A Town of North Hempstead spokesman said trees removed from the parking lot of the Apple Bank in Manhasset on Saturday would be replanted this spring, but civic leaders have expressed concerns about the issuance of a tree permit just days after an application to expand the bank’s parking lot was rejected by the town.
“It reeks to us all,” said Richard Bentley, president of the Council for Greater Manhasset Civic Associations. “The situation smells.”
Town of North Hempstead communications director Ryan Mulholland said the permit would not have been granted by the town’s building department without a plan to replant them.
But Bentley said the replanting plan was approved in 1992 as part of a restrictive covenant allowing Apple Bank to build its parking lot without sufficient spaces. In return, Apple Bank agreed to construct a “buffer zone” of 30 trees separating it from the nearby residential neighborhood.
In 2012, the bank filed an application to expand its parking lot, but Bentley said the town’s board of zoning and appeals recently issued a ruling confirming the restrictive covenant and denying all other parts of the application.
In addition, Bentley said the town building department also said the bank had no intention of appealing the decision, and that North Hempstead Councilwoman Anna Kaplan confirmed the decision during a Jan. 8 meeting of the Council for Greater Manhasset Civic Associations.
“The situation smells because somebody doesn’t get an approval to do work and sit on it for 22 years,” Bentley said. “Suddenly, only 10 days after the town building department tells the councilwoman and her legislative aid that no permits had been issued and any work in the application was denied, the Saturday before a holiday they come down and cut down every single tree in the buffer zone. It reeks.”
Apple Bank declined to comment. Efforts to contact Clearview Tree & Land Corp., which removed the trees, were unavailing.
Bentley said he was unaware of the permit being issued until he drove by the site and saw workers and Nassau County police in the parking lot.
After calling Kaplan, her legislative aid Sabreh Samet and North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth, Bentley said he was told Public Safety Commissioner Andrew DeMartin would send a code enforcement officer to investigate the tree removal.
When an officer arrived at the site, the work had already been completed, Bentley said.
“In my experience, it seemed to have happened as quickly as possible given it was a holiday weekend,” Bentley said. “It’s a matter that still needs to be investigated, certainly one of those instances where the new administration is going to be looked upon with close eyes to see what may have gone awry.”
Bentley said Kaplan told him Tuesday that she was unaware of Apple Bank’s desire to use the stipulation in the restrictive covenant until after she investigated the issuance of the permit to remove the trees.
Bentley said residents are also planning to address the tree removal with the council at its meeting on Tuesday.
“I think there’s plenty more that has to be investigated as to how Apple Bank’s application has been handled in comparison to how every other property in the Town of North Hempstead is handled,” Bentley said. “Clearly, there are still murky waters within the town’s building department that have to be cleared.”
Mulholland said that if the trees are not replanted, the town would plant them and bill Apple Bank for the work.
He also said town officials will continue to monitor the project to assure neighboring residences are kept private.
“It’ll be on the building inspector’s calendar starting April 1 to monitor it,” Mulholland said.
