The developers of the proposed Academy Gardens project have filed a lawsuit against the Village of Great Neck Planning Board seeking to block a possible environmental review of the project, according to court documents.
The suit, which was filed April 8 in Nassau County Civil Supreme Court, states that Kings Point Gate Associates’ intent to replace an existing residential building “obviates any environmental assessment procedure” under state law.
The planning board voted Feb. 20 to seek further information to determine if the project required review under the state Environmental Quality Review Act.
Academy Gardens tenants, local residents and civil rights groups have protested the proposed demolition of the rent-stabilized apartment on the corner of Middle Neck and Steamboat roads and its replacement with a 68-unit complex with market rates.
The tenants, mostly low-income minority families, have said they could not afford to live in Great Neck if they were evicted from Academy Gardens.
At a meeting in March, the planning board approved the hiring of a civil rights expert to determine if the proposed construction would create a racial disparity in the Village of Great Neck.
Attorney Paul Bloom, a former chairman of the planning board who is representing Kings Point Gate Associates on the project, has argued that the project will be a “in kind replacement” and does not require an environmental review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act known as SEQRA.
The lawsuit states that “The Planning Board’s Decision should be annulled… because it is contrary to law, arbitrary, capricious, and not supported by substantial evidence.”
The lawsuit also states that the proposal is “fully complying with the [Village] Code and requiring no variances at all,” and should be ruled Type 2 under SEQRA, meaning the project would have no adverse effect on the environment.
Kings Point Gate asks the court in the lawsuit to require the planning board to “consider the merits of the application for site plan review in connection with the Proposed Project without preparation of an environmental impact statement or any other environmental review under SEQRA.”
Efforts to reach planning board chairman Charles Segal for comments on the lawsuit were unavailing.
A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled before Judge Thomas Feinman in Nassau County Civil Supreme Court on April 30, according to the court’s website.
Kings Point Gate proposed the project to the planning board late last year, which according to court documents would have 68 apartments, with a “mixture of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments spread across three stories.”
A similar proposal was made in 2007 by one-time Kings Point resident David Adelipour, the owner of the property.
That proposal was halted by Adelipour because the building would have required a zoning variance.
An updated plan was presented to the Village of Great Neck Planning Board late last year and was heard again Feb. 20.
“This board has an obligation to follow the law,” board member Raymond Iryami said.
The civil rights expert will determine if the proposed project would be in violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which makes it illegal to deny residency to a person because of their background, board officials said.
Bloom said at the meeting that “nobody is being thrown out on the street” and that the tenants will be paid six-years worth of rent after they move out of Academy Gardens, if the project is approved.
Fred Pollack, a pro bono attorney for the tenants, has called the stipend a “pittance” and has said they all wish to still live in Great Neck, but, with the exception of the current Academy Gardens, there are no rent-stabilized apartments for them to move to.
Pollack said on Monday he hopes the courts upholds the planning board’s SEQRA ruling.
“My position has always been that they should do a full environmental impact study,” Pollack said.
Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman, also a former chair of the Great Neck planning board, said at a January meeting of the Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees that the developer had the legal right to rebuild the site and he would not comment on the Academy Gardens proposal.
The next planning board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 27.
