By JOSEPH KELLARD
Merle Avenue resident Ed Gibbons regularly puts a makeshift sign on the street in front of his driveway that reads, "Please no restaurant parking Don't be part of this neighborhood nightmare." The street is otherwise dotted with orange traffic cones in neighbors' driveways. Each is an expression of the frustration and anger many Merle Avenue residents harbor toward two of their neighbors, the Oceanside School District and Sole restaurant.
Residents are concerned about increased activities and traffic on their block that they claim have put a serious dent in their quality of life. This dent deepened significantly after Sole opened its doors in 2000, and has worsened as the school district has expanded on the number and frequency of its programs and activities at School 6, neighbors charge.
Some claim that everyone from the school district's administrators and Sole's owner to the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County police has failed to be responsive enough in correcting the problems they experience daily on their street. On weekdays, the traffic and parking begin at the school at 7 a.m. and are constant until 6 p.m., and traffic and parking for Sole often overlap with the school traffic, sometimes starting as early as 4:30 p.m. and lasting until as late as 9 p.m., residents say. Further, on weekend mornings, School 6 hosts college-type courses for teachers, and Sole's busiest hours are on Friday and Saturday nights.
"Traffic and parking has just gotten so bad on my block now," said Ed Stein, a resident whose backyard abuts the school's property. "[Even on some Sundays now] we can have a few people over, and they can't park on my block anywhere." Gibbons, who has lived on Merle Avenue for 42 years, said traffic there is constant seven days a week. He claimed the street can be filled with parked cars as early as 11:30 a.m. on a Saturday, with teachers taking courses and affairs such as christenings held in Sole's party room. "It's getting crowded all over Oceanside," Gibbons said, "but this is the newest worst block in town."
Likening Gibbons's street sign to defamation of character, and claiming Gibbons has harassed and threatened him and some of his customers, Joe Bonacore, a co-owner of Sole, said, "I try to keep [my restaurant property] neat, I try to keep it clean, I try to do the right thing, and [the residents] just constantly torture me."
Predating Sole at the corner of Merle Avenue and Oceanside Road for more than 30 years was Amato's, another Italian restaurant. Sole, however, draws a larger volume of patrons and thus more traffic. "Crucify me if we're busier than our predecessors," Bonacore said. "I do the best I can do. I live in this town, employ over 40 people from town, and want people to come here and enjoy the food. And that's what we do. Excuse me that we're successful."
Sole owns three of the building's four units (the fourth is owned by a beauty salon), one of which Bonacore converted into a party room. In September 2002, Sole went before the Town of Hempstead zoning board for a variance to make the room legal, as well as the walk-in boxes and metal shed he had previously installed in the restaurant's rear parking lot. The variances were approved the following month.
"That's not that uncommon," said Susan Trenkel, a town spokeswoman, about Sole¹s seeking a variance after adding the additional features to his restaurant.
At the zoning hearing, Sole also sought and got variances for off-street parking. The parking required for the entire four-unit building is 31 off-street spots. Sole's rear parking lot offered 13 spots, including one handicap space, and therefore required a variance from the code for 18 spaces. In addition, Sole got permission from Farmer Joel's deli and One Time Automotive transmission shop, both located on Oceanside Road near the restaurant, to park patrons' cars in their lots to make up for the restaurant's lack of parking.
"Every part of this building is totally legal, from the party room to the signs to the walk-in boxes outside to the parking," Bonacore said, pointing out that at the request of a neighbor, he recently installed a new rolling fence near his dumpsters. "I don't know what else to do to please them."
"It's a zoned residential street," Stein said, questioning the zoning board's decision about the off-street variance. "Where does [Bonacore] get a waiver to do that? I don't understand."
Bonacore counters that he shouldn't have had to get the off-street parking variance. "It's already public parking on the street," he said. "There are certain days and times when people can't park there, but on Sundays and certain times, people are allowed to park on the street."
Testifying at the 2002 zoning board hearing, Rita Trenz, a Merle Avenue resident, pointed out that Sole has a sign posted in its parking lot that reads, "No school parking." "All of a sudden," she told the zoning board, "now it's reserved, and they¹re parking in the school. That's not right, either, that they should have access to park on school grounds."
Trenz was referring to the Sole patrons who park in the School 6 lot on Oceanside Road. Today, she and other residents claim Sole valets its patrons' cars in the lot. Stein said he has spoken with Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown about Sole, a private business, using a public-school parking lot to valet cars.
"The school posts signs that it's illegal to trespass after dark, but yet the valets are backing cars in there, backwards and on sidewalks and everything," Stein said, claiming the gates to the school lot were always locked before Sole opened.
Brown counters that during his 22 years working at School 6, the gates were never locked at night, and added that the lot "is not really closed to anyone." Brown noted that people who jog and walk on the School 6 track may park their cars in that lot as early as 6 a.m., and that there are sporting events and other programs held there on weekends. "If we close those gates," Brown claimed, "it's going to affect these people."
Brown said that after the school district had checked with its attorney, he told Sole's owners that its customers¹ cars could not be parked in that lot for insurance purposes. He claimed the owner swore to him they weren't valet parking cars there. "They're not supposed to run a business on our parking lot," Brown said, "and if they are, we can send them another letter."
Maintaining that he plays by the rules, Bonacore said he has no say on whether Sole patrons park in the school lot or anywhere else. "I'm not a policeman, and I'm not outside monitoring where people are parking," he said. "[The residents] call the police on me every weekend. They're a tough bunch of people to deal with."
According to state education law, school districts are permitted, under certain circumstances, to lease unused portions of their parking lots. Brown, however, maintains that people can still park in the school lot even if they are there for non-school purposes. "If I were coming to the restaurant," he said, "I would probably park there also, because it's convenient. But how does that impact [the residents of Merle Avenue]? It helps them, because if [Sole's patrons] didn't use the parking lot, they'd probably park in front of their houses."
Resident Louis Andreno said he's bothered by what he believes is the restaurant¹s taking advantage of the situation. "I'm all for business," Andreno said, "but when it creates a problem for your neighbors and is affecting the rest of the block, that's not fair." But like many of his neighbors, Andreno¹s frustration has more to do with Sole's valet parking along the block and the many infractions neighbors claim result from this and the people who regularly attend or visit the school.
In part two, the Herald will focus on issues Merle Avenue residents have with School 6, as well as police activity on the street. Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
