By:Nicole Falco
During a meeting Monday night at the Forest Road School, Marc Tenser, president of the association, told the crowd that one of the committees will research the 1,000-page-plus traffic study done by VMI Maris on behalf of Vornado Realty Trust, the mall's owners, another committee will study the project's environmental impact, a third will focus on safety and the fourth will focus on aesthetics, including the proposed 14-foot-high timber wall and landscaping. Tenser asked for volunteers to join the committees.
The committees will work separately during the next couple of weeks, discuss their findings at a joint meeting Oct. 17 and present them to the community during a general meeting later that week. The civic association will then submit a letter and a statement of its findings to the town Zoning Board of Appeals before the board's Nov. 1 meeting.
On Sept. 27, the civic association called an emergency community meeting to alert residents to the proposal. "Part of what concerned us was that it was a little bit of too little too late," said Linda Kettering, spokeswoman for the association, in a phone interview. "We were unable to properly research and inform ourselves regarding the project and its impact on the community, good or bad."
The expansion project includes the construction of a 122,000-square-foot B.J.'s Wholesale Club store on what is now a "rarely used" 1,000-space parking lot on the south side of Green Acres Road, a Best Buy next to Seaman's at the west end of the mall and two retail stores on the parking lot adjacent to Seaman's, as well as a 35,000-square-foot expansion of JC Penney's and two new multi-level parking structures near the B.J.'s site that would provide space for up to 1,500 vehicles.
Dominick Minerva, of Minerva & D'Agostino, Vornado's attorney, appeared before the ZBA last Wednesday on behalf of his client to apply for variances for the project. The most significant of the variances is one to construct the 14-foot-high wall behind B.J.'s along Flower Road, which would reduce noise. The wall would be similar to the one behind Home Depot.
Town code currently allows a six-foot-high structure. But the civic association has expressed concerns that a 14-foot-high wall wouldn't be high enough. "The wall that was erected between Home Depot and our community is 14 feet high, and it is inadequate," Kettering said.
Tenser said that residents living behind the Home Depot often report that their backyards have become dumping grounds for passersby. The civic association is also asking for the wall to extend the length of the B.J.'s site.
The Mill Brook community is also concerned about increased traffic the new stores would likely create and what impact it would have on residents' safety. In its report, VMI Maris said that traffic would increase by 2 percent, or approximately 100 cars per hour. The civic association maintains that the traffic study was not comprehensive enough, but Minerva explained that roads studied included Sunrise Highway east and west, Mill Road north and south, Green Acres Road, Market Place, Terrace Place and Sydney Place.
Among the civic association's recommendations to alleviate traffic, according to Kettering, are longer traffic lights, a pedestrian foot bridge, the widening and repaving of Green Acres Road and left-turn signals on Mill Road at Old Central Road and Roosevelt Avenue. Kettering said there is also a need for a "mall entrance" sign at Sydney Place and Mill Road.
The civic association has security concerns, too, particularly in regard to the enclosed parking structures. The association is asking that consideration be given to additional lighting, and to increasing the mall's security staff to compensate for the additional stores and shoppers. Concerns have also been raised about the time and frequency of deliveries to B.J.'s.
"The requests we have are pretty much common-sense requests that have to do with safety," Kettering said. "We understand that the impact can be beneficial in terms of money being filtered to our schools [through taxes], and certainly the convenience of having certain stores nearby the community."
Minerva said that Vornado is interested in hearing residents' concerns and suggestions. He attended the Sept. 27 meeting, and a second meeting between the civic association and mall representatives is planned, Minerva said. He added that Vornado is considering the community's request for signage at Sydney Place and Mill Road. He said his client is willing to contribute $25,000 for each of the two turn signals the association recommended, but since Mill Road is a county road, county approval is needed. And Minerva said that Vornado would join in the community's request to have Green Acres Road, which is a town road, redone.
Besides the ZBA variance requests, Minerva said that the project is also subject to final site-plan approval by the town board. Minerva is also requesting permits from the town for B.J.'s to maintain a Tires, Batteries and Accessories Installation Center, and for Best Buy to have a Stereo Installation Center. Both centers are permitted uses, Minerva said.
The Nassau County Planning Commission gave the project its approval, Minerva said, and the Nassau/Suffolk Building Trades Council has endorsed the project, which would provide as many as 600 construction jobs. Vornado would like to break ground in April 2005. The project would be completed in two phases over a period of a year and a half.
Once it is completed, Minerva said, the expansion would create 375 permanent retail jobs and an increase in tax revenue for the town, county, School District 30 and the Valley Stream Central High School District.
"The only thing we ask is that [Vornado] continues to maintain a harmony with the community and not be afraid to keep us informed," Kettering said.
Tenser said, "Personally, I am not against [the project]. I just want what's right for our community."
Comments about this story? NFalco@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
