The Lake Success Board of Trustees debated but did not vote on a request from neighboring villages to help contest a proposed temple expansion on Middle Neck Road during their Tuesday meeting.
Congregation and Yeshiva Beth Eliyahu is petitioning the Town of North Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals to open a school at the intersection of Middle Neck Road and Allenwood Road. Officials from nearby villages have expressed concerns over the increased traffic the school could bring to the area.
Village of Lake Success Mayor Ronald Cooper presented a proposal to help the surrounding villages fund a traffic consultant to examine the effects of the project. He said the total cost of the consultant would come to between $10,000 and $15,000.
“In solidarity with out sister villages to the north, we are being asked to participate,” he said.
Cooper said the Village of Great Neck Estates had already contributed $5,000, and the Village of Kensington $3,000. He asked the board to consider approving $3,000 to go toward the hire, even though Lake Success would not be affected by the traffic.
Trustee Adam Hoffman was skeptical of the proposal.
“We’ve never asked anyone else for help with any of the traffic problems we have here,” he said.
Village attorney Peter Mineo said that the Town of North Hempstead closed the public hearing on the expansion before the villages could express their opposition, leaving a traffic study as their only recourse.
If the funds are raised, the villages would hire municipal planning firm Frederick P. Clark Associates to conduct the study.
The board also considered whether Mineo should recuse himself from an upcoming decision on a proposed variance for a lot owned by developer Frank Lalezarian. Mineo said that his partner had represented Lalezarian on a separate matter, and that the association could create the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Cooper said that Mineo should keep working on the case.
“I believe in the integrity of Peter,” he said
But Trustee Paul Glantz felt otherwise.
“Just the appearance of a conflict is bad policy,” he said
Mineo will stay on as counsel for the project, said Mayor Ronald Cooper in an interview the next day.
