By Anthony Rifilato
At a meeting with about 10 residents at the Baldwin American Legion, the developer of the project, Roy Tuccillo, owner of My Four Realty Corp., said that he plans to build a Victorian-style structure consisting of eight 700- to 1,000-square-foot "high rental" apartments.
The property has been vacant for about six years, residents said, and was overrun with cats and even some homeless people up until a few years ago.
Dispelling rumors that the project was for senior housing, Tuccillo said he wants to attract young families, couples and professionals, saying that because of the property's proximity to the Baldwin LIRR station, they would be willing to pay rent ranging in price from $2,200 to $2,700 per month.
"I'd rather have the right people in there," said Tuccillo, who owns other properties in Baldwin. "I'm not looking for a headache."
The 19,490-square-foot property will comprise four three-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments totaling 3,680 square feet, lush landscaping and shrubbery, 20 parking spaces and a remote-control gate near an adjacent property on Atlantic Avenue.
"I'm not looking to make the area go down," said Tuccillo. "Baldwin has a lot of potential, and it's a very convenient and solid area."
Amid concerns and rumors of senior and Section 8 housing, Tuccillo and his attorney, Bill Bonesso, assured residents that the $900,000 project will improve the area. They plan to submit a building application to the Town of Hempstead this week and hope to complete the project in late 2004. An application submitted last year to rezone the property into a multi-family residential property is pending, but currently the property is zoned for business and residential use only.
Many residents said they were concerned with traffic and other potential problems, such as teenagers loitering in the proposed parking lot, saying that kids are already drinking in the area. "This is going to make it worse," one woman said.
Bonesso said that any development would create traffic, especially if the property were to be developed commercially, and argued that Tuccillo chose not to lease the property to fast-food restaurants or other chains, which generate more traffic and where kids tend to hang out more. Bonesso said the apartments would create a "buffer" between the business and commercial areas.
"We feel that it's the best use for the property, as opposed to building commercially," Bonesso said.
But others argued that Atlantic Avenue is a vital commercial strip, and opposed having apartments there. "We should have commercial property here," said Erik Mahler of Mahler Realty in Baldwin.
Others questioned the high rent, asking why people who can afford over $2,000 a month in rent wouldn't put a down-payment on a house instead. Bonesso and Tuccillo said that while some people can afford rents in that price range, they may not have enough for a down-payment on a mortgage.
Still, some residents complained that they were not even notified of the meeting. Bonesso said that residents who live within a 100-foot radius of the property were notified, and that it was posted in the local newspapers, though some said there should have been more adequate notification. Bonesso said residents could address the issue at a Town of Hempstead hearing on Sept. 23.
The recently demolished building on the property was the former Master Wok Chinese restaurant, and some residents said they were glad to see it go. "I think it's good," said Judy Carman, who lives behind the property. "It seems to be very nice. It was disgusting before."
Coincidentally, Bonesso is the attorney for another proposed Baldwin building project, this one at 2870 Grand Ave. That plan, a $1.2 million project to build senior housing next to Halandia Shores, had residents up in arms in June when Bonesso and John Martino, the owner of the property, held a preliminary meeting with neighbors. The plan has not been approved, and a hearing before the town board has yet to be scheduled. Last week, Bonesso said he and Martino would schedule another meeting with residents -- who have since begun circulating a petition opposing the project -- to address what many said were sewage problems in the area.
"We want to get together with them and let them know that it's not an issue," Bonesso said.
