By Anthony Bottan
The developer, Dr. Leonard Bleicher of Hewlett Harbor, also wants to raise the height of the building by four feet. The zoning board will make its decision at its Aug. 18 meeting.
The board met on July 21, intending to decide whether to grant the variance, but Bleicher's lawyer, Dominick Minerva Sr., requested a two-week adjournment so he could submit additional responses to residents' objections to the board for review. Residents had complained about the project's lack of parking and the possibility that rental apartments might change the character of the neighborhood.
Minerva insisted that the building would remain a high-end complex similar to what was approved four years ago, with 24-hour concierge service, a gym and meeting rooms.
The board granted the adjournment, keeping the record open until Aug. 4, which meant that Minerva and residents could submit additional expert testimony, complaints or petitions. The board will then take two weeks to review the new information before announcing its decision. "We are reviewing the revised application," said Ken Bond, chairman of the BZA. "We left the record open for additional input."
Bond said the board had not received anything new from Minerva or residents as of Tuesday, but Minerva said he would submit the additional paperwork to the board by Aug. 4. Though he would not comment on its specifics, he said that it would deal with residents' complaints about the project, which, he said, were "salacious and misstated."
"We are still formulating the precise nature of our response," Minerva said.
In 2005, the BZA approved a plan for 33 two-bedroom condos and two one-bedroom units. Bleicher is now seeking to build 20 two-bedroom apartments and 22 one-bedroom units, and according to Minerva, the change was necessitated by the economy. The downturn in the housing market, he explained, makes rental apartments more desirable than condos. He noted that if the change is accepted, the building would be designed so that the units could be converted into condos in the future.
The plans call for three floors of housing above one floor of parking, which will mean four additional feet of height. Initially, the parking was to be four feet below street level, but a detailed review of the site revealed that the water table is too high. Now, Minerva said, Bleicher wants to have the parking at street level. He added that transit-oriented developments like this one -- the property is right behind the Gibson train station — generally require only one parking space per unit. The plans call for 77 parking spots.
Gibsonite Diana Kaplan, who has lived in the village for 11 years, said she didn't like either idea. "I'd rather not have anything like that around here," Kaplan said. "I have kids walking to school from here, and there's going to be much more traffic. It'll just be different here if it goes through."
Andrew Hackmack contributed to this story. Comments about it?ABottan@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 246.
