Village of Great Neck trustees on Tuesday repealed a portion of its zoning code limiting the square-footage of the second floor of a single-family residence to 75 percent of the square-footage of its first floor.
Village Attorney Phil Butler said at Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting that the village’s previous administration had put the law in place to prevent new homes from being constructed to look like “boxes.”
“That, I believe, was implemented several years ago to combat the box effect that the village was concerned about at that time,” Butler said. “However, I guess in a change of style or opinion, it’s no longer an issue.”
The village’s building superintendent, Bob Barbach, said the second-floor restriction had limited the size and number of bedrooms that could be constructed.
“It’s felt that this would be more advantageous,” Barbach said. “And the style and the architectural review that’s been going on, we’re not seeing the boxes in the same way, so it was a considered opinion of those that were consulted that this would be advantageous.”
Great Neck Mayor Pedram Bral said repealing the law would “allow the architects and the builders to have more options.”
Bral also said that the village’s architectural review committee still has the authority to deny an application if a proposed residence did not coincide with what the village wanted its homes to look like.
“If someone comes in with something that is not acceptable to the board, it’s still not acceptable to the board,” he said.
Also at the meeting, the board announced that the Great Neck Board of Education would be at its next meeting, on Feb. 7, to discuss the school district’s proposed $85.9 million bond referendum.
The district has proposed $95.41 million in spending to address infrastructure needs and provide educational enhancements to its public schools, which would come from a bond issue of $85.9 million and about $9.51 million from reserves.
Bral said it was an opportunity for residents to learn more about the proposal and question school officials.
He also noted the impact the bond could have on taxes of residents and businesses in the village.
Trustee Barton Sobel said it was “incumbent upon everybody to listen and be heard.”
