Since June Danny Arbusman, president of Jewels by Viggi at 65 Middle Neck Road, has been trying to obtain a conditional-use permit to convert the second floor of his building into two apartments and add a third floor, which would house two more apartments.
At last Wednesday’s Village of Great Neck Plaza Board of Trustees meeting, the board said Arbusman should have reason to believe he will be granted that permit pending a discussion with Great Neck Vigilante Engine & Hook & Ladder Chief Josh Forst.
Discussions to grant Arbusman the permit were adjourned at the last board meeting on Sept. 2 so he could provide the board with more information on the cost and process of removing cable wires.
Forst told Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender in an e-mail that he preferred all wires be removed in front of Arbusman’s shop in case of a fire or other emergency, but Celender and the board said they felt it was an ambiguous answer.
“We need to get clarification from the fire chief if the high voltage wires are removed and there are some additional wires there, does the fire department have the ability to service this,” Deputy Mayor Ted Rosen said. “We have to request something in writing. If he comes back and he says no then we have to see that all these wires are removed. If he says only the high voltage wires are removed then they can service the building with the other wires up there, then we know how we proceed.”
Arbusman said he spoke with each company that had wires in front of his shop but only the PSEG high voltage wire needed to be removed because it is the only one that would pose an issue to the fire department.
The wires could be relocated in two weeks, weather permitting, once a fee of $4,660.32 is paid to PSEG, Arbusman said.
He said other wires belonging to Long Island Fiber Exchange, Nassau County, Verizon, and Cablevision would not disrupt the fire department if they needed to put up a ladder to get into the building.
“I’m only worried about the one that is high voltage, nothing else,” Trustee Pamela Marksheid said. “That’s it, that’s what we should worry about. Nothing else.”
Arbusman said the Long Island Fiber Exchange, Nassau County, and Verizon fiber-optics wires could not be removed or relocated, so he preferred not to pay the $20,000 fee for wire-removal if some wires would remain in front of his shop.
“It’s one thing if all the wires are being taken down, but if you are going to be left with three or four wires, why impose this cost of $20,000 when it is still not going to be wire-free,” Rosen said.
The board decided that removing all wires would not be made a condition unless Forst tells them it needs to be.
“Communicate to him now and say this is what we’re doing, please let us know immediately if there is a problem,” Village Attorney Richard Gabriele said. “At the end of the day, X number of wires will still be there but the high voltage wire will not be.”
Arbusman asked the board if he could only pay a percentage of the wire-removal fee to PSEG, with the board paying the remaining balance, for re-routing the electricity wires since they also cross in front of other businesses on Middle Neck Road.
“My building is only about 24 percent of the distance between the two poles, I ask that I only pay my share of that,” Arbusman said.
Gabriele said the board could not grant that request and that he would need to pay the whole fee himself, to which Arbusman agreed. Rosen recommended that the board adjourn the case until next meeting so he could contact Forst himself to get a more specific answer to the wire-removal requirements.
The next board meeting is on Oct. 7.
