A proposal for a 65-unit development was once again met with opposition in the Village of Great Neck Estates.
“We don’t care how it complies with the code, how it complies with the environment, how it complies with the traffic; we just don’t want this building. We like the building we have,” one resident said at the latest public hearing.
The development at 200 Middle Neck Road has undergone a series of changes over the past year, diminishing in scale over time.
The applicant said at the start of the hearing that he “is only asking that the hearing be closed again.”
Frank Fish spoke in front of the village board and dozens of residents on Monday, Sept. 8, about the proposal being compliant with the village code.
He said representatives of the project had met with the local school district, conducted a traffic study, and analyzed other data to determine the local impact of the condo if approved.
Fish said the building is expected to add 13 new students to the area and have less than a 1% impact on traffic.
Many in the crowd said the Great Neck School District is already at capacity and that traffic in the village is currently difficult to deal with.
Fish also said there would likely be no extra police officers needed, but there may be a slight uptick in calls.
The four-story, 65-unit development would be about 143,724 square feet in total. At first, developers of the property had proposed a five-story building, but the plan was later downsized to four stories.
Fish said Monday the developers did not want the building to “tower over” the street.
Mason Sofia, the development designer for the proposed project, said at a previous village meeting that the average size of the apartment unit would be 1,400 square feet.
Sofia said there are no plans for adding a pool to the property, which was met with criticism at previous meetings.
Karen Roth praised the current businesses at 200 Middle Neck Road, saying they provide a wide range of services to Great Neck citizens.
“They are part of what makes our neighborhood livable and walkable,” she said. “Incentive zoning is intended to benefit the community, not the developer.”
Real-estate business owner and the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals chair, David Eshaghoff, said he is in full support of the application to which the crowd booed.
He was the only person who spoke during the public comment period in favor of the building.
Jean Pierce, who lives in Great Neck Village, said she is worried about the pollution the new building will bring and if the board were to approve the application, there would be no going back.
“We went from three stories to five,” she said. “Beware”
Daniella Gershe asked, “What was Great Neck lacking to require this?” She also called out the board while opposing the application, alleging that local businesses that would be negatively affected by the new building are afraid of the board.
“Your constituents are also scared of you,” she said. “People are scared to come here.”
Mayor William Warner responded by saying he has spent more than a third of his life as a member of the board and he doesn’t believe that narrative to be true.
“I’d like you to change that,” he said.
Trustee Howard Hershenhorn asked the applicant if they were ready to discuss the financial impact the new building would have on the village, to which he replied he was not prepared to do so.
The hearing will continue on Oct. 20.
