Roslyn club plan draws good reviews

Richard Tedesco

More than 300 neighboring residents expressed strong support for reviving the Roslyn Country Club’s recreation facilities as a special park district at a meeting with Town of North Hempstead officials last Wednesday night.

Most of those attending the meeting raised their hands when Town of North Hempstead Jon Kaiman asked for an indication of how many residents favored proceeding with one of two plans proposed by the town for the redevelopment of the facilities.

The first plan proposed by the town calls for renovating the Roslyn Heights facility – inlcuding a pool and tennis courts –  for seasonal use at a cost of  $7.5 million to $7.75 million. The second plan calls for all-seasons use that includes covered tennis courts at a cost of $15 million.

“I argue and continue to argue that with interest rates where they are, this is the time to invest,” Kaiman said.

Town Councilman Thomas Dwyer, who represents Roslyn Heights on the town board, presented the options for a basic plan that would cost between $7.5 million and $7.75 million to develop and a $15 million “all seasons” plan that would include indoor tennis courts.

Dwyer said the plan includes offering park memberships to 400 to 500 town residents outside the Roslyn Heights development to “subsidize operational expenses,” with any shortfall to be covered by the resident members. 

The resident members, he said, would pay an average of between $800 and $1,000 in taxes to cover the cost of renovating the park facilities under the basic plan, including an upgrade to the existing pool and resurfacing the seven tennis courts. 

The “all-seasons” plan would include the indoor tennis courts and a grill area and other amenities that would cost residents an average of $1,500 to $1,600 in taxes. 

Dwyer said the indoor tennis courts would enable a “break-even or better than break-even scenario” based on conversations he’d had with “experts” who run such facilities.

Kaiman said there was a “decent chance” that operation costs would be covered by the outside memberships and tennis court fees.

He said an advisory board with most members likely drawn from the Roslyn Country Club Civic Association would oversee the park district operations.

After the meeting, he said annual operation costs of the basic plan would be $700,000 annually. If the tennis courts were enclosed, Kaiman said the town would seek a deal with a tennis academy to operate and maintain them in a profit-sharing arrangement.

While most residents who spoke at the meeting voiced support for some form of the project, several Roslyn Country Club residents expressed reservations about the proposed plans.

Resident Barbara Kass said she was concerned about “how conditions are going to be” in an “all-seasons situation.”

Kaiman answered her concerns, saying, “It creates more interest which we believe will create additional revenue.”

Kaiman said the meeting’s purpose was not to poll residents on their preferences, but to “get a sense” of the community’s feelings.

Leslie Faber, an elderly resident, said he had no interest in the recreational facilities and feels those who are going to use them should pay for them.

“I feel imposed upon to subsidize the recreational needs of other people.” Faber said.

Resident Lloyd Gelb, who has persistently voiced opposition to the town’s plans for renovating the park facilities, said the opinions of elderly residents unable to attend the meeting were not represented. 

“A lot of them are on limited incomes and could never afford to pay these taxes,” Gelb said.

Another resident asked whether elderly residents who wanted to opt out of the plan could somehow sell their memberships. 

Kaiman said there “might be some kind of accommodation” to be made for them.

Some residents expressed concerns about parking space. Kaiman said he expected parking would only be an issue on occasional days of peak usage.

Under the proposed special district plan,  668 residents who retain easement rights to the recreation facilities provided when Levitt & Sons first built the development would be resident members, paying for a 20-year bond that would be issued to renovate the facilities from their taxes. 

But the universe of resident members would be expanded to a total of 725 homes, according to Dwyer, including houses on outlying streets now considered to be part of the development.

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.

The referendum initiative followed the town board’s 5-2 party-line vote 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 membership fees would not cover the costs of needed improvements and town taxpayers would end up footing the bill.

Under the special district plan, the country club’s owner, Manouchehr 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.

“I think we can all agree that doing this is better than keeping the club closed,” said Roslyn Country Club resident Jason Schwartz.

In response to a question from one resident about what would happen if nothing is done, Kaiman said Malekan has said he would want to develop the property. Absent a deal with the town, Kaiman said Malekan would wait for the residents’ easement to be extinguished and then develop the property.

Malekan has said the 638 lawsuits filed by residents against him over their easement rights when he shuttered the recreation facilities must be dropped for sale of the property to the town to occur.

“The litigation has to end for this to happen,” Kaiman said.   

Share this Article