By Nancy Hiler
It took more than 15 years to craft a zoning plan for the former Army base that community members favored, the Town of Hempstead's Land Reuse Authority agreed on and the council approved. The plan was enacted into law in April 2005, when the council created the North Bellmore Planned Residence Zone.
Instead of marking the one-year anniversary of this accomplishment with a groundbreaking ceremony, as many community members had hoped, some 200 residents attended a recent hearing at Town Hall to voice their opposition to amendments to the zoning law requested by the developer, Kabro Associates, operating as BLF Associates LLC at this site.
The council decided that the plan "absolutely should stay in place," Town Supervisor Kate Murray explained in a phone interview, thereby "preserving the vision created by the community over 15 years."
The existing zoning plan for the former Army base property, which stretches for some 17 acres along Maple Avenue, calls for 34 single-family homes, 40 semi-attached "golden age" housing units and a recreation center with a swimming pool. In Kabro's request, which was denied, the developer sought:
ÄTo add 10 more senior-citizen housing units.
ÄTo remove the "Golden Age" designation from all of the site's senior dwellings (which requires purchaser age, income and sale price limits).
ÄTo alter parking and garage facilities for every home from a two-car to a one-car garage.
ÄTo add one additional market-value, single-family home.
ÄTo do away with the recreational facility.
Murray said that the council listened "seriously and respectfully" to the rationale for the requested amendments presented by the developer's representatives, as well as to community members' opinions, and asked many questions to determine whether the changes would be in the community's best interests.
It "was striking," Murray noted, "in the fact that to a man, woman and child, no one in the audience from the community supported [the developer's] request."
The council comprises seven members, including Murray and council members Angie Cullen and Gary Hudes, whose districts include parts of North Bellmore.
Often, the council will delay voting on proposals until reconvening for its next session. "In this case," remarked Reinaldo Nunez, president of the North Bellmore Civic Association, "they were so convinced that the original plans were best for the community that they voted unanimously on the spot."
Nunez said that many years of community input went into the current zoning. At the hearing, he said, civic association officers Christine Cook, Steve Kozlowski and Dan Checkla presented community-impact statements citing congestion, increased traffic and overcrowding of area schools if the developer's requests were approved. Others expressed opposition to the proposed amendments as well.
Nunez said that residents were particularly opposed to eliminating the Golden Age housing status, which he said would be hardest felt in the community. He said it would mean the "unfortunate loss of affordable housing" for "deserving seniors on the town's waiting list."
Under the town's Golden Age classification, the developer is required to sell senior housing units at a price well below the current market value (a $200,000 ceiling, according to Nunez), and all units benefit from property-tax abatement.
Murray said it was "a hard argument to make" for the developer to amend plans that had resulted from the "tremendous efforts" of many North Bellmore residents and such a long history of community input into what should be done with the property.
The developer, Steven Kaplan of Kabro Associates, was unavailable for comment at press time. Kabro Associates is the corporate entity of the Kaplan family, owned by brothers Melvin and Lawrence Kaplan and their sons. Steven is Lawrence's son. Longtime Long Island developers, they built, among other projects, the Westbury Common shopping center and bid on the Nassau Coliseum redevelopment as Engel Burman/Kabro Associates.
What happens next? The ball, as they say, is in the developer's court. The possible next step may be to develop the site by complying with the zoning plan as is, sell the property, attempt to overturn the board's decision by lawsuit or court appeal, or propose a new set of amendments for review at a future hearing.
Although residents clearly are amenable to the property's being developed according to the upheld zoning requirements, Nunez said, "We're hoping to sit down with Steve Kaplan and discuss the plan."
Community leaders remain willing to entertain any reasonable modifications acceptable to residents, he said, and "welcome a dialogue" with the developer.
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