A proposed apartment building for 45 Lumber Road will not have significant environmental impacts, the Village of Roslyn’s Board of Trustees agreed Tuesday night via Zoom.
The company 45 Lumber Road LLC is seeking a special use permit from the village to construct a four-story building consisting of 33 two-bedroom apartments. Under village code, only 27 apartments would normally be permitted in a structure of this type.
Originally, the building had been said to be 12 stories and drew ire from residents and the Roslyn school district at a public hearing last year.
In a 4-0 vote, with Mayor John Durkin absent from the meeting, three trustees and Deputy Mayor Marshall Bernstein voted to prepare a determination of nonsignificance, or negative declaration, stating that the project would not have significant adverse environmental impacts.
Bernstein reiterated a point made at earlier meetings in stating that under the village code, 20 percent of the apartments would be required to meet the requirements of affordable housing, something that he noted the applicant had agreed to.
“We think it’s really important,” Bernstein said. “We think it’s progress in connection with the way this country should be moving, progress with respect to the way we want our village to move. That is going to be required of all applicable projects in the village.”
Among the possible environmental effects, the project’s leaders estimate that 16 school-age residents would be added to the Roslyn school district as a result of the construction. Attorney Carrie Anne Tondo of Hauppauge-based Ingerman Smith LLP, speaking on behalf of the Roslyn school district during the public comment period, said that the cost of adding children from the residences would come to $500,000 for the district.
“I can share with you that enrollment is on the rise in the district,” Tondo said. “Over the next five years, it’s projected that the number of students will increase by 100 to 144. That’s without accounting for new or proposed developments. This increase alone can place the district in stress as the buildings are already at capacity increases beyond 144. One or more developments will only add to the stress and potentially place limitations on programs and opportunities.”
Tondo added that the district was preparing a report of its own on projected student increases should the buildings be constructed.
Attorney Thomas Pantelis, who represents the owners of 45 Lumber Road, addressed the school’s concerns in a statement at the end of the meeting.
“I think that although the school district may be well-intentioned, the information presented is not sufficient enough to cause the board to conclude that there would be a significant adverse impact from the construction of our project,” Pantelis said.
The Roslyn Board of Trustees is next scheduled to meet at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20. No further details on the meeting have been announced.
