Village of Roslyn trustees once again adjourned the hearing on a proposal to construct a retaining wall on the rear of North Bay Cadillac Buick GMC on Northern Boulevard.
“I have to be honest with you. You’re not going to get a unanimous vote here tonight,” Mayor John Durkin told architects from Notaro Grupp. “And you need a unanimous vote by the board to move this project forward.”
Architects representing the auto shop appeared before the board in February requesting a site review plan and approval for the construction of a chain-linked fence from the front of the building, which is owned by 1900 Northern Realty, around to meet the wall to mask the hill at the rear of the property.
The board requested in March that the architects include detailed landscaping plans for the property before they could approve the site plans.
We felt like it wasn’t good for the public to see a sea of parked bumper to bumper cars on the property so we extended the fence, architect Michael Richtman said.
Richtman said the proposed chain linked fence was moved four feet back so that greens can be planted in front of the wall.
“You didn’t make this better. You made it worse,” Westergard said. “I was looking for a compromise in the plans you were going to present tonight and we’re not getting any here.”
Westergard said he wanted the architects to make adjustments so that the wall doesn’t interfere with the trees on the hill next to the property.
“What I was looking forward was for you to tell me you’re going to take this wall and shift it over here,” Westergard said.
Durkin said the company needed to reduce the amount of cars on the lot and reduce the height of the fence before there can be any further discussions.
Durkin had told the Notaro Grupp architects in February that they needed to make the property presentable with greenscape plans.
“I think you need to go back and tone this down,” Durkin said. “Here in Roslyn, we have a green belt and we are proud of that. Once we make a decision and those trees are cut down, five years from now when they start growing you won’t be talking about taking down this retaining wall.”
Trustees voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting until its May meeting, pending revisions to 1900 Northern Realty’s proposal.
In addition, trustees Westergard and Marshall Bernstein took the oath of office. Bernstein was selected by Durkin to serve as deputy mayor.
