Village of Great Neck documents show that a 10-unit townhouse development on Steamboat Road that was criticized last week by village officials, was issued four notice of violations in two years, but all four were dismissed.
Project developer Hooshang Nematzadeh said plans often change during construction, which leads to violation notices, but it is up to the developer to bring structures to compliance and address all other building department concerns.
“Construction is not an exact science. It is human labor,” Nematzadeh said. “There are hundreds of tasks that come together and, of course, there will be issues. But every single construction site at the end comes together.”
At the March 1 Board of Trustees meeting, Village of Great Neck Department Of Public Works Deputy Superintendent James Neubert called on the board to halt construction at the housing development.
Neubert, who lives next to the development at 85-95 Steamboat Road, said at the meeting that Netmatzadeh’s failure to adhere to the building plans has caused quality of life issues for him and his neighbors.
The project was initially approved by the village’s Board of Zoning Appeals on Nov. 4, 2010, with Nematzadeh paying a $55,654 permit fee.
While the project was approved in 2010, Nematzadeh said construction did not begin until 2013 because he wanted to wait and offer the townhouses in a better real estate market.
He said construction was further delayed because he needed to build a 16,000-square-foot underground parking garage for residents of the properties, which took nine months to complete.
“One of the reasons, other than market decisions, was we had to build an underground garage that is huge inside because the village requires three parking spaces for every unit,” Nematzadeh said. “In order for us to have 30 parking spaces, we had to build this huge garage under the project.”
Building Department Superintendent Bob Barbach said at the March 1 board meeting that the development was a “monstrosity,” saying that when he began working at the village in 2014, there were already significant issues with its construction.
On May 7, 2015, the village’s BZA approved modifications to the construction plan so the homes, which were not built in compliance with the originally approved plans, would conform with what was approved.
According to village code, the village charges $1,500 to revise or add to previously approved plans.
The village granted Nematzadeh a one-year extension on his building permit on Sept. 21, 2015 to address building department concerns, for which he was charged $18,553, according to village documents.
Barbach delivered a 29-point list on Jan. 19 to Nematzadeh highlighting all aspects of the project that still did not conform to the modified plans and asked for updated plans, the documents show.
Nematzadeh said he was making changes to bring the project into compliance.
He also said he anticipates the development to be completed by the end of 2016.
Nematzadeh said he was working with the building department to address all construction concerns and ensure appropriate plans are submitted.
“At the end of the job a plan is submitted that shows as-built conditions within the code, of course, as compared to the original plan,” he said. “What we are doing is instead of waiting until the end of the job, we are making as-built plans at the 80 percent stage. That’s what the building department wants from us and we will comply.”
In response to criticism of the development, Nematzadeh said the project is intended to improve the area, not diminish it.
“In that area, there were crimes. At night there was loitering,” he said. “The village was very happy at the time when this project came along because, as you can see, that area cleaned up and more developments are occurring.”
