Many residents of Sullivan Road and nearby streets left a village planning board hearing Monday night tired and frustrated after an architect presented revised plans to build a senior housing complex behind their homes. The frustration came toward the end of the meeting, when they learned that a permit will likely be granted for building it.

The site plan for the senior condominium complex at 81 Secatogue Avenue is the second one to be submitted to the village, after two of four requested building variances were denied by the municipality seven months ago. Unlike the original site plan, the most recent one is in compliance with village code, and therefore, village officials have said, the village board is legally obligated to grant a building permit. Both Andy Koukos, superintendent of the village's department of buildings, and planning board member Joan Deissler indicated this at the end of the meeting.

The only discretion that the village board has, concerns where on the property the complex is placed, according to John Giordano, village clerk-treasurer. "They're very concerned about the aesthetics of the building," he said of the board of trustees and mayor, noting that they will be presented with a list of recommendations about building placement and landscaping from the village planning board. The village board is expected to grant the building permit during an May 5 public board meeting, at which time the recommendations will be presented to the developers. "The board is going to impose those conditions at the May 5 meeting," said Giordano.

According to the revised plan presented by Farmingdale-based architect John Smits, the developer, Floral Park-based Ambrose Court LLC, wants to build a three-story 55-unit complex that reaches a height of 35 feet. The yard between the structure and the Sullivan Road homes would be about 13 feet wide. In order to meet height and width requirements while still offering 55 marketable units, the architect designed the complex to be longer and narrower than in the original plans.

Of the over 50 residents who attended the hearing, many oppose the proposed three stories, noting that it does not fit with the suburban character of the neighborhood. When making recommendations for the planning board to bring to the village board, they recommended that the building be only two stories, because, they said, it is too tall.

"Everybody in the neighborhood is very unhappy about this," said Kathy McDonald, a Manetto Road resident. "This is an unbelievably sized building."

Sullivan Road resident Don Bonge said, "I mean, we absolutely are never going to see the sun again."

Tim Brady, who recently bought a house on Sullivan Road, and did not know about the proposal before he closed the deal said, "I have to look at the back of this building for 30 years," adding, "It's a beautiful building, and it should be built - in Queens, where it belongs."

However, the designs comply with the maximum height requirement of 35 feet set by village code.

The residents also expressed opposition to the size of the side yard and recommended that the architect reverse the position of the building to allow more distance between it and their homes. They added that they want more foliage separating the properties than the amount presented by the architect. The residents also urged that the village prevent increased enrollment in the Farmingdale School District that they said may arise if children are allowed to live in the complex.

The unit would be built on the site of the former Wagner Feed & Seed, which was located at 81 Secatogue Avenue from 1927 until it was struck by lightning and destroyed by a fire in June of 1985. The site, which New York State declared a hazardous waste site after the fire, was cleaned up by the Wagner Brothers, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) declared it safe a year and a half ago.

During the early 1990s the village zoned the property for senior housing at the request of residents who did not want a commercial operation to move in there. However, Sullivan Road resident Dawn Hasemann said that at the time of the zoning change, the residents were under the impression that the senior housing would be two stories tall.

The builder's original plan, which has been discarded, proposed building a three-story, 55-unit complex that at its highest point would be 39 feet tall and would have side yards totaling 60 ft. 10 in. The village had granted only two of four variances it requested at the time it presented that plan. Those variances denied would have allowed the developer to construct the complex with greater height and a smaller side yard than required under village code. The maximum height allowed under code is 35 feet, while 70 feet is the minimum yard space permitted. (The developer sued the village over the denied variances in Nassau County Supreme Court, but recently suspended the suit when deciding to submit the revised plan.) Of the two variances granted, one allows less street frontage and the other - smaller parking spaces. The granted variances allow the developer to create parking spaces that are nine feet wide rather than the normally required 10 feet and to leave 143.98 feet rather than 200 feet of street frontage.

The revised plan that was presented at Monday's hearing proposes a building with a height of 35 feet, a width of 54 feet and 8 inches, and a length of 475 feet and 8 inches. In addition to the 12 feet, 8 inch side yard facing the Sullivan Road homes, a side yard facing Farmingdale Railroad Station would be 57 feet and 8 inches.The front yard, which faces Secatogue Avenue, is 150 feet at its narrowest point.

The site plan allows for a total of 90 parking spaces. It also includes a pool in the front yard and a security gate, both of which many residents at the hearing oppose.