By:Anne Marie Allocca
While new stores, including a B.J.'s Wholesale Club, would likely mean additional traffic in the area, Valley Stream School District 30 and the Central High School District can expect to benefit from more than $1 million in annual tax revenue.
Marc Tenzer, president of the Mill Brook Civic Association, called the emergency community meeting to alert residents to the proposal. Tenzer explained to the audience that the B.J.'s site, currently a "rarely used" 1,000-space parking lot on the south side of Green Acres Road, is zoned for business use. Vornado Realty Trust, which owns the mall, has already completed an environmental impact study required by the Town of Hempstead and the county. The company is seeking variances from the town Zoning Board of Appeals, including one to erect a 14-foot-high fence around the B.J.'s property, but otherwise the project is a done deal.
Traffic is a top issue in Mill Brook, which is directly behind the mall. Residents worry that an influx of additional shoppers would use Flower Road, clogging the area as they make their way in and out of the mall.
Michael Maris, senior partner of VMI Maris, a traffic and parking consultant, spoke about the expansion's impact on traffic.
After completing a study and writing a 1,000-plus-page report, Maris determined that the increase in traffic would be 2 percent. He explained that in any given hour, 5,000 cars pass on Sunrise Highway. Two percent of that total would be 100. Since the traffic would be distributed on several roads, there would not be any major impact, Maris said.
Dominick Minerva, of Minerva & D'Agostino, Vornado's attorney, attended the meeting on behalf of his client to discuss the $48 million expansion project, which is about $6 million more than Vornado paid for the mall 30 years ago. He explained that besides the B.J.'s, a Best Buy will be built next to the Seaman's at the west end of the mall. Also, two retail stores, which have not been determined, will be built on a parking lot adjacent to the Seaman's. Combined the expansion could create 600 new jobs in the community, Minerva said.
Vornado is looking to bring in stores to "add to the vitality of the center," Minerva said. "The department stores no longer draw customers like they used to."
He told the residents that Vornado was seeking a variance to install a 14-foot-high timber fence around B.J.'s' 122,000-square-foot property to buffer noise. Mill Brook residents expressed their desire to see an even taller fence built. Minerva also noted that refuse from B.J.'s would remain sealed inside the store and be removed sealed as well. Three truck deliveries would be made daily during daytime hours, and there would be a strict no-idling policy. He also said that no cell towers would be erected on top of these buildings, another concern of Valley Streamers.
The project also calls for the construction of two multi-level parking lots near the B.J's. They would house up to 1,500 vehicles and would be approximately 33 feet tall, Minerva said.
Minerva also explained that the entire project would have a positive impact on District 30 and Valley Stream Central High School District taxes. There would be an additional $2 million in tax revenue for various municipalities. Minerva said that more than $1 million of that revenue would be split between District 30 and the high school district annually.
"It'll certainly lessen the tax burden on the district's homeowners," said Al Chase, the high school district's deputy superintendent for finance and operations. "Homeowners will be greatly appreciative. [However] it is one of the trade-offs a community makes...because it will probably also mean increased congestion and traffic."
Having only just heard about the expansion, Chase wondered if Vornado was going to benefit from any initial tax abatements from the county or town, which might stall the benefits the school districts would receive from additional tax revenue.
Despite the positive spin Minerva put on the proposed project, the community members at the meeting were not swayed. Risa Spritzer, a Flower Road resident and treasurer of the Mill Brook Civic Association, drew applause from the crowd when she said, "Why does a tire-changing B.J.'s business have to be near the residential section and not up towards Sunrise Highway, where you don't have homes?"
Minerva appeared before the town Zoning Board of Appeals Wednesday morning to discuss the variances. Mill Brook residents were expected to attend.
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