By Andrew Hackmack
The parcel is at the end of Bucknell Street, which dead ends just south of W. Jamaica Avenue.
Village Clerk Vincent Ang explained that a few years ago, the village board began discussing the possibility of selling the wooded parcel. It was appraised in October 2005 by Anthony Gunther for $895,000. When the village submitted a Request for Proposal (RFP) from potential buyers in mid-2006, only one bid came back in the amount of $515,000. Because it was so far below the appraised value, the village board rejected that offer.
Late last year, the village again submitted an RFP. This time there were two bidders with one offering $605,000 and the other offering $300,000. Again, those bids were rejected.
Ang said one reason the bids were so low was because any potential builder would also have to construct municipal infrastructure such as the road, curbing, sidewalks and sewer connections.
"That comes out of his profit," Ang said of any potential developer, "and that makes the property less attractive."
This year, Ang said the village was approached by a local real estate agent who had an interested buyer. Ang reported that Alex Rivero has offered $700,000 for the land.
"He has built a number of homes and developments around the village," Ang said of Rivero. "He builds nice homes."
Rivero's offering price is above the appraised value. Although the land was valued at $895,000 two years ago, it has since been appraised at $655,000 by Ray Brower of Ray Brower Associates. "At the time we had it (first) appraised it was at the height of the real estate market," Ang said.
The parcel is zoned residential and Ang said the village would limit building on that land to five homes. That would give each property a lot size of roughly 6,000 square feet. Village code requires a minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet.
Bucknell Street would make a right turn, he said, and parallel the Long Island Rail Road tracks and W. Jamaica Avenue. The street would end in a cul-de-sac. Ang said the village will not accept it as a public road unless it is built to code.
The parcel is one of several small pieces owned by the village which had been deeded over many years ago from New York City. These lots were used when the city received its water supply from several aqueducts on Long Island. This particular parcel, Ang said, is the only one that is big enough for any type of development.
While he said there is always a push to preserve open space, Ang said that Valley Stream is in a unique position having more than 100 acres of existing parkland. "Very few villages have anything even close to that," he said.
Converting this land to homes would put that property on the tax rolls. Right now, he said, the parcel is more of a nuisance than anything because people do hang out in the woods. The land is littered with garbage and broken bottles.
"If we can turn that into a taxable parcel," he said, "it only benefits everybody in the community."
Ang said the money collected from the sale of the land would go directly into the road program. He explained that Mayor Ed Cahill and the board of trustees have invested about $10 million in recent years into repairing the village's road and parking lots.
The village board would look to take action on the sale of this land at the December meeting. Ang said anyone with questions about the proposed sale should contact him at village hall.
