At the May 7 meeting of the Farmingdale Village Board, members voted to pass three local laws.

The first, which established a Park Land Fund, creates a park land fee and/or reservation of park land in the event of an approved subdivision.

Under this law, developers are to either create park land or pay a fee, not to exceed $10,000 per lot created, when applying to build a subdivision.

"The theory is that if you are creating new housing, you are draining park space from the community," Village Attorney Kevin Walsh explained.

Secondly, the board voted to establish architectural review, which allows "the existing board additional power to look into the aesthetics of a building proposal," Walsh said.

The village has a site review statute in place where they study projects to make sure there is ingress, egress, garbage removal, etc. This adds to that statute.

"They've introduced architectural review into the site review process," Walsh later told the Farmingdale Observer. "This way they will be able to review the layout of the development as well as the architectural features of it to make sure that they're compatible with the village."

According to the minutes of the March 5 meeting, Mayor George Graf commented that architectural review would be part of the planning board's review.

The third local law was passed to regulate the display of merchandise on sidewalks.

"This is not a zoning law, rather it limits the types of items that can be sold on the streets," Walsh said.

Merchants will now have to fill out an application with the board stating what type of merchandise will be displayed and pay a fee that can be changed from time to time. The law also limits the types of displays to new and seasonal items only. There will be a $350 fine for violations of this law.

Of the three local laws passed, Mayor Graf said, they were "the end result of discussions of the board and past public hearings. These local laws are coming out of the moratorium. These are pretty rock solid laws that we're enacting."

Additionally, a public hearing for a special use permit for 769 Fulton St. was held. This was regarding how the property relates to recent zoning law changes, which were voted on at the Feb. 5 board meeting.

One law introduced office/residential use to the B District as a permitted use with a special exception. Office/Residential District homes have an office that is owner-occupied and they can rent out the residential portion of the home as an apartment. Existing non-owner occupied dwelling would be grandfathered under the proposed law.

The owner of 769 Fulton St., Joseph Brandine, lives on the second floor of his residence and uses the first floor for his own business. Of the 900 sq. ft. on the first floor, he said his office only occupies 125 sq. ft. The dwelling is zoned for mix use, however there is a detached garage on the property that is zoned for commercial use. The detached garage has 350 sq. ft. of usable space and is equipped with heating, air conditioning and plumbing.

Brandine is applying for commercial use of the first floor of his dwelling. He proposed to move his business to the detached garage, live on the second floor of the dwelling and rent out the first floor of his dwelling to a business.

Village Trustee Butch Starkie said one of his concerns is "once you allow something like this, anyone can come in and say they want to do it."

"This property has already benefited from numerous relief," Starkie commented regarding the special use permit already granted for plumbing and heating in the detached garage.

Brandine replied, "that conversion was done prior to my purchase of the property." He said it was converted around 1986.

Superintendent of Buildings Ron Craig said this "would establish a precedent that currently does not exist. The difference is that Mr. Brandine would be the tenant in the residence and one of the commercial tenancies."

The board decided unanimously to reserve decision.

A public hearing was also held on the Dale Drive subdivision. This subdivision is regarding three buildable lots, including one lot with an existing home built on it and is connected to the Dale Drive I subdivision.

Curb cuts, driveway aprons and lighting have already been approved for this subdivision.

"They did not reapportion the south side of the property, which would have two homes added," Craig explained.

"Sanitation, gas and water have already been approved by Nassau County," Public Works Superintendent Fred Zamparelle said.

The first proposed home is on a 61' x 100' lot and the second proposed home is on a 61' x 147.5' lot. Both are zoned for Residence A use.

"It has already been through the planning board and no written decision was made on this," Craig added.

The board voted unanimously to approve this.

A public hearing was then held to allow the board to amend signage by resolution.

"This local law allows the board to amend signage at various streets without a public hearing," Village Attorney Walsh explained. "This is because it costs money to hold a public hearing. This doesn't mean that the board can't discuss it at a meeting."

"I thought this would be very helpful," Trustee Starkie said.

"We can attack safety issues a lot faster," Deputy Mayor Joe Rachiele added.

The board reminded residents that all voting must be done at village board meetings, where all residents are invited to attend.

"Any signage that we're looking to enact is usually the result of a resident coming down here and asking for it," Mayor Graf said.

The fourth and last public hearing was the Phase II Storm Water Annual Report by Don Sioss. No comments were made.

During the Good & Welfare portion of the evening 11 residents of Hallock Street addressed the board about their neighbor at 89 Hallock St.

"We received a planning board letter asking us to come down here and we want to know what this guy is planning on doing," Hallock Street resident Bill Sisco inquired.

The owner has petitioned to "split his property, move his home over and build another home," explained Craig. However, "he can no longer build under the new building restrictions passed by the board."

The owner is now appealing the denial and that is why residents received a letter to attend the board of zoning appeals meeting.

"If this application would have been heard a year ago, before the moratorium, he would have had the land to build on," Starkie said.

"There were 23 subdividable properties before we changed the law," Rachiele added. "Tonight you see the results from the it - the Park Fund and the architectural review."

The next village trustees work session is Monday, May 21 at 6 p.m. at Village Hall. The next board meeting is slated for Monday, June. 5 at 7:30 p.m. For more information visit www.farmingdalevillage.com.