I said it on August 29,2014. AvaloBay would be approved

Who thinks 177 units is better than 38 units on 2.1 Acres?

On September 3 the BZA will grant AvalonBay a Variance greater than 400%. Planning Board should make this decision after hearing the facts,

It’s hard to say who benefits most from our village government. On one side it’s the residents. Our Village has become the dining capital of the South Shore. You can eat Thai, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Ribs, steaks fish and of course the lovable Hamburger and fries. It’s good to have food choices. What do we get after we have eaten and gone home? The merchants have a for profit free for all. In my opinion our village resources are taxed to the fullest. The police patrol controls the crowds until 4 AM on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The DPW is called out to clean the streets. Of course there is the steady stream of broken windows from the friendly bar patrons.

During the weekdays and weekends what do the residents get. There is the joy of looking for parking to eat at Panera Bread. Then the enjoyable lunch at the Reef because there is private and municipal parking there. Where does that leave Michelles, Great American Burger, Cabo, FireGrille and all the other downtown eateries? Nowhere, that leaves the BZA favorites, like Bonefish a disruptor of all parking and the major traffic problem preventing all residents from patronizing the businesses that line Field 1sidewalks. Bonefish the BZA’s favorite in Mach 2013, they has no parking restrictions. For the next year resident protest and Bonefish has parking restrictions in March 2014. Then at the last minute the BZA says Bonefish and their parking will add “to the overall health of the Village”. And share the HSBC parking lot

In my opinion there are many hands that go into many pockets before the special interest get what they want. All along the way it looks like the businesses are made to sweat it out in order to meet the building and parking code restrictions. It goes like this: Building request goes to the Building department. Application are generally denied because of code restrictions and given reasons for denial. The builder goes to which ever board the Mayor thinks is a good idea. 31 Davidson goes to Planning Board no public notice. Bonefish goes to BZA and gets one year of going back and forth until the BZA retracts restrictions and then grants variances. Molloy playing fields first with the Planning Board and then taken over and passed by the Mayor and his Board of Trustees.

On September 3rd we will witness the ultimate trick of the Village legislative process. I believe the application and approval process for Avalon Bay will go directly to the BZA to remove any chance of denial. The Mayor has the BZA ask the Planning Board to take over there legislative role. As noticed in the hearing for September 3. The BZA will review their already approved role which the planning Board approved in July. Then without any serious review of the Impact to the community this project brings with it. The first order of business and the real role of the BZA will be to grant AvalonBay the Variance to build 177 units where our VILLAGE code says only 38 units. They will do this before any experts or resident investigate the impact on traffic and village services (fire, police, electric, water sanitation and parking). They will approve the variance without looking into the surrounding existing contamination at 80 Banks Ave off-Site and the new Superfund GEM Cleaners site of North Village.

In my opinion the first hearing held will be high jacked by the BZA variance process. They will set the wheels in motion like they just did by approving a parking variance for the required 96 parking spots at 273 Sunrise Highway for another restaurant. Once a variance hearing gets to the BZA, in my opinion it’s a done deal Bonefish, Karp, 273 Sunrise and a multitude of others.

The Mayor in my opinion has done it again just like the Molloy playing fields application not sent to the Planning Board. This time I hope the residents will watch how AvalonBay gets special treatment. There are many hands that go into many pockets before the special interest get what they want. Is this process good for you Mr. & Mrs. resident of the Village of Rockville Centre?