By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

After listening to Mineola Mayor Jack Martins discuss the merits of the $165 million, nine-story, luxury condominium project near the Mineola/Garden City border at their March 6th meeting, the Garden City Board of Trustees voted to ask the property owners' associations for their opinion before submitting their recommendation to the Garden City Planning Commission.

Six trustees voted in favor of waiting for the opinion, Mayor Peter Bee recused himself (because he is the attorney for the Mineola Architectural Design Review Board and the developer is his law firm's landlord) and Trustee Robert Rothschild was absent.

Pat DiMattia, president of the Central Property Owners' Association, said it as a "bad idea" to take the issue to the POAs. She said even though she would do as the trustees requested, she claims it does not make sense. Trustees have much more information on the project and the POAs are being asked to make a recommendation on a tight timetable since they are meeting this week and then won't meet again until April. She claims the Board takes too long to make many decisions and is using the POAs as a "scapegoat."

Polimeni International is seeking to build the complex, known as "The Winston," on the two-acre parcel on the north side of Old Country Road between Willis Avenue and Main Street. The proposed 285 units, or 141 units per acre, is unprecedented and a substantial departure from the norm.

A Garden City Village source told the Garden City News that if a project with the equivalent density was built on the 7-acre St. Paul's site, the building would have 987 units. Currently, Garden City is negotiating with AvalonBay to construct 99 to 120 units, which would equal 16 to 17 units per acre. In another comparison, the source said that the zoning at the site of the former county social services building allows 7.25 units per acre.

The nearest complex closest to the size of the Winston is in Glen Cove and is 85 units per acre with a floor-area-ratio of 2.14. The Winston has a floor-area-ratio of 5.13. Locally, in Garden City, Hilton Hall has 49 units per acre and an FAR of 1.54, and the Wyndham has 19 units per acre and 312 units.

The local projects also have a much larger setback than the proposed development in Mineola, which is slated to be 15 feet from the street. In comparison, the Nassau County office building located across from the proposed project on Old Country Road is set back 100 feet.

The Mineola Board of Trustees unanimously approved the project, and it is now being reviewed by the Nassau County Planning Commission. Once it is ready to be subdivided, the developer must seek approval from Garden City's Planning Commission since the Village's border is less than 300 feet away from the proposed building. According to Garden City Village Counsel Gerard Fishberg, the Village of Garden City has no formal legal authority to take any action on the project itself.

Mayor Martins said his Board and many Mineola residents support the project in part because Vincent Polimeni, chairman of Polimeni International, has promised to build the Village of Mineola a 36-unit senior housing development on Front Street, give the Village a new fire truck and allow municipal use of the ground level of a new 274-car parking garage behind the Winston.

Mayor Martins said senior citizens, who comprise 17 percent of Mineola's population, are excited about the proposed housing units, which are expected to cost approximately $250,000 each. The developer also said he would make streetscape improvements leading directly into the downtown area. Mayor Martins said it would also have a positive residual impact on taxes.

He emphasized that during negotiations with the Village of Mineola, Polimeni said the alternative would be a commercial office building, which is something residents and the Mineola Board were vehemently against. They believe a residential building will greatly enhance their efforts to revitalize the downtown shopping area. Mayor Martins does not expect the development to substantially impact the school district, and said a study estimates one child per six units, which would total 40 to 50 children.

Mayor Martins said it will take two years to build once approvals have been received. During construction, the developer will stage on Third Street at the current site of Nolan's restaurant, which Polimeni has purchased.

Before Mayor Martins arrived, Garden City resident Kevin Curtin questioned why the Village waited until the last public hearing on Feb. 13th to formally state its opposition. Late last year the Village hired planning consultant Buckhurst, Fish & Jacquemart, Inc. to study the issue.

Second Deputy Mayor Thomas Lamberti said trustees received reports on the possible impact on Garden City in January and early February. He acknowledged that they did "allow time to elapse" and "could have been more forthright."

However, according to Trustee Nicholas Episcopia, who attended the Feb. 13th Mineola hearing, it did not matter when the Village's consultant voiced opposition since the overall sentiment expressed by Mineola residents and the Mineola Board was in support of the project.