Plaza tightens parking code

Dan Glaun

The Village of Great Neck Plaza passed a law tightening parking space requirements for new mixed use developments at last Wednesday night’s board of trustees meeting.

The law, which clarified the board’s ability to change the number of spaces needed on a case-by-case basis, also made a substantive change – large developments will no longer be able to pay a fee to the village instead of building the number of spaces required by code.

“There were certain parking requirements [for new commercial-residential buildings,]” said village attorney Richard Gabriele. “This law clarifies and changes those requirements slightly.”

While developers had previous been allowed to pay $10,000 for each space required by code but not built, the new regulations allow that option only for buildings with no more than six residential units at a cost of $25,000 per space. 

The money will be allocated to a village parking fund to increase the availability of public parking, as in previous law.

Gabriele added that the change had been approved by the Nassau County Planning Commission, giving the village the go-ahead to pass the law.

Developer and Great Neck Chamber of Commerce President Hooshang Nematzadeh, who had previously requested a parking-space variance for his proposed Grace Avenue mixed-use building, again presented his design before the board. 

Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender said the new law was not targeted at Nematzadeh’s building, which had been brought into compliance with the parking code after a series of board-requested revisions to the design.

“His development has adequate parking,” Celender said, adding that the new law was designed to prevent future developers from creating parking issues in the village.

Nematzadeh’s latest design, which eliminates planned first-floor apartments in favor of ground-level parking, now meets code for parking and building height.

“We refined the design in accordance to your direction,” Nematzadeh told the board.

The latest plans call for a building that would stand 35 feet tall and include 4,800 square feet of first-floor retail space, 30 residential units and a continuous curved balcony. The original plan called for  a five-story, 52-foot building that drew board concerns over density, height, parking and aesthetic design. Nematzadeh said many of those concerns have now been addressed.

Nematzadeh requested two code variances, for a smaller than required setback and the right to build a fourth story.

The board plans to review an environmental impact statement for the project at its first meeting in June, and Nematzadeh said that he would commission a traffic study. He added that he plans to stage construction from the back of the building’s lot in order to minimize the effect on Grace Avenue’s traffic.

“It fits very well and I believe it serves the village,” Nematzadeh said.

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