Garden City Park shopping center parking lot to get facelift

Janelle Clausen
The Garden City Park shopping center's parking lot, as seen here in 2015, will soon be reconfigured after largely being in the same state since 1973, representatives said. (Photo from the Nassau County Assessor's Office)

The North Hempstead Town Council adopted site plan review for reconfiguring the Garden City Park shopping center’s parking lot on Tuesday, setting the stage for a major renovation of the parking lot not seen in decades.

Project representatives said it would mark one of the first major fixes for the parking lot since the shopping center, located on the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Marcus Avenue, was erected in 1973.

Among the changes for the more than 300-stall lot would be shifting parking from being parallel to Jericho Turnpike to make it “perpendicular to the stores,” replacing tall trees with smaller evergreens and adding fencing.

The applicant, Garden City Park Associates LLC, also proposed action is to reconfigure the parking lot to conform with ADA requirements and add new lighting and drainage on the 7.12-acre site, according to the town agenda.

“The main thing here is really just a rehabilitation of the center,” said Chris Robinson, the president of R&M Engineering who is also the project manager. “It’s been 40something years and it’s tired and it needs a little shot in the arm.”

Councilman Angelo Ferrara, who represents parts of New Hyde Park, Garden City Park and the Willistons, said there were some initial concerns regarding the buffer zone from neighbors and how long it would take.

But ultimately, after many meetings, Ferrara said, the applicants agreed to replace a deteriorated stockade fence, replace a set of dangerous trees that were “high and top heavy” with new ones, install irrigation, and finish the planting in less than two and a half seasons.

Representatives said the buffer line would consist of Leyland cypress trees initially ranging from five to seven feet tall, that there would be new white PVC fencing along the northern property line and that they will try to finish planting in one season.

Ferrera said he feels this project is something “that would enhance the beauty of the property and the properties that would abut it.”

The exact timeline for renovations is unclear at this time.

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