A long-debated plan to build condominiums on a contaminated
site on the Glenwood Landing waterfront has leaped another hurdle.
The Town of North Hempstead's Board of Zoning Appeals granted a variance last month allowing the proposal's builder, Glen Harbor Partners of Locust Valley, to construct a four-story, 60-unit building on the site of a former oil transfer facility on Shore Road, said a town spokesman and an attorney for the developer.
This was the first time approval for a four-story building was granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals in a three-story zone, said town spokesman Collin Nash. Board members declined to comment on the decision, Nash said.
In August 2001, the developer bought the contaminated 5.25- acre property from the town for $900,000, Nash said. The next step is for the project to go before the town board for site plan approval.
Michael Zapson of Garden City, attorney for the developer, said it will cost several million dollars to clean the site, which holds more than a dozen oil tanks and has several spills. The City of Glen Cove has agreed to allow the building to hook up to its sewer system.
The development will include a public boardwalk on Hempstead Harbor, Zapson said. "It really should be a win-win situation," he said.
But locals have opposed the project for years, arguing it would clog traffic and schools and saying the condos - next to a KeySpan building - could be a staging area for terrorist attacks.
Bill Martakis of the Glenwood/Glen Head Civic Association said while the plan is in the hands of the Town of North Hempstead, its neighbor, the Town of Oyster Bay, would be greatly affected. "We feel like it's getting shoved down our throats," he said.
The situation is a "travesty," said Sally Sotirovich, 62, a Glenwood Landing resident for nearly three decades. "The bottom line is we are losing a huge piece of waterfront," she said.
Zapson said the development "will generate less traffic than its previous commercial use." Nash said the waterfront would not be completely blocked and residents would have access to it from the boardwalk. He said the development will benefit the town by cleaning up the contaminated property.