To: the Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees

WHEREAS, plans have been proposed to alter the Village of Great Neck (VGN) zoning code to establish the Middle Neck and East Shore Road Corridor Incentive Overlay District;

WHEREAS, the proposed plans are expected to significantly and negatively impact the quality of life in the Great Neck community, including but not limited to, traffic congestion, school overcrowding, increased economic strain on residents, and decreased quality of life;

WE THE UNDERSIGNED, as concerned Great Neck residents, parents, and homeowners, hereby strongly urge the Board of Trustees to：

1. Reject the proposed plans to alter the Village of Great Neck zoning code to establish the Middle Neck and East Shore Road Corridor Incentive Overlay District;

2. Extend the hearing period to allow Great Neck residents to have more time to read the proposed rezoning plans and voice their concerns.

Please join the Village public hearing meeting on 2/19 7:30 at Village town hall 

As well, WE URGE YOU TO CONTACT VGN Board of Trustees to vote NO on this zoning change:
Pedram Bral, MayorBral@greatneckvillage.org, pbral@greatneckvillage.org
Anne Mendelson, AMendelson@greatneckvillage.org
Norman Namdar, NNamdar@greatneckvillage.org
Barton Sobel, bsobel@greatneckvillage.org

WE URGE YOU TO CONTACT OUR COUNTY OFFICIALS and voice your opposition to this zoning change
Laura Curran, Nassau County Executive, lcurran@nassaucountyny.gov, ncexecutive@nassaucountyny.gov 516-626-4266
Sean Sallie, Commissioner, ssallie@nassaucountyny.gov

Background and details:

Many of us moved to Great Neck because we love the quality of the school district, the diversity of the community, and the charming of small town life. While we agree revitalization and capital investment is critical to the long term success of VGN, we do not feel the proposed zoning code change is the solution. The proposed change has many near term negative impact to GNecker’s quality of life with very little consideration of addressing these  issues in the long run. We urge every concerned residents say NO to this zoning code change. Our reasons against such change are the following:

There are 6 goals identified in VHB’s  presentation on 2/5 related to the proposed change:

1.Diversified housing options (assisted living and affordable housing) — based on the public hearing discussion on 2/5, there are many vacancies in the three existing assisted living facilities. As of 2/15/2019, MLSLI shows more than 50 properties available under $1M, ranging from 167k to 990k. Avalon luxury rental has 10 available unit. This data demonstrated that we already have sufficient assisted living and afford housing options in great neck. 

2.Reduced commercial vacancies— The concept of more population will reduce the commercial vacancy does not hold water based on the data. Great neck in the last three years had population increase of several hundred according multiple online sources, but the commercial vacancy situation got worse. The proliferation of online shopping and Amazon.com had a huge impact on small retails across the country. We should really think differently about how to revitalize local business and reduce commercial vacancy.

3.Increase Tax base- We agree in the long run, tax base will increase. But the question of whether the developer will get pilot, i.e tax exemption still has not been answered.

4.Improved property value- Great Neck property value is largely influenced by our nationally ranked school system. Great Neck school is known for small class size and good teacher to student ratio. The proposed plan will create a significant burden for our school district. The estimated net 87 headcount add is not realistic and significantly low based on Avalon experience. Our school system will be severely impacted by this change. Property value will go down not only at VGN, but in the entire great neck community.

5.Enhanced streetscape and access to public spaces — how will the 5 story building improve the streetscape and access to public space such as the water front is not clear.

6.Traffic calming and pedestrian safety — many people already raised the concern of current traffic congestion situation on East shore road and Lakeville Road. With increased population, traffic will be worse and unbearable. Local Infrastructure improvement must be considered as part of the proposed change.

We strongly recommend VGN officials STOP the zoning code change. Please work with town officials and local municipalities across all great neck communities, identify the root cause of the commercial vacancies, and develop a new plan to achieve the long term success of VGN and the surrounding villages.

NACA - Northshore Asian Civic Association 

https://www.facebook.com/nacanonprofit

#nozoningcodechangegnv