s On March 24 the Town of Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals released its Notice of Decision in Case Number 1060 of The Retail Property Trust of Indianapolis, Indiana's request for a special permit to expand the Roosevelt Field Mall. The Board announced in its written statement, "The Board, at the conclusion of the hearing of March 3, 1999 requested that respective counsel submit proposed Findings of Fact, which were received on March 17, 1999. The Board has determined that the Findings of Fact submitted by counsel for the Village of Garden City will be adopted by this Board." After a grassroots campaign spearheaded by Village of Garden City Trustee Bruce Torino, with support from the Village POAs, the Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools of Garden City as well as Village officials and residents, and the support gained among the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce and civic groups from communities throughout central Nassau, the mall's application was denied.

The only change made from the Findings of Fact submitted by the Village and adopted by the Town's ZBA was to section 6 of the 34 sections. The original stated, "The current application before this Board is for an additional 184,000 square feet of retail plus a 187,000 square foot third level to the north parking deck near Bloomingdale's Department store. This would increase the mall's FAR to .75 which would yield an 87.5 percent increase in bulk over the permitted .4 FAR." The section adopted by the Town's ZBA states instead, "The current application before this Board is for an additional 184,000 square feet of retail plus a 187,000 square foot third level to the north parking deck near Bloomingdale's Department store, for a FAR of .75. If the proposed .75 was permitted, the incremental increase itself would be .054 or 13.5 percent, not an insignificant percentage, but rather, one of significance. Furthermore, a FAR of .75 would constitute a substantial 87.5 percent increase over the permitted .4 FAR."

Important statements adopted by the Town's ZBA include section 13 which states, "There is no doubt that despite the enactment of the .4 FAR the area around the mall is oversaturated and it is now necessary to step back and place some controls over the future growth of the area, in particular traffic." Section 15 states, "The Board has examined the surrounding area and finds that there is significant 'as of right' potential development in the immediate vicinity of the mall, specifically at Roosevelt Center, Voice Road/BOCES, Fortunoff's/The Source, Mitchel Field, The Wingate Hotel, presently under construction on Stewart Avenue, and the conversion of industrial buildings on Stewart Avenue, and the conversion of industrial buildings on Stewart Avenue to office and/or medical uses which will effect the quality of life of the adjoining communities."

Also, the Board agreed that the traffic consultant engaged by the mall did not adequately address the issue of increased traffic and did not accept the mall's argument that increases would be insignificant. In addition, the mitigation for the Stewart Avenue and Clinton Road intersection, an F rated intersection by traffic standards, and its ability to help traffic there was rejected. The Findings of Fact adopted also found fault with the mall's failure to take cumulative traffic effects into account in analyzing the impact any further expansion of the mall would have on the area. It was also noted in section 21 that there was no effort made by the mall or its experts to take into account any impact the proposals in the Nassau County Comprehensive Plan might have or the findings of the Nassau Hub Study.

Section 22 says in fact, "Moreover, both the evidence in the record before this Board and the findings contained in the Nassau Hub Study demonstrate that where an over-saturated traffic condition exists, motorists seeking 'congestion relief' use roadways through adjoining residential neighborhoods. As set forth in the Nassau Hub Study, traffic in the Hub Study area (which includes the areas surrounding Roosevelt Field) that cannot be fully absorbed by the already over-saturated roadway conditions encourages motorists to seek alternate routes (or 'cut-through' routes) to their various destinations through residential streets, which were never intended for high traffic volumes. This leads to unsafe residential streets and increased accidents."

Testimony by Superintendent Dr. Wilson regarding air and noise pollution and serious hazards posed by heavy traffic by Stewart School was cited in the Findings. Also, the testimony regarding air quality by the applicant was questioned, finding it to be inadequate in addressing this safety threat. The Board accepted the testimony of Wilson and residents as to the potential dangers of carbon monoxide and accumulation of soot on homes and the school near the Stewart Avenue and Clinton Road intersection and agreed that "Further expansion of the mall will cause a significant worsening of these adverse impacts."

The Findings of Fact also noted in section 31 that "The applicant has not presented any study or testimony regarding the proposed expansion's impact of the accessibility of fire and other emergency vehicles to the mall." It further noted that car accident reports and traffic safety issues were not included and that there was no testimony from the real estate industry regarding the impact the mall could have on the value of homes in the area.

The 34 section Findings of Fact was approved by Chairman Hodges, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Bruno, Mrs. O'Shea, Mr. Easa, Mr. Zimmermann, and Mr. Spano, with no votes against the adoption of the resolution and the denial of the mall's application. In so doing, the Town ZBA has taken a bold stand against the further expansion of the mall and stated through the points raised in the Findings of Fact that it shares the concerns of the Village of Garden City and other communities in central Nassau regarding the "over-saturation" of the area. The Hub development will in great part be overseen by the Zoning Board of Appeals and in stating publicly their concerns about traffic, the environment, and the quality of life in the Hub, they have perhaps set the tone for a more cautious approach to development in the area. All residents with whom Garden City Life spoke since the decision was announced last week have all expressed great relief and frank surprise, as well as hope that they can in fact look to the Town to help protect them from the complete urbanization of the area.