Village board reports on
ACORN and county study
At a recent Garden City Village Board of Trustees meeting, residents were brought up to speed on a major lawsuit the municipality is facing along with the fate of a recent county-sponsored study. Trustee Richard Silver delivered an update to the village’s ACORN/MHANY appeal, saying that himself and Trustees John DeMaro and Brian Daughney attended a recent oral argument on Friday, May 29. The village is being represented by Michael Carvin, who argued the 2000 case of Bush v. Gore in the Florida Supreme Court with the Bush team, as well as the first and second challenges to the Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as “Obamacare”) legislation in the United States Supreme Court.
According to Silver, a panel of three 2nd circuit federal appeals judges has reserved decision, and a ruling is expected in roughly three months.
The ACORN/MHANY case stemmed from a 2004 plan by former County Executive Thomas Suozzi to sell developers the 25-acre site of the Department of Social Services office. Suozzi requested the zoning be changed to allow 311 units of multi-family housing. Negative reaction from the public prompted village officials to limit the zoning to 150 town houses, 90 single-family homes or a combination of the two with each option allowing for up to 36 multifamily units.
Mayor Nicholas Episcopia read a letter from the Nassau County Department of Public Works stating that they will not be pursing plans they had announced to alter traffic flow a nearby intersection at Stewart Avenue and Clinton Road, which village residents expressed strong disapproval towards.
According to Silver at a village board meeting last month, the plans were to alter Stewart Avenue and Clinton Road by adding a left-turn signal and widening the road itself for a right-turn lane; in addition, large-scale changes would have been made to the agriculture in the area to increase visibility.
“This department was requested by village officials to develop efficiency improvements to reduce delay at that intersection,” Episcopia read. “We investigated activity at the intersection and developed conceptual recommendations, which if implemented entirely, would address the requested concerns, as well as other deficiencies identified through the study process.”
According to the letter, the department will continue to accept input and assertion further concerns and recommendations.
The mayor added that he has been assured by Nassau County officials that the proposed plans for the implementation is not something the county will pursue in the near future.
“If and when this comes up again, I really can’t say,” Episcopia said. “This type of plan, almost exactly the same thing, was proposed in 1997—it’s been going on for over 30 years, and for the most part, nobody wants it.”
Episcopia complimented members of the Eastern Property Owners Association for gathering people together to sign a petition of more than 600 signatures, as well as members of the village traffic commission for holding a public hearing on the proposal.
“People can stop things they really don’t want, and this is evidence of that,” Episcopia said. “The main purpose of village government is to take care of our residents, and we address the concerns of the people.”
Christine Mullaney, president of the Eastern Property Owners Association, addressed the village board, further reporting that resident opposition was what defeated the plans.
“The EPOA wants to thank everyone in the village for opposing these plans,” Mullaney said. “It is your united action that spoke loud and clearly.”
Mullaney spoke about concerns of safety issues at the Stewart School at 501 Stewart Ave., saying the purpose of the plan was to move traffic and did not address safety issues that may or not be present at the school.
According to Mullaney, Nassau County officials will meet with the Garden City School District separately—however, the county has not been made aware of by the district, as of last Wednesday, any safety issues at the school.
“The county considers the intersection to be safe,” Mullaney said.
