By:Brian Zanzonico
The proposal, brought before the Hempstead Town Board on Tuesday, Nov. 30, in Hempstead, calls for 100 duette (attached) 1,800-square-foot homes with one-car garages. A clubhouse with a pool - which requires a special-exception permit - and a keypad- or remote control-operated gate would complete The Meadows at West Hempstead, as it is being called.
A 150,000-square-foot manufacturing plant, the temporary quarters of Richner Communications Inc., publishers of Herald Community Newspapers and PrimeTime Guide, presently occupies the site. The Meadows plan is a sharp contrast to the 289-unit retirement community that was proposed last year by the same developers, the Lynbrook-based Engel-Burman Group. Engel-Burman is in contract with Butterfly Realty to take over the property.
That plan and the current proposal have been blasted by Lakeview residents and the Lakeview Citizens Committee. Nearly 100 Lakeview residents attended the town board meeting with a message: The condominium development is not wanted. Reasons ranged from disdain for attached housing to the $450,000-per-home asking price, but centered on concern about the Malverne School District's and the Lakeview Fire Department's ability to handle so many new residents.
"Fire and police responses increase. Two children in each home means 200 extra children in our presently crowded school district," 40-year resident Marilyn Alias said at the town board meeting. "If one-half of the children attend elementary school, this means two extra school buses, four extra classrooms of students, four extra teachers with salaries and benefits in excess of $30,000. Our present school facilities cannot accommodate 200 additional students."
Real estate expert Barry Nelson, speaking on behalf of Engel-Burman, said he estimates that 45 children would be added to the Malverne School District, a figure considered conservative by Lakeview residents in attendance. By Nelson's estimates, the development would generate $769,000 in school taxes. Nelson also said that owners of the new homes would pay about $12,526 each in total taxes. According to the Nassau County assessor's office, however, each new homeowner would pay more than $14,000 in taxes.
The issue is before the town board instead of the Board of Zoning Appeals because a change in zoning is being sought, as opposed to a variance based on current zoning, according to town spokeswoman Susan Trenkle.
Councilman Anthony Santino took issue with the disparity between the price of the proposed homes and the $325,000 average value of a Lakeview home, based on the average 2004 sales price. "If the average single-family home is valued at $325,000 and you walk two blocks, the homes cost $450,000. How do you reach that conclusion?" Santino asked.
Nelson said the sales price is based on similar units in East Meadow, Wantagh, Oceanside, Glen Head and Oyster Bay. Those condominiums sell for close to $400,000 and are 20 years old.
"We networked with representatives of the community, and what we generated was based on extensive meetings with those representatives," said attorney Albert D'Agostino, who noted that the developers wanted to build single-family units but modified plans several times based on input from the community. "We believe the price of $450,000 is very, very, very realistic and perhaps on the low side of what others sell for."
Lakeview Citizens Committee attorney Royce Russell, however, said that meetings held with the developer never advanced beyond discussion of emergency services' ability to respond. "No way did the community agree to the asking price. [The developers'] response was, 'That's our job - to sell it,'" Russell told the board. "There had never been a discussion on tax impact. We were still stuck on how to get FD and PD to the community."
Engineering consultant Steve Hyman said he created a template to simulate how Lakeview Fire Department trucks would maneuver through the development. "With CA [condominium] zoning, all templates show trucks can go around any turn on the site plan," he said.
Site facts
The building currently occupying the site was erected in 1953 and operated as a cardboard manufacturing plant. Additions to the structure were made in 1963 and 1979. It was later sold to Rugby Darby drugs, which used the building as a distribution facility. In 1995 it was purchased by Butterfly Realty, whose Natural Science Industries Ltd. manufactured crafts and toys.
D'Agostino said that in 1983, an environmental study found that chemicals had made their way into the groundwater, and there was a five-year groundwater-monitoring program. Soil and groundwater have since been fully remediated, but D'Agostino said that public water would be brought in for any development. In addition to temporarily housing Richner Communications, some of the space in the lot is rented to a car dealer for storage.
The look
D'Agostino said the gated community would have ingress and egress on Orlando Avenue and Otsego Road. There has also been discussions of a third access for emergencies. Landscape architect William Johnson has yet to specify the type of plantings that would adorn the community, but the perimeter would have, at minimum, 6-foot-tall evergreens. Six-foot stockade fencing would also circle the grounds, with screened plantings. Although owners' taxes would pay for town garbage removal, private sanitation would offer curbside pickup.
The developers' Merrick-based architect, Michael Bonacasa, a member of the Rockville Centre architectural review board, said the two-story homes were designed with a garage in the center, a driveway, stone finish and vinyl siding.
Alternatives to housing
Engel-Burman partner Steve Krieger said that if the community is unhappy, his development group can leave the zoning as is. He also said that many of the people who spoke at the town board meeting were more receptive to the plan during discussions with the Lakeview Citizens Committee. "I'm surprised at a lot of the people who pledged support at the meetings," he said.
Butterfly Realty's Andrew Glanz said that a 24-hour-a-day trucking facility and an electronics manufacturing plant are also possibilities. "We tried our best," Glanz said.
"If we had our druthers, we'd be here with the [retirement community] application. There seems to be a lot of forgetfulness," D'Agostino said.
Traffic expert Thomas Mazzola said that if the zoning remains the same, traffic in the area would likely increase. He said that as many as 200 vehicles would likely enter and exit the site during the day, and as many as 220 at night. By comparison, he said, 77 cars would enter and exit a gated community during the day, with 102 coming and going at night.
Reaction from the community
Arguments against the gated community went beyond school and rescue concerns. "This is an insult to me and my community," said resident Yves Coupet. "If my wife and I wanted to live on top of each other, I'd have stayed in Brooklyn. This proposal is nothing but a modern-day project."
William Evans, a 70-year resident, recalled a time when Lakeview had chicken farms and pigs running through town. "We don't want people to come from outside of our neighborhood and tell us what we want," he said.
"We are a segregated community," said resident September Cooper. "Chances are Caucasians will not come into this community, and those are the ones who could afford that [price]."
"We welcome diversity and the experience and challenge of working and living with other people ... in single-family homes," said resident Alan Jennings. "This community will not stand by and let development change our life and quality of life."
Just before the meeting adjourned, D'Agostino met with Krieger and emerged saying that he was willing to reduce the number of units in the community by 10. The offer was roundly rejected.
Comments about this story? Mal-WHeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 240.
