By Angela Marshall
The residents most members of the South Side Civic Association accused the board of creating an extremely broad definition of school and pushing through legislation in order to end a lawsuit.
We don't see that Rockville Centre and the officials are sitting here trying to devise a plan that is protective of Residence A residents, said Michael Guararra of Reid Avenue.
The childhood center, which intends to relocate to the old Arbor Inn property on Woods Avenue, brought a lawsuit against the village last year when the building department rejected its permit application because only public schools are currently allowed as of right in Residence A zones. The suit alleges the village code is unconstitutional.
Village Attorney Martha Krisel, saying that New York case law supports the childhood center's claim, urged the board to change the codes to permit not-for-profit private and parochial schools to build in residential districts.
Although this is the first challenge of the village's codes pertaining to school placement, Krisel first asked the board to consider these changes in 1999 as part of the village's recodification efforts.
We've done what the law has required us to do, Krisel said.
Rockville Centre's proposed definition of
