By Stephanie Petrellese

Any Garden City resident concerned about proposed amendments to the Village Code will be permitted to speak at a public hearing set for August 13th at 8 p.m. in the Village Hall boardroom. Most of the Code changes concern raising fees.

As of press time, the amendments were being prepared to be available for public review in the reference section at the Garden City Public Library and Village Clerk's office at Village Hall. The amendments may also be available soon on the Village's Web site; the Code is already posted on the site.

The Garden City Board of Trustees unanimously approved the date for the hearing, which will solely focus on seven amendments to the Village Code.

Even though Village Counsel Gerard Fishberg said all concerns should be raised at the hearing, Deputy Mayor Brudie said at the July 16th Garden City Board of Trustees meeting that he wants the Board to be on alert that he intends to raise several issues on Aug. 13th.

He said the language of one proposed Code change, regarding "Reimbursement and Fees for Emergency Response Action," needs to be refined. He argued that the way it currently reads is "not homeowner friendly." According to Brudie, if the change is implemented, homeowners can be charged for all materials used during an emergency action. For example, if the fire department responds to a kitchen fire and uses a fire extinguisher, the homeowner could be charged for its use. Trustee John Mauk agreed that the change goes further than the original intent.

Another Code amendment that concerns Brudie involves the repair and maintenance of sidewalks and curbs along county roadways. If the change is implemented, Garden City residents who live along a county road would be responsible for the cost of repairing sidewalks and curbs. Those living along non-county roads are currently responsible for repairing sidewalks. According to Fishberg, the county charter gives the Village sole jurisdiction to maintain or compel to maintain sidewalks and curbs along county roads.

Another Code amendment, which may be of special interest to residents in the Central section, will establish a "Residence R-20C Corner Overlay District" affecting 21 corner plots located along both sides of major streets running north and south, primarily on Rockaway, Cathedral and Hilton. The current zoning will remain. If approved, the new district will also take effect, which will allow property owners to subdivide the property if the interior plot meets the R-20 requirements and the outer plot meets R-40 requirements. This means owners will essentially need a minimum of 60,000 square feet of property ans 285 feet of frontage in order to subdivide.

During this year's tenuous Village budget meetings, trustees discussed these fee increases as a much-needed way to generate revenue for a cash-strapped Village. The poor economic climate caused a $944,000 revenue shortfall due to a decrease in state aid from mortgage taxes and a minimal return on Village investments. Other revenue components made up some of the shortage, so the ultimate revenue shortfall totaled $579,524. This year the average-assessed Village homeowner will be required to pay an additional $302 in Village taxes. To compare, last year the average homeowner had to pay an additional $171.36 in Village taxes.