A hearing on an application to subdivide a lavish East Hills property, formerly owned by the famed Mackay family, was postponed due to the applicant’s late submission of documents, East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz said.
“The applicant was not prepared and should have gotten them to us earlier,” Koblenz said of Steven and Wendy Shenfeld, who own the 2.23-acre property and are seeking to demolish a two-story home and develop a four-house subdivision at the Melby Lane site.
The hearing before the village’s Planning Board, scheduled for last Thursday, was postponed until the first week of May, according to an announcement posted on the village’s website.
East Hills residents have expressed concern about losing the mansion, known as the Stone House, which was built by John Mackay in 1924 as a smaller replica of a 688-acre estate at Harbor Hill that belonged to his father, Clarence.
“It would be a shame to lose another Mackay structure in the Village of East Hills,” said Jay Corn, secretary of the Roslyn Landmark Society. “Roslyn is a very historic town and it is by having some of it preserved we keep that in perspective going forward.”
The two-story home is currently being used as a residence, according to documents filed with East Hills.
Koblenz said he could not venture an opinion on an application before an independent board but said the property is “a beautiful old house.”
Corn described the Mackay family as a “real American story,” because the first John Mackay, Clarence’s father, was an Irish immigrant who built the family’s wealth on profits generated by a silver deposit found in the mid-1800s during the Gold Rush.
The family later acquired significant holdings in the telegraph industry.
Speaking of the Mackay family, Koblenz said they “owned a hell of a lot.”
“Roslyn was surrounded with some of the most prominent families in the country,” Corn said. “The only family that really became a part of the community was the Mackays. It was very generous with Roslyn.”
RMS Engineering, a Huntington-based firm, submitted a letter on Jan. 25 detailing a traffic study conducted for the application.
“Based on our analysis, we believe that the traffic generated by the proposed action is minimal and the roadway network can sufficiently support the traffic generated by the proposed use without creating undue hazard or congestion,” the letter said.
“As a result, it is our opinion that the granting of the approval of the proposed subdivision sought by the applicant will not have deleterious effect on the operation of the roadway network in the vicinity of the subject property,” the letter continued.
Koblenz said there are no four-house parcels in East Hills. The only subdivision in the village larger than a two-house parcel is a six-house parcel on Mimosa Drive.
“The village is wearing two hats,” Corn said. “They have to look at what they can do legally and sometimes that conflicts with what they want to do.”
“They should think twice before they issue a subdivision and allow the mansion to be demolished,” he added.
