If yet more proof was needed to demonstrate why zoning changes that would allow multi-use buildings in the Town of North Hempstead need to go forward, it was provided at the Village of Roslyn Board of Trustees meeting last Tuesday.
The board was holding a hearing on a plan to change the zoning on a single block across from the Roslyn LIRR station currently housing a string of dilapidated storefronts and a Verizon building used for storage.
J.K. Equities, a Manhattan-based development company owned by a father-son team from Roslyn, had requested the zoning change, which would allow the company to later seek approval for an upscale, four-story transit-oriented building that would house 60 rental apartments, retail and commercial space, and 90 parking spaces.
The proposed structure would be in keeping with the kind of project that Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, her predecessor, Ed Mangano, and downtown development experts have long advocated – apartments over retail space.
This, they said, is needed to build sustainable downtown districts and to provide housing for young professionals and retirees.
And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic and its heavy toll on downtown business districts.
But the developers, who had an earlier mixed-used plan turned down in 2017, were not requesting approval of the project last Tuesday. Just the zoning change that would make it possible to apply on property currently zoned to permit both storefronts and apartments.
That did not stop the opponents of the project led by Roslyn school board President Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy.
In an October 2019 hearing on the zoning, Ben-Levy expressed opposition to the project, citing the impact on Roslyn schools.
She repeated that claim Tuesday while calling for the village board to postpone a vote on the project until at least July due to the pandemic preventing discussions about the undertaking.
Ben-Levy also suggested that the board not consider the zoning change due to the financial uncertainly caused by the pandemic.
These were odd arguments, especially given the timing.
That same night Roslyn voters approved a $115,330,236 budget – up 1.89 percent from the previous year – a proposition to permit the district to spend $526,666 on new buses through a tax levied over five years and a proposition to establish a Capital Reserve Fund of up to $25 million using surplus funds with up to $5 million to be transferred from the 2019-20 budget.
They also re-elected Ben-Levy and school board Vice President Clifford Saffron, both of whom ran unopposed.
Ben-Levy did not say before the vote if the school district would postpone any school programs due to the financial uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Or delay the purchase of school buses and the allocation of money for the Capital Reserve Fund.
Perhaps, she’ll announce a delay at some time in the future. We think not.
Even if she does, it does not make sense to hold off on zoning changes until the end of the pandemic. For one reason, the pandemic could go on for another year. Should all zoning changes in Roslyn be delayed until then?
For another, mixed-use projects, transit-oriented or otherwise, generate sales and property tax revenues. They also attract other businesses to the area. And the tenants help businesses throughout the village and beyond with their patronage.
It is this type of financial boost most needed during a pandemic.
As for the impact on Roslyn schools?
A study was done for the project by the developers, J.K. Equities, using a widely accepted methodology. The study estimated that the development would result in six more children attending local schools – if the village board approved the proposed 60 apartments.
This is not guaranteed since the new zoning only calls for 30 apartments. And getting 60 would only take place in exchange for trade-offs negotiated by the board for the benefit of the public.
Ben-Levy also neglected to mention that the number of children attending Roslyn schools actually declined by 142 students from 2009-10 to 2019-20 – 3,403 vs. 3,261.
So unless voters did not choose well on Election Night the district should be able to figure out a way to accommodate an additional six students.
Some residents expressed concerns over an increase in traffic in the area. This is unlikely since there already had been retail traffic when the stores on the block were occupied. And as transit-oriented development, the project is likely to attract people taking the LIRR, located across the street from the development.
Village of Roslyn trustees expressed support for both the zoning change and the project, calling the one-block stretch an eyesore and noting that previous developments on the site did not move forward.
But in the end, they agreed to Ben-Levy’s call to extend discussion on the site to July. That is the zoning on the site – not the actual development proposed by J.K. Equities. That would come after approval of the zoning change and another round of public hearings.
And this is the problem.
The response of the Village of Roslyn, the Roslyn school district and the neighbors around the mixed-use development proposed by J.K. Equities is not unusual.
The opposition of residents and, in some cases, schools to mixed-used developments – or almost any development – can be found regularly across the Town of North Hempstead. And even when the developer receives approval the cost is very high.
That is why developers often avoid the town.
Both village and town officials routinely say they support making zoning changes on a case-by-case basis rather than rezoning an entire district.
In other words, let every developer with a proposal run through a rezoning gauntlet as well as a gauntlet to receive approval on a particular project.
Given the cost and time, many developers simply say no thanks, which explains the dilapidated structures and empty storefronts in many downtowns.
This was bad policy at a time downtown business districts were merely dealing with the decline of brick and mortar stores as sales migrated to the internet and free parking at shopping malls.
In the wake of a pandemic, it is a prescription for disaster.
This will require some planning. If the Town of North Hempstead will not assist villages in developing one, then Nassau County should, beginning with a review of zoning in downtown districts.
The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency has been seeking state approval for authority to address problems with downtown business districts. This could be one of these problems.
If the additional authority is not granted, then Curran should create a separate county agency that could work with villages and towns to evaluate local zoning and suggest changes needed to attract developers who would help build sustainable downtowns.
This could also include assessing the parking needs of downtowns and, if warranted, helping find money and locations to add parking.
The IDA or a new Nassau agency could also help centralize the building approval process in which developers must get approval from either villages or towns and the county.
Towns and villages have historically resisted giving up local control of their zoning.
But in this pandemic era the old ways are not good enough if we are to keep vibrant downtowns at the heart of communities.
