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Mostly Cloudy Village considering zone change for apartments
Editor's note: The village board of trustees hearing to consider a rezone of properties on South Franklin Avenue, originally set for Dec. 21, has been postponed. The Herald will provide an update for the new date and time when it becomes available.
The Village of Valley Stream board of trustees has scheduled a public hearing for Dec. 21 at Village Hall to discuss a proposed rezoning of a series of properties on South Franklin Avenue. If approved, the measure could pave the way for the construction of a 35-unit, four- and five-story apartment complex, comprising two-bedroom units.
The proposal, by the Oyster Bay-based Rand L.I. LLC, would replace the existing commercial buildings on the 16,300-square-foot property, near the Valley Stream train station, with the apartment complex. The Nassau County Planning Commission, which reviewed the zoning change and construction proposal on Nov. 12, signaled support for the project as transit-oriented development, but requested that the village provide information on affordable housing proposals in its multi-family housing applications to the county Planning Department.
After approval by the county, trustees voted on Nov. 23 to schedule a public hearing on the passage of a local law required to convert a portion of the village’s commercial zone to one that allows apartments. The hearing notice did not mention which properties were under consideration or how they might be changed.
In its application to the county Planning Department, however, the village detailed the apartment proposal, with its location and other information, such as parking. The buildings would replace a strip of storefronts and a law office at South Franklin and West Hawthorne avenues, with municipal and commuter parking lots to the south and west.
Should the village approve the rezoning plan, the development would still require a parking variance before moving forward, according to county planner Martin Katz. The current proposal includes 51 parking spaces under a raised first floor. Village code requires 70 spaces for an apartment complex of the size in the proposal.
With its proximity to the train station and the Rockaway Avenue downtown, though, Katz suggested the Planning Commission support the development. The commissioners voted unanimously to pass final decision-making on to the village, with Planning Commission Chairman Marty Glennon requesting a notification to the village to include how such developments would address affordable housing requirements, as mandated by the Long Island Workforce Housing Act.
The state law requires housing projects that include five or more residential units either to set aside 10 percent of a project’s units for workforce or affordable housing — priced for families making 130 percent of the median income in the area or less — or construct affordable housing elsewhere in the municipality or pay a fee.
“Can we send a reminder to the municipalities that they have to address these issues when they make a submission?” Glennon asked of affordable housing.
It was not the first time that the Planning Commission had requested affordable housing in an application. Commissioners had made similar requests for a 2019 proposal to build apartments at Roosevelt Avenue and Cochran Place. That development is now under construction.
“It just comes up quite a bit,” Glennon said. “Maybe they just need a little nudge.”
