The developer behind a proposed mixed-use building on Warner Avenue has accused the Roslyn School District of discriminating against children living in multifamily housing.
Roslyn resident Jerry Karlik and his development firm J.K. Equities had requested a change of zone from commercial to mixed-use in hopes of building a structure with one floor of retail and three floors of apartments on Warner Avenue near the Long Island Rail Road station.
Roslyn’s Board of Trustees had originally set a public hearing to consider a zoning change for the proposal on April 13, which was changed to April 25 after the school board president objected to the date.
In an email sent to board members of the Roslyn Chamber of Commerce, Karlik wrote that the hearing would be “the first step in the legal process for the Village to allow our petition for the mixed-use development at our site.”
“The Roslyn Board of Education will be at the hearing vigorously opposing the project based on their Boards discriminatory mission to keep children of multifamily housing out of the school system, even though the potential impact on the schools is negligible,” Karlik wrote in the email.
The proposal would change a zone in the village to allow for the proposal and construction of transit-oriented mixed-use development, which attracted a negative reception from residents and members of the Roslyn school district’s board in October.
Karlik also said that J.K. Equities had used school bus schedules and other evidence supplied through Freedom of Information Act requests from the district to come to their numbers.
“We have supplied the Village Board with independent studies as well as empirical evidence supplied by the Roslyn BOE (by way of a FOIA request) that support our contention that our project will add 6 or less children to the schools which has a total enrollment of 3,200+ students,” Karlik wrote.
The Roslyn School District has not yet responded to the comment as of press time.
The hearing will now take place on Wednesday, April 22 at 8:00 p.m. at Village Hall.
