluewer said the school would work with them. "We would not want to disturb [the tree] buffer."
The buffer was created by the former Arbor Inn owners to block some of the noise of the customers. Kluewer also reminded people that not all of the children would be allowed out at the same time.
He also pointed out that the school would not be open in the evening or the weekends. While the representative could not say they would never have functions in the evening or on the weekends, he did say the school's board has no intention of leasing the building to others.
Traffic also raised concerns. Residents said that their streets are already congested and that parents dropping off and picking up their children would make it worse. Kluewer agreed that there would be traffic but said that it would be spaced out more than with a normal school. He also said that the after-school students would be brought by bus.
Under state and federal law, public schools have a right to build in any zone. Because the childhood center is a private school, it would need to receive a special use variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals to build at this location, according Martha Krisel, the Village attorney.
After listening to both presentations, John Mirando, Chief of the Rockville Centre Fire Department and a neighbor to the project, said, "I still think the best use would be single-family housing."
Even though residents said they would prefer housing to a school, the civic association's president, Bruce Lawrence, would not give Lukas an endorsement for the project Thursday evening. He said that they would need more information and a greater number of residents to voice their opinions before they could offer one.
Wilbur Breslin, of Breslin Reality, told the Herald after the meeting that they would also like to build single-family homes on the property. He said they have not worked out a detailed plan yet.
