Six residents who live near Floral Park’s border with Queens asked the Village Board Tuesday to help stop the construction of a parking lot by their homes.
Savitri Sakhichand and five others who live near the site at 1 Keene Ave. said the village should not allow a commercial zoning variance so close to a residential neighborhood.
“I don’t want to live next to a commercial building,” she said. “… My peace, my quiet — and think about the neighbors, think about the kids, think about the community.”
Ariel Alayev said he is in the process of reapplying to the village Board of Zoning Appeals for permission to use the Keene Avenue property as a parking lot for the adjacent building at 107 Jericho Turnpike, which he also owns and is renovating into a medical office, pharmacy and surgical supply facility.
The border between Floral Park and Queens cuts through the Keene Avenue property — about 45 percent of it lies in Nassau County, Alayev said.
Village Attorney John Ryan said the property is zoned commercially in New York City, but Sakhichand said a Queens community board told her it’s zoned residentially.
Sakhichand and other concerned residents said there is a lot of garbage lying on the site and ongoing construction is generating loud noise and unpleasant smells.
They also worry the parking lot will generate traffic problems with a Quality Inn hotel across the street and a bus stop on the block.
“There’s a lot of action going on there,” said John Villanova of 6 Brokaw Ave. “I don’t know how they’re going to make deliveries with a bus parked there.”
Alayev said he has a building permit for 107 Jericho Turnpike. Only employees of the medical building will use the parking lot and will enter and exit on Keene Avenue, he said.
Without the lot employees would have to park on the street in front of residents’ homes, he said.
“This isn’t going to be an active parking lot,” he said.
Sakhichand asked the Board of Trustees to deny the variance Tuesday, but Floral Park Mayor Thomas Tweedy said the decision is under the zoning board’s authority.
He suggested the residents build a fence or take advantage of other provisions to mitigate construction impacts.
Alayev said he started the project about a year ago. The Astoria Bank on Belmont Avenue had the same parking variance approved, he said.
