Village of Great Neck trustees are seeking to clarify an aspect of the village’s “incentive zoning” law regarding payments for applicants who receive bonuses for developments.
As part of the incentive zoning law, the developer is required to provide some form of benefit to the village in exchange for the development incentive bonuses, which could include constructing a taller building than village code allows.
But, if the applicant is not providing a community benefit to the village, he or she can pay a set fee.
Village Attorney Phil Butler said at Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting that he worked with village Mayor Pedram Bral and Building Department Superintendent Bob Barbach to draft legislation on how the village would calculate the “payment in lieu of” fee.
“When an individual receives incentive bonuses, dimensional bonuses, for their project as part of the incentive zoning, that will be used as a basis for calculating a set fee,” Butler said.
He said the proposed fee is 15 percent of the difference between what the fair market value of the property with the bonuses is and the fair market value of the property prior to the bonuses.
The “incentive zoning” legislation approved by trustees almost two years ago changed zoning for Steamboat Road from commercial and residential to only residential and Middle Neck Road changed to only residential at its northern and southern ends, with a central business core.
Steamboat Road residences, according to the legislation, are zoned for townhouses and Middle Neck Road residences are zoned for multifamily apartments.
Middle Neck Road from Hicks Lane and Arrandale Avenue to Baker Hill Road will only be for business use, Gill said.
Mixed-use buildings, with commercial properties on the first floor and residential on the second floor, are permitted under the zoning changes.
The proposed legislation also requires the applicant to submit an “escrow deposit” to the village.
“In addition to any other applicable application fees, payment of a reasonable escrow deposit, as set by the Building Department, to cover costs and expenses incurred by the village for legal and professional fees in connection with review of the application,” the legislation reads. “The unused portion of the escrow, if any, shall be refunded to the applicant following final determination of the application.”
The board set a public hearing for the proposed changes on Sept. 6 at 7:45 p.m.
Also at the meeting, Village Clerk-Treasurer Joe Gill announced that the village will hold a paper-shredding day for residents on Aug. 24 at Village Hall between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Gill has said the village had about 60 boxes of documents it needed shredded and was looking to pay for a shredding truck to come to Village Hall.
He said the village also wanted to offer the service to its residents.
Gill said residents interested in bringing personal documents for shredding needed to bring a driver’s license or proof of residency in the village.
Residents are also limited to bringing three bankers’ boxes of documents for shredding, he said.
“If we have any reason to believe we are being handed commercial stuff or something from somebody not in our village, we reserve the right to not take it,” Trustee Barton Sobel said.
Also at the meeting, residents who live on Carriage Road complained to the board about poor road conditions on their street.
They said that Carriage Road has been neglected by the village after many attempts to have the road redone.
One resident said that village workers completed temporary fixes to potholes and cracks, but the road was in disrepair soon after.
Gill said he would have the Department of Public Works superintendent, Louis Massaro, look into the issue and that the board would have the item on the agenda for its next meeting.
The next meeting is on Aug. 16.
