A Williston Park dentist will have to wait at least another month before finding out whether he can build a new office after it burned down last year.
Joseph Locurto has downsized his proposed mixed-use building at 623 Willis Ave. from three stories to two and now only wants to add one apartment above his dentist office rather than three, his lawyer told village Board of Zoning Appeals Tuesday night.
The board said they appreciated Locurto’s “willingness to reconsider” his original idea, chairman Brian Cunningham said, after it drew criticism from residents and board members in September.
But some who live near the site are concerned a two-story building would still create a slippery slope that would change the character of the village.
“It might be we’re still trying to put a square peg in a round hole,” resident Mike Brew said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Locurto’s business would be the first to rebuild after the July 2014 fire that destroyed six buildings on Willis Avenue.
The proposal is “in line with the architecture in the neighborhood,” Locurto’s attorney Michael Holland said.
But Brew and other residents said they worried the other five property owners will also add apartments to their businesses, bringing an influx of cars to an area already strapped for parking spots.
“If you allow this and the other property owners that build on this site follow suit, with the amount of cars, you may be responsible for changing the whole tenor of downtown Williston Park,” said Ron Sciacca, who lives on Goodrich Street.
The board asked Locurto, his attorney Michael Holland and architect Clarence Weigold to submit detailed architectural plans for the building so it could make a more informed decision at November’s meeting.
They made a similar request in September, asking for additional documents and potential changes to the original plan, which Locurto submitted in May.
The delays have made rebuilding even more expensive for Locurto, he said, because he is still paying for insurance and taxes on the empty lot 15 months after the fire in addition to renting out his temporary practice in Albertson.
