By Dana Williams
The following month, a coalition of West Hempstead mothers held a Mother¹s Day vigil in the parking lot across from the hotel to protest the establishment, and to once again encourage town officials to sell the Courtesy property to the firm. This effort was followed by the West Hempstead Civic Association¹s appearance at another town board meeting on June 5. Residents delivered another box full of letters and petitions imploring town officials to approve the sale of the Courtesy Hotel to Trammell Crow Residential.
Trammell Crow Residential¹s proposed plan is to build multiple-story apartment buildings where the Courtesy now stands. It is a vision that nearly the entire West Hempstead community has endorsed and continued to support.
In 2006 alone, 200 calls were made to the police about the Courtesy Hotel. There were 96 incident reports and 42 arrests, Fifth Precienct detectives announced at a meeting about the hotel in February. The hotel has had a host of criminal activities including prostitution, drug use and assaults. Since the Town of Hempstead¹s attempt to shutter the establishment by the public nuisance law has failed, West Hempstead residents believe that selling the property to Trammell Crow Residential is the best and quickest solution to rid community members of what they call an ³eyesore, blight, den of iniquity and a no-tell motel.²
For many residents, the wait for the hotel¹s closure has been more than a decade, and last week the hotel¹s fate was postponed yet again. On Nov. 13, town officials announced that the vote on its proposed urban renewal plan for West Hempstead, which includes the Courtesy property, will be postponed until Dec. 11. Town officials said the rescheduling was needed because the plan requires a super majority vote five of seven board members in favor and two council members were unable to attend the meeting.
³The longer the town waits to make a decision, the longer residents have to endure all of the problems that occur at the Courtesy Hotel,² said Rosalie Norton, president of West Hempstead Civic Association.
The urban renewal plan recommends, among other things, that developers build no more than 45 units per acre on the property where the Courtesy stands, preferably townhouses or senior housing. It also calls for additional commuter parking near West Hempstead¹s train station and the preservation of open space on land south of the hotel site.
Residents have been underwhelmed by the town¹s vision for the area on Hempstead Avenue, which also recommends a mix of residential homes and commercial businesses on both sides of strip, with the majority saying that the plan is not appropriate for West Hempstead.
³Why propose an Œurban¹ renewal plan for a suburban community?² questioned Seth Bykofsky, a longtime West Hempstead resident and former president of the West Hempstead Civic Association. ³The community at large, and every major community-based organization, having thoroughly reviewed the town¹s plan, is of the unequivocal mind that the plan is both unworkable and untenable for this site.²
West Hempstead resident Walter Ejnes shared similar views by calling the plan ³short sited² and criticized town officials for creating the plan ³with limited input from residents and business owners in West Hempstead.²
Community members are also endorsing Trammell Crow Residential because they believe it will be the cataylst that West Hempstead needs for further revitilization. Representatives of the firm, which has been in contract to purchase the hotel from its owner Bruce Zwelsky since March of 2006, designed the apartment complex in hopes that it would attract young professionals. ³Trammell Crow Residential believes that this apartment complex will be highly successful,² Norton added. ³They feel it¹s the right location, and they have the community supporting their efforts.²
Originally, the developer¹s plans were for 220 units in total, which breaks down into roughly 80 units per acre.
The urban renewal plan, however, has deemed the firm¹s proposal as too dense for the West Hempstead area. The plan also states that 80 units per acre has not been built in any place in the township, and town officials do not want to establish a regrettable precedent. Since the urban renewal plan¹s unveiling in July, representatives from the firm have made a new proposal of 178 units for its apartment complex, which totals 65 units per acre. The new plan, however, is still too large to be included in the town¹s urban renewal plan.
West Hempstead residents are now preparing to attend the town¹s upcoming meeting to voice their concerns, and urge for the Courtesy¹s sale to Trammell Crow Residential. ³It¹s a shame that something like this is still an issue,² Norton said. ³It¹s time for the town to listen to what the West Hempstead residents want for their community.²
Comments about this story? DWilliams@ liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
