Lumber Road complex allowed rooftop use during daytime

Matt Grech

Village of Roslyn Trustees on Tuesday approved to amend a special use permit to allow rooftop use for the residential and mixed-use retail complex being built on Lumber Road.

The project will convert the Nassau-Suffolk Lumber Corp.’s former Roslyn location into 20 rental apartments and approximately 22,500 square-feet of retail space, and was originally approved by the trustees in 2013.

Lumber Earth Realty LLC requested to amend the originally 2013 building application to include rooftop use at the village board meeting on Sept. 15. The issue was revisited again at the Oct. 20 and Nov 17 meetings, and approved during Tuesdays meeting.

“We had reviewed the request several times and are willing to issue approval under conditions,” Village of Roslyn Mayor John Durkin said. “We would allow the roof deck to be open from 10 a.m. to 30 minutes after dark.”

The trustees also set conditions limiting the maximum number of occupants on the roof to 20 at a time, and restricting food, drink and music from the rooftop. 

“We also require that a card reader be used to prevent access after dusk,” Durkin said.

Work to the site owned by Lumber Earth Realty LLC called for the demolition of the original Nassau-Suffolk Lumber Corp.’s Roslyn site to make room for the new building complex.

In 2013 officials said their primary concerns for the project were a lack of parking in the area, according to Blank Slate Media coverage of the approval process.

In 2014, The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency agreed to aid the project in helping to demolish the original site, and in June 2015 Lumber Earth Realty received a $12.6 million loan from the New York City firm Meridian Capital Group.

Lumber Earth Realty LLC is owned by contractors Kevin Dursun and John Santos, a member of the village’s historic district board. The company will pay about $3.524 million during a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement.

Also at the meeting, Roslyn trustees approved to submit an application for a $100,000 Road Improvement Grant.

Durkin said the grant will allow for all Village owned roads to be repaved. 

“Bonding will start in January, well set out for a bid subject to approval, and hope to start work in March,” he said.

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