A local synagogue’s plan to build a school is facing pushback from a group of villages and residents who say its location on an incorporated section of Middle Neck Road may worsen traffic and cause safety hazards.
The Villages of Great Neck Estates, Kensington and Great Neck, along with the Allenwood Civic Association, are pitching in to hire a traffic consultant to scrutinize the project in the wake of July’s North Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals hearing, which ended without the board reaching a decision on the proposed school to be built on the corner of Middle Neck and Allenwood Roads.
“This has potentially very serious traffic ramifications, not only for the village but the entire peninsula, so we think it needs to be very very carefully reviewed,” said Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman.
Congregation Beth Eliyohu, which due to its location between the villages of Great Neck, Kensington and Great Neck Estates, does not have to petition any of its surrounding villages for the zoning variances needed to build the school. Rather, the proposed project falls under the jurisdiction of the Town of North Hempstead.
And absent legal control over the zoning in unincorporated parts of Great Neck, the villages and the nearby residents represented by the Allenwood Civic Association are taking a different tack – co-funding a study from municipal planning firm Frederick P. Clark Associates to assess the traffic impact of the school. The results of the study will be presented to the town Board of Zoning Appeals before it makes its final decision.
Attorney Steven Schlesinger, speaking on behalf of Congregation Beth Eliyohu, dismissed concerns over the project’s traffic and safety implications. He said that after the July public hearing, Beth Eliyohu submitted a clarification to the board indicating there would be limited bus pickup times – three minibuses in the morning, and three in the afternoon.
“It’s very simple. It’s impossible for it to be a safety hazard,” Schlesinger said. “If three minibuses in Great Neck are a traffic problem, I’d like to know what you smoke.”
Beth Eliyohu’s application to expand the existing building at 195 Middle Neck Road and convert it into a religious school was originally rejected by the Town of North Hempstead for insufficient parking, among other code violations. Beth Eliyohu appealed the decision, disputing the number of required parking spaces.
“This is a main thoroughfare – this is the main road that bisects the peninsula, said Village of Great Neck Estates Mayor David Fox. ““I think it’s a peninsula-wide issue to find out if it’s going to affect everyone.”
Speaking to the co-funded nature of the study, Fox said collaborative efforts between villages are commonplace and that he thought village officials across Great Neck have an obligation to their residents to examine the potential impact of the school.
“We as a peninsula should be dealing with this as a peninsula, and the town should be involved with us as well in that interest,” said Fox. “Whatever affects one of us most of the time affects others.”
Gerard Terry, counsel for the town Zoning Board of Appeals, said that the board balances the needs of petitioners and residents when making rulings, in accordance with requirements set by New York law.
“What are the advantages and positives to the applicants… versus the potential detriment to the neighborhood and the community?” said Terry.
Fox said the town should have informed the village in advance of the public hearing because of the project’s proximity to its borders, and that the villages did not have time to create a presentation for the hearing.
“We don’t believe we were given proper notification by the (town) Board of Zoning Appeals when they had the hearing,” he said.
Three surrounding villages are sharing the cost of the traffic consultant.
Great Neck Estates is pitching in up to $5,000, the Village of Great Neck has committed up to another $5,000 and Kensington will contribute a maximum of $3,000. The Allenwood Civic Association, a group representing Great Neck residents who live on Allenwood Road, will contribute as much as $2,000, Kreitzman said.
The study is expected to cost about $15,000, according to Civic Association vice president Laura Cohen.
Cohen said the road was too narrow to safely accommodate buses and that a school would negatively impact the day-to-day lives of residents.
“Our opposition to building a school for 350 student is based solely on the safety of the children that would attend the school and the people who live in the neighborhood,” Cohen said.
Cohen added that the Civic Association was satisfied with the openness and accessibility of the town’s hearing process. The group notified the board within the last few weeks that it would be submitting a study, which is due Nov. 30 following a series of extensions for both the opponents of the project and the temple itself, according to Cohen
The board is required by New York law to respond within 62 days of the record’s closure, said Terry, meaning a late January decision at latest if no more extensions are granted.
Other villages not directly surrounding the temple have discussed the project but are yet to sign on to fund the study.
Village of Lake Success Mayor Ronald Cooper said Lake Success had not come to a decision on the matter.
“It was up in the air at our last board meeting and no decision was made, and quite honestly is not a very active discussion at the moment,” he said. “I’m sure we will be deliberating either before our next board meeting or at our next board meeting.”
Schlesinger said that, controversy aside, Beth Eliyohu’s goal in pursuing the project is worthwhile.
“[Temple officials] said they’re trying to serve the Jewish community that supports the synagogue with a yeshiva that is in keeping with their traditions,” he said.
