63.0°,
A Few Clouds and Breezy Town might appeal Army base ruling
Posted
"The town respectfully disagrees with the decision," spokeswoman Susan Trenkle said. The town is considering an appeal of the case to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals.
On Dec. 23, the New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled that the town had no authority to dictate the "the exact number and type dwellings" that should be built. Property owner/developer BLF Associates sued the town after it rezoned the property in 2006 from single-family to mixed-use to implement a community-backed reuse plan.
Since the town did not purchase the property, BLF's attorney, Ronald Rosenberg of Garden City reasoned, it cannot impose what it wants for public use on private land. "Government doesn't decide this. The market does," he said. "Government can't use its zoning authority to compel a private owner to build something it wants built without paying for it."
Reuse plan
"The zoning that was established was formulated after careful consideration and much input from the community," said Trenkle.
The town's reuse plan called for building 34 single-family homes and 40 below-market-priced senior citizen housing units as well as a homeowner association-owned community center and other recreational facilities at the site.
Instead, BLF Associates plans to build 78 single-family homes at the site, "which is consistent and compatible with the surrounding community," Rosenberg commented. "We're confident that the community will be pleased when development is completed."
In November 2005, Kabro Associates, which operates as BLF Associates LLC, purchased the property from the Department of the Army through a competitive bidding process in a $10 million agreement, which included other Army-owned land upstate. Kabro is owned by the Kaplan family, long-time Long Island developers, which built the Westbury Common shopping center, among many other projects. The town had expected the Army to incorporate its community-backed reuse plan as a restriction in the land sale, but it was not included in the agreement.
The property is on Maple Avenue, south of Jerusalem Avenue. It was used as a facility for the Army Reserve from the 1950s through the late 1990s, then held as surplus property by the Department of Defense. Its use has been in dispute since the base closed in 1996.
Comments about this story? nhiler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.
# # #
On Dec. 23, the New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled that the town had no authority to dictate the "the exact number and type dwellings" that should be built. Property owner/developer BLF Associates sued the town after it rezoned the property in 2006 from single-family to mixed-use to implement a community-backed reuse plan.
Since the town did not purchase the property, BLF's attorney, Ronald Rosenberg of Garden City reasoned, it cannot impose what it wants for public use on private land. "Government doesn't decide this. The market does," he said. "Government can't use its zoning authority to compel a private owner to build something it wants built without paying for it."
Reuse plan
"The zoning that was established was formulated after careful consideration and much input from the community," said Trenkle.
Instead, BLF Associates plans to build 78 single-family homes at the site, "which is consistent and compatible with the surrounding community," Rosenberg commented. "We're confident that the community will be pleased when development is completed."
In November 2005, Kabro Associates, which operates as BLF Associates LLC, purchased the property from the Department of the Army through a competitive bidding process in a $10 million agreement, which included other Army-owned land upstate. Kabro is owned by the Kaplan family, long-time Long Island developers, which built the Westbury Common shopping center, among many other projects. The town had expected the Army to incorporate its community-backed reuse plan as a restriction in the land sale, but it was not included in the agreement.
The property is on Maple Avenue, south of Jerusalem Avenue. It was used as a facility for the Army Reserve from the 1950s through the late 1990s, then held as surplus property by the Department of Defense. Its use has been in dispute since the base closed in 1996.
Comments about this story? nhiler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.
# # #
Report an inappropriate comment
Comments