The Village of Great Neck Zoning Board of Appeals approved a subdivision of 199 West Shore Road at Thursday’s hearing.
The property is just under 45,000 square feet and the applicants requested to divide it into two buildable lots, one being 31,483 square feet and the other 13,504 square feet.
An existing house on the property will remain, and the lot will be carved in a way that only draws from the excess land.
The new property with frontage on Dwight Lane, a private road, does not meet current code, which requires single-family dwellings to have a frontage of at least 60 feet on a public roadway.
Paul Bloom, an attorney speaking on behalf of the applicants, Robert and Nancy Barbach, asked the board to grant a variance allowing the private road frontage to satisfy the village requirements and therefore effectively allowing the property to be subdivided.
Robert Barbach serves as a building consultant to the Village of Great Neck and was formerly the building superintendent.
Kenneth Gray, an attorney for the village, assured residents that Barbach had no contact with his file and reminded them that employees of the village have a right to own property.
Barbach is not only the applicant for the variance, but is also the principal of Dwight Lane LLC, which owns the private roadway.
Board member Ronald Poons raised concerns about how narrow the road is in regard to access for emergency assistance.
“Dwight Lane has already been a headache for firefighters,” he said. “Adding a new home will increase the exposure.”
Barbach explained that the width of the road varies from 18 feet tapering to 13 feet at its tightest.
He proposed that the board impose a condition that if a new home were to be added to Dwight Lane, he would be required to provide 18 feet of access on the road from the street entrance to that structure.
In turn, Poon suggested requiring a sprinkler system in the potential new home and the board agreed to approve the matter under his condition.
Variances for floor area were granted to 5 Bromley Lane, 2 Willow Lane and 24 Florence St.
Ronald Kordvani, of 5 Bromley Lane, requested that the previous variance of 237.97 square feet be raised to 558.97 square feet.
The newly approved variance allows doors to be placed on an existing attic space that was not intended in the original plans.
Morris Lavi, president of Estate Construction Corp., requested a variance of 362.4 square feet for a new home on 2 Willow Lane to replace the old home on the property.
Bloom, who also represented Lavi, said that with the additional square footage the structure will only cover 19 percent of the property, which is far less than the permitted 35 percent.
Requested variances for 24 Florence St. included floor area along with front yard setback and encroachment.
Applicants Don and Betty Bandari are planning to add a room in their home, which will require an extension to the front of the house.
The requested floor area variance is 322.94 square feet, which would increase the floor area to 3,736.94 square feet.
To accommodate the additional square footage, the front yard will need to be reduced to 29 feet, and the front porch encroachment will need to be extended by 1.6 feet.
All variances for 24 Florence St. were approved by the board.
A vote for the height of a retaining wall at 48 Polo Rd. was adjourned until the next hearing on Nov. 1.
The variance for the proposal of a new Verizon cell tower on East Shore Road was adjourned at the applicant’s request.
