The Town of North Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals on Wednesday approved a parking variance for the Main Branch of the Great Neck Library, permitting it to keep the same number of parking spots after completion of the building $10.4 million renovation.
The council’s approval allows the library to apply for a permit for the full demolition of the library’s interior. Some work has already begun on the renovation of the building’s interior, such as the removal of the asbestos, but furrther work required a building permit.
“Before the building permit could be issued…[the town] said the plans as submitted showed a requirement of additional parking, so the library applied for a parking variance,” said Charles Segal, an attorney for the library and the Village of Great Neck Planning Board chairman.
The number of spots needed is based on how many full-time employees the building would have and the size of office space as well.
“If you shift space from storage to use, then there’s a different computation for how many parking spots you need,” Segal explained.
Segal said the number of spaces at the Main Library will remain at 99.
VRD Contracting, the Holbrook, N.Y. contractor hired by the Great Neck Library Board of Trustees to renovate the Main Branch, presented an environmental traffic report to the BZA, saying that granting the variance and keeping the existing number of spots would not impact the area around the Main Branch negatively.
The board voted in February to authorize VRD to do study the area and prepare a report for the town at the cost of $5,000.
Board President Marietta DiCamillo said at the time that the parking study was not anticipated in the original budget for the project. DiCamillo said the town initially advised the library board that a study would not be needed, but later said it was.
The contractors at VRD said they don’t expect more parking will be needed on Bayview Avenue, Segal said.
“Whatever impact there had been will remain the same,” Segal said.
The Main Branch, located at 159 Bayview Ave., will be closed for a year for repairs on the building funded by a $10.4 million bond approved by Great Neck Library system voters.
The library’s three satellite branches have changed their hours to accommodate for the closing of the Main Branch.
