The Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees unanimously voted to postpone making a final decision on the site plan, architectural and facade review for a multi-family dwelling at 777 Middle Neck Road on Tuesday night.
The proposal is a three-story multi-family project with 38 units (13 one-bedroom units, 21 two-bedroom units, and four three-bedroom units) and 80 parking stalls, according to updated plans presented by Paul Bloom of Harras, Bloom and Archer LLP. This is a shift from the most recently presented plans with 44 residential units and 79 parking spaces. The project’s developer is Lions Group LLC, with architectural aid from Newman Design.
Village officials reiterated that the proposal is an as-of-right project and that the developer is not seeking any variances.
Before a motion to vote on the project’s site plan, architecture and facade review, the village asked the developer to provide a rendering of all sides of the building and physical samples of materials being used in the building, and identify the location of a sound barrier. Village Attorney Peter Bee said that the board is also permitted to conduct a vote on the SEQRA review, though that has not occurred yet.
More than 65 people logged on to hear the most recent updates on the project, with a handful being residents of Gutheil Lane, a dead-end street that will be directly affected by the project.
Gutheil Lane resident Ken Lee said one of the main concerns Gutheil residents have is the potential influx of traffic and parked cars that would be unsafe and congest an already narrow road, which eventually turns into a cul de sac, with an entrance on Gutheil.
“The traffic is the basic number one concern to our street, and nobody is talking about it from our point of view,” Lee said. “There will be people parked on the street from other events and it easily clamps the street because of how narrow it is. It is even barely two lanes.”
Lee, an architect, presented a proposal that caught the attention of village Mayor Pedram Bral and the board in late August.
Lee’s proposal uses a curb cut off Middle Neck Road next to the Department of Public Works building which leads to a ramp down to the parking garage. Lee also proposed a traffic light on Middle Neck Road that would be shared by the proposed dwelling and the Department of Public Works to alleviate traffic flow for Gutheil residents to exit as well.
Bral said he was interested in applying some of the changes, but the Nassau County Department of Public Works did not allow a curb cut on Middle Neck Road. Bral did ask for the village to follow up with the county regarding the traffic lights that were installed on parts of Middle Neck Road around a year ago, and called sitting two minutes at a traffic light from Gutheil Lane “unacceptable.”
“They are supposed to be smart traffic lights and all of them have some kind of a camera on top,” Bral said. “That is measuring the traffic and the flow, and it’s going to come up with some kind of a program to make sure that the timing of these lights, done in such a way that it’s going to decrease the delay of the cars from making a left or right.”
Sasha Ebrani, whose family also resides on Gutheil Lane, expressed concerns about having her children being in such close proximity to a proposal featuring an increase of 80 cars, with a potential of more.
“What’s going to happen when light is shining on my son’s bedroom all night, and he can’t sleep or when the sound is so loud and we can’t focus,” Ebrani said. “This is literally affecting my family, it’s dangerous for my kids, and I’m afraid I’m going to be afraid for them to go out to the car because of all this traffic.”
Parking for potential visitors to future building tenants was also a concern to some Gutheil residents worried about having their already narrow street become even more congested with parked vehicles for an extended period of time.
Louis Massaro, superintendent of public works for the village, noted that two-hour parking is permitted on Middle Neck Road, and two municipal parking lots are nearby.
Among the more than 60 people virtually attending the meeting, some spoke in favor of the project, including younger people who mostly do not reside in the village.
Bloom urged the board to make a motion to approve the SEQRA, site plan and architectural review, rather than table the decision to vote.
“We are not investing in this property so that we could put up a piece of sheet metal, that’s going to have holes, waves and whatever. We want to be able to own this building, and to actually make money,” Bloom said. “This is an asset to the community and it is a growth for this community.”
The board ultimately left the record open for a tentative vote at the next Board of Trustees meeting subject only to Lions Group LLC providing the three items required. The next board meeting is scheduled for April 6 at 7:30 p.m.
