By Angela Marshall
The overflow crowd at Thursday's public hearing on five school-related bills forced village administrators to move the meeting from Village Hall to the Recreation Center.
Afraid that the location change might discourage residents from attending, one man yelled, Don't go home. Show up. And show up they did. Hundreds of residents concerned with the development of Rockville Centre's school-related legislation filled the center's meeting room and finally forced a move to the gym.
For several months, residents have been protesting the childhood center's proposed development and believe the definition, if passed in its current form, would give the center the right to build in a Residence A zone.
With industrial fans humming in the background, Mayor Eugene Murray began the meeting by announcing the recusal of Village Attorney Martha Krisel.
Two residents had called for Krisel's recusal at the last village board meeting, saying there was a conflict of interest because she is a board member of an organization supporting the childhood center.
Murray stood behind the board's original statement that there has been no impropriety. Nevertheless, he said, an allegation has been raised that has tainted these proceedings....
Gary Fishberg, village attorney for Garden City, was introduced as the outside counsel.
Some of the residents who consider Rockville Centre's proposed definition too broad applauded the decision and asked the board to adopt Garden City's definition. Unlike Rockville Centre, Garden City and other Long Island communities exclude nursery schools and require schools to meet state education law requirements, including lot size, according to residents.
When board members did not accept that suggestion, saying they felt their definition was necessary in order to withstand lawsuits, one resident asked Fishberg if Garden City's definition was constitutional. I would want to think it's constitutional. ... In my opinion, they're both constitutional.
Not satisfied with that answer, Frank Schroeder, one of the men who called for Krisel's recusal, asked, Would the Rosa Lee [Young Childhood Center] be allowed in Garden City?
I think it would be. ... Now, this depends, Fishberg replied. He said if the childhood center is considered a school, it would be allowed. He did not say whether Rosa Lee Young, which serves children from two-years old to kindergarten, would fit the definition. While Garden City's definition prohibits nursery schools, it does allow pre-kindergarten.
Residents also asked the board to consider the Town of Hempstead school definition, which was upheld in court in 1988.
What may have passed 12 years ago, may not pass today, Deputy Mayor Wayne Lipton responded.
Board members told residents throughout the evening that the hearing was in regard to the legislation at hand and not the Rosa Lee Young Childhood Center. But the childhood center stayed at the heart of the debate.
The childhood center administrators purchased the Woods Avenue property for $1 million last year and ignited heated protests by neighbors, citing worries about safety, traffic and decreasing property values.
Rockville Centre's village code only allows public schools to be built as of right in residential neighborhoods. The proposed legislation was created because Krisel and planners hired by the village say that New York State case law shows that private and parochial schools cannot be treated differently than public schools. The board has been aware of the issue since 1999 but did not actively explore changes to the code until the childhood center sued the village when their building permit was turned down.
Schroeder told the board that if they pass this legislation, they may be sued again.
Trustee Jack Matthews asked the residents to remember this is at least the 10th version of the definition. He said the board has worked hard to make it the most protective, most restrictive possible while still complying with state law.
Matthews and Trustee Mary Bossart wrote the Rockville Centre definition after studying those supplied by the residents, Krisel and others that they gathered during their research. Bossart e-mailed the State Education Department for more information on the law. We truly believe that this is the definition that we need, she said.
Lori Nevias, one of the few people who said they were against the legislation but not the childhood center's proposed development, accused the board of talking legalese over the resident's heads. Although she said she would welcome the center in her neighborhood, Nevias, an attorney, admonished the board for allegedly writing the law to allow for Rosa Lee Young's development. You don't go changing the law for one institution no matter how special it is.
Nevias also had harsh words for some of the center's opponents, saying she had been told straight out that some were against it because many of the students are minorities. It's ugly. It's very, very ugly.
Most of the residents speaking in favor of the legislation are supporters of the childhood center.
Catherine Pucciarelli, co-president of the center, explained some of the many ways she believes the New York State Education Department recognizes Rosa Lee Young as a school, including that they have an approved teacher-certification program.
She called a recent ad and letters sent to residents by opponents of the bills outrageous. The ad said the legislation could attract drug treatment centers, day-care centers and centers for trouble teens to Residence A zone. Is this really the way we want to act in Rockville Centre?
The hearing never moved passed the bill on definitions. After listening to 22 speakers, both for and against the legislation, the mayor halted the proceedings at midnight.
The hearing will be resumed at the village's organizational meeting on Monday, July 8 at the Recreation Center on Oceanside Road.
