The Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees is proceeding on plans to reexamine the village’s zoning.
Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman said at Tuesday’s meeting that the board, after a year-long look at the zoning code that included public meetings and focus groups, had hired municipal planner Frederick P. Clark Associates to investigate options for rezoning the middle section of Steamboat Road, the southern and northern portions of Middle Neck Road and the central strip of Middle Neck Road in separate projects.
“The board of its own volition… entertained a proposal from a planner,” said Kreitzman.
The nature of the rezoning is still undecided and subject to public input, according to Kreitzman.
“We expect a preliminary report before the end of the year,” he said.
One resident expressed anger at the rezoning, saying that previous efforts to revamp Steamboat Road had failed.
“It comes as a big shock to me,” she said. “It’s totally flabbergasting that you’re planning on rezoning.”
The board also heard a petition for rezoning of several Middle Neck Road properties from attorney Paul Bloom, representing developers wishing to build townhouses and an apartment building in areas currently zoned for single-family housing.
Bloom’s petition called for the building of a 39 unit apartment building at 777 Middle Neck Road, owned by Fairview Home Builders, and 11 low rise townhouses at 846 and 852 Middle Neck Road.
The board agreed to participate in a study funded by the developers that would examine zoning options for the area.
Several village laws were approved at the meeting, dealing with building codes and government purchasing regulations.
The board passed a law mandating that new third-story staircases cannot be built unless the third floor is designated a habitable space according to state code.
The process for building fences also got streamlined for owners willing to meet the village’s new aesthetic standards. Fences with the “good,” or more attractive, side of fences facing outwards from the owners property and meeting new materials and color standards may be built with less review, while nonconforming fences must be approved by the Architectural Review Committee.
The board also approved a measure allowing it to award purchase contracts on the basis of “best value,” rather than simply to the lowest responsible bidder as previously required. Regulations approved this year by the state Legislature granted municipalities the right to take advantage of the more flexible bidding standards, which allow villages and towns to take quality into consideration when making purchases.
The board introduced new bills for future public hearings at the meeting, including a measure to curb late night and early morning noise in residential areas.
“There is a resident who has been dealing with a neighbor for years… and the neighbor persists in having loud things in his back yard [at night,]” Kreitzman said.
The board did not decide on the details of future noise laws, but supported extending quiet hours on both weekdays and the weekend.
After receiving complaints from residents, the board introduced a bill to ban the hanging of clotheslines in the front yards of houses.
The trustees also introduced a change to the village’s tree-trimming regulations that would allow residents to trim village trees adjacent to their property so long as they do not significantly damage the tree.
