The Mineola Village Board recently approved a special-use permit for the Grace Assembly of God to proceed with proposed renovations that include a major expansion of the historic church.
Village attorney John Spellman said conditions approval of the permit, stipulated by the board at the mid-May hearing on the application included a condition that the church “will not rent, lease or permit the property to outside groups for any non-church service or non-church related activities.”
Spellman said the Nassau County Planning Commission had reviewed the application and recommended the board take whatever action it considered appropriate.
Robert Roble submitted plans to the board last month that would more than double the size of the existing church at 172 Willis Ave., which dates back to 1889, to 9,322 square feet from its current 4,760 square feet.
Roble had told the board the new church would remain a one-story structure with demolition of the east portion of the building to enable an expansion that would increase the number of Sunday school classroom to six from the present two classrooms. Toilet facilities would be added to the first floor and a lift for handicapped accessibility would also be added, he said.
“We are growing. The needs are growing,” Grace International Pastor Wilson Jose said after the hearing.
Jose said the number of parishioners at the church was doubling from a current congregation of 100 people to 220 people.
Roble estimated the cost of the project at $800,000 to $1 million and said he expected work on the building would begin in the fall, pending approvals needed.
“We’ll be doing a complete renovation of the property,” Roble said in response to questions from village Trustee Dennis Walsh at the hearing.
Walsh said paint was peeling off the front of the building and also asked about a circular stained-glass window that is broken with a frame also in disrepair.
Roble said the window, which dates from the original church, would be rehabilitated as part of the project. Church officials, he said, determined that the building dates back to 1899 based on a cornerstone that was discovered.
In other developments:
• The board unanimously adopted a workplace violence prevention policy intended to meet requirements of current New York State labor law. The policy establishes what it describes as “zero tolerance” toward workplace violence. It defines workplace violence as “any physical assault or acts of aggressive behavior” by village employees in any work-related activities and includes any threat, “physical or verbal” to inflict physical injury or “stalking” with the intent of “causing fear of material harm” to an employee.
“All incidents of violence or threatening behavior will be responded to immediately,” the policy states.
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
