Town of North Hempstead officials have developed a $15 million “all seasons” plan to renovate the Roslyn Country Club recreational facilities as a special park district with enclosed tennis courts for year-round use.
Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman and Town Councilman Thomas Dwyer were scheduled to present the plan Wednesday as one of two options to Roslyn Heights residents at a special meeting at The Wheatley School.
In al letter to residents last month, the town proposed an $7 million to $9 million plan that would renovate the Roslyn Heights facilities for seasonal use.
Dwyer said Tuesday he thinks the improvements proposed under both plans will fuel memberships from residents throughout the town to help cover the costs of maintaining the facilities. Residents surrounding the facilities would pay taxes to cover renovation costs and their membership.
“I personally think that this is going to be such a state-of-the-art facility, if we build it, hopefully the district will expand and people will come,” Dwyer said.
Kaiman and Dwyer first broached the idea of expanding the area outside Roslyn Country Club in which residents would be eligible to join at the August meeting.
The “all seasons” plan that Kaiman and Dwyer were scheduled to present Wednesday included six enclosed tennis courts with a lounge area, a fitness center, sauna and steam rooms, a multi-purpose room and a grill room. The cost to Roslyn Country Club resident members would be an estimated $1,500 per year.
A basic renovation plan featuring an outdoor heated pool and seven resurfaced tennis courts is estimated to cost $7.75 million, according to a letter sent to area residents detailing the two plans. Under the seasonal plan, the cost to resident members based on a 20-year bond at 2.5 percent to pay for the project would be $1,000 in taxes.
The seasonsal plan would also include a jacuzzi, playground, kiddy pool, splash pad, a new concession stand, a bathhouse and a slide added to the renovated main pool.
The resident members would include owners of the original 668 houses originally built by Levit & Sons with rights of way for access to the recreation facilities and an additional 30 to 35 homes now considered to be part of the development on streets that ring the original development, Dwyer said.
Dwyer said a limited number of memberships – between 350 and 600 – would be available at as yet-to-be determined cost to town residents to help cover maintenance costs for the recreation facilities.
“If you’re doubling the project’s size, there’s not a doubling of the cost per member,” said Dwyer, who represents Roslyn Heights on the town board. “In whatever scenario we’re looking at, we’re estimating that the revenues will meet the expenses.”
Dwyer said in the year-round plan a “significantly greater amount of money” would come from tennis fees for use of the indoor courts. He said those fees would be reduced to resident members of the facility.
He said the purpose of the Wednesday night meeting is to get a consensus of what the Roslyn Heights residents want. He said a public hearing will ultimately be held to determine the parameters of the project.
In a letter sent to Roslyn Country Club residents late last month, Kaiman and Dwyer estimated the cost of a basic renovation project of the facilities at $7 million to $9 million.
But the letter stated, “That number could increase if the community determines that it wants a true year-round facility. That number could decrease if additional homes are added to the district from areas adjacent to Roslyn Country Club.”
The letter also stated the town’s planned purchase of the 7.3 acres of recreation land for $2 million from the property’s owner, Manouchehr Malekan, is conditioned on annual memberships being offered to town residents outside the Roslyn Country Club community.
The special park district concept was born after civic leaders from outside the Roslyn Heights community collected 4,300 signatures on petitions calling for a referendum to challenge a town plan to pay for an estimated $7.5 million in improvements through a bond. The $2 million needed to purchase the Roslyn County Club property would come out of the town’s environmental legacy fund, regardless of how the improvements are financed.
The referendum initiative followed the town board’s 5-2 party-line to acquire the 7.5-acre Roslyn Country Club property for $2 million and make it a town park open to all residents for annual membership fees in the $1,000 range. Town board Democrats supported the move; Republicans opposed it. Kaiman projected the park would draw as many as 1,000 members.
But critics expressed concerns that the membership fees would not cover the costs of the improvements and town taxpayers would end up footing the bill.
Under the special district plan, Malekan would continue to own and operate the Royalton at Roslyn Country Club, a catering facility on the property, as he would have done under the town board’s original plan.
The initiative to resuscitate the Roslyn Country Club recreation facilities was sparked by Malekan shuttering the facilities and allowing them to remain in disrepair after he and the residents failed to reach agreement on annual membership fees several years ago.
Todd Zarin, president of the Roslyn Country Club Civic Association, said he expected the town would regulate the number of outside memberships to the facilities to prevent overcrowding.
“The number of memberships in any given year is going to be limited each year with a view to make sure there’s no overcrowding,” Zarin said.
He has said that the community is “tennis-minded” and would likely support a year-round tennis facility.
Zarin said residents’ primary concern would be the impact the project would have on their tax bill.
“I think what people are going to look at is the cost they should expect to pay in the taxes,” Zarin said.
