Mineola residents interested in potential village construction should mark their calendars for Sept. 10.
The Board of Trustees will welcome back development company Eden Blue LLC for a continuation of a July 9 hearing on plans for a potential new apartment complex at 101 Willis Ave. The proposed 204-unit, 6-story complex received pushback from the board for being too large and not fitting in with the village’s aesthetic in July. Trustees told attorney and state Sen. Jack Martins significant changes would likely be needed for the board to approve the project.
“When I look at this building, it doesn’t look Mineola. It just looks very massive,” Deputy Mayor Janine Sartori told Blue Eden representatives, who also own the Royal Blue complex on Searing Avenue, at that July hearing.
It was a position shared by other members of the board, who said they appreciated the idea of the apartment and the developers’ incorporation of the nearby Mineola Athletic Association into its plans with seating, a hall of fame walk and potential concession stand, storage and office space for the group. But they said they believed the open space surrounding the potential building made it appear too large.
Mayor Paul Pereira said he “certainly expects” the developer’s team to come back with an amended proposal on Sept. 10, though the board hasn’t spoken directly with them about the project since the July hearing.
“I think that if they present the same thing, that is not going to be what the board wanted…I would be very surprised if they came back with the same exact building,” Pereira said.
“I expect that they heard the concerns, which were twofold: the aesthetic and height. Hopefully, they’ve addressed both of those things, and they will present something that is aesthetically more in keeping with what is around that area,” the mayor continued. “To what degree of changes we’ll see in terms of the two main concerns remains to be seen.”
Pereira added that it was relatively common for the board to provide feedback on an applicant’s proposal and ask for changes to be presented in a continuation of a hearing.
Regardless of the plans presented next week, Pereira said it’s highly unlikely the board will make its decision that Wednesday night because multiple necessary approvals and studies are still outstanding.
The village is waiting on a routine decision from the Nassau County Planning Commission that would permit the village to vote, water and sewage studies to come back and for details to be ironed out on a land swap agreement, where the developer would take ownership of the roughly 1,700 square feet of village land the current Mineola Athletic Association storage house sits on and the village would be provided with that same amount of space for the MAA within the apartment complex.
Pereira said he expects the board to receive those documents, decisions, and studies within a month of the September hearing and for the board to vote sometime this fall, though he could not predict an exact date yet.
He encouraged village residents to attend the hearing to learn more about the building and ask any questions they may have.
“If anybody has any concerns or questions for the developer or for the village, they should attend, they should see the renderings and the presentation,” the mayor said. “This is all public information. We hope people will give us our input.”
The hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 10 in Mineola Village Hall.
