The public forum to discuss the village planning commission's parking study drew a large crowd, with 37 people speaking either in favor of completing the Park Buffer Strip Plan of 1959 or vehemently opposed to turning residential property into public parking.

Mayor Harold Hecken officiated the meeting, surrounded by the village trustees with the exception of Trustee Peter Bee who was out of the country. Hecken began the meeting by explaining that the purpose was to solicit any and all comments from the public about the planning commission's report in an attempt to help the village board come to a decision with regard to, among other things, the purchase of 116 Eleventh Street, a vacant home owned by the Albanese Corporation, that is being offered for sale to the village for the purpose of extending Parking Field 10. Other components of the planning commission's report were also discussed and will be considered by the board. Hecken noted that the board would not be responding to questions, as they were there to hear from the residents. Each resident was limited to three minutes to make their comments.

The first resident to speak was Althea Robinson, a lifelong resident of the village who also serves as the executive director of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of what she had to say, according to Robinson was, "To immediately dispel the often expressed notion that the chamber's only concern with issues of parking have been to assist the owners of two of our major office buildings- 1010 and 1050 Franklin Avenue- with efforts to obtain expanded parking between Tenth and Eleventh Streets." Robinson further noted that the chamber of commerce has been concerned with parking since the 1920s, when a group of businessmen of the day responded to the village's plea to establish parking fields behind all stores and public buildings within the Central Business District (CBD). The result was one that other villages have since tried to emulate. "It is no wonder that the chamber, for some 70 years, has looked upon the multitude of parking issues within the Central Business District as one of its major functions, not its chief function, toward the preservation of quality, character and vitality of business within our incorporated village," said Robinson. She went on to stress that the chamber has long been a supporter of the Park Buffer Strip Plan. She noted that she was in the room in the late 1970s when Anthony Albanese was assured by the then board of trustees that in accordance with the Park Buffer Strip Plan extended parking would eventually be available in Field 10. "On behalf of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce, I urge you to continue to work with the business sector to maintain harmonious relations between the business and residential communities. Indeed, considerably more than half of all chamber members are also residents of Garden City, responsible citizens who are indeed interested in working for the good of the village as a whole," concluded Robinson. "I implore you to act on the side of fairness and justice in this matter before you, please assist in bringing the chamber's efforts of the past 70 years to fruition."

Nick Episcopia, vice president of the Eastern Property Owners' Association spoke on behalf of that organization. He spoke about how the EPOA came to the conclusions that it presented to the board recently and noted that the majority of the EPOA directors were in favor of the purchase of the one specific home and the creation of parking from that lot on Eleventh Street, but that did not mean that they were in favor of the continuation of the Park Buffer Strip Plan. Episcopia told the trustees, "If you do make this decision to purchase homes, purchase this specific home and to create a parking lot, that everything possible be done to preserve the quality of life and the values of the adjacent homes." Speaking for himself, rather than for the EPOA, Episcopia warned residents not to think that if this plan is carried through, that their property taxes would be lowered. He noted that the increased property taxes came as a result of tax certioraris due to over-assessment, not because of a decrease in business because of a parking shortage.

James Murphy, a resident of Sixth Street, addressed the plan to add parking to that area, which he said would greatly impact his block, which according to Murphy is already "a major thoroughfare." "The town has always kept its residential and family atmosphere," said Murphy. "We need to keep that." He went on to note that more parking means more cars, which means more traffic, and according to Murphy, more problems.

Gregory Moore, a resident of the Wyndham, and former member of the CPOA, commended Albanese for what his organization has done for the village and told the board that the village owed it to the Albaneses to improve the parking situation. "When I think of the Albaneses, and their associates, and their accomplishments in our village, it reminds me of the old Jimmy Stewart movie, It's a Wonderful Life," said Moore. "Remember- the angel showed Jimmy Stewart what his town would have looked like if he had never lived there. What would Garden City look like today if Anthony Albanese had never lived here?"

Pat DiMattia, a director of the Central Property Owners' Association, speaking on behalf of the association, presented 95 petitions, signed by 1,163 residents from throughout the village, to the board. DiMattia noted that 28 percent of the residents who signed the petitions were from the Central section of the village, 34 percent were from the Eastern section, 23.5 percent were from the Western section, and 14.5 percent were from the Estates. "As indicated by these statistics, the voice of the residents is fairly evenly distributed among the Central, Eastern, and Western sections and clearly no single section, i.e. the Central or the CPOA, dominated this process," said DiMattia. "Fundamentally, there is a shared view by all the residents that we, as a village, need to preserve our residential community and not destroy property for the expansion of parking. Further the residents are not convinced that a parking shortage exists now or will in the future." DiMattia then questioned, "If and when the trustees take a vote, should it not be the responsibility of each individual trustee to vote in accordance with the voice of his/her constituency as presented tonight through these petitions? If not, how can, or how will a trustee justify an opposing position to the residents in their section of the village whom they represent?"

Gregory Hesterberg, a resident of Ninth Street, questioned the shortage of parking in Field 5. He then went on to speak about the cost, to the village, of acquiring residential properties and converting them to public parking. He went on to note that not only would the acquisition of the property and the construction be costly, but whereas a homeowner would pay property taxes for a home, the village would lose that real estate tax income if a parking lot was constructed there. In addition, according to Hesterberg, the cost of converting these properties to public parking would be a detriment to the tenants of the adjacent buildings who would then have to add that amount to their rent.

Maureen Valente and Susan Williams Fury, both residents of Tenth Street, addressed the fact that school children are asked to walk either 3/4 or one mile and cross busy streets to get to school, yet retailers in the central business district cannot ask their customers to cross Franklin, a walk of 80 feet. These remarks come from the fact that the parking consultant hired by the village found that if the village encouraged pedestrian circulation there would be no parking shortage because there was plenty of parking available on the other side of Franklin Avenue. The idea that the problem in the village was not a parking shortage but a parking distribution problem was raised by several residents, including Peter Negri, of the CPOA.

Maureen Clancy, a former village board member and 40 year resident of the village, stated, "While serving as a trustee, I had the opportunity to vote to acquire the house at 116 Eleventh Street. I regret that I did not better understand the issue at that time, and saw it as a problem of cost and voted against that acquisition." She encouraged the village board to act now to address the parking shortages.

Dennis Armstrong, who one year ago moved into one of the houses that is part of the Park Buffer Strip Plan, 121 Sixth Street, encouraged employers to enforce parking regulations, saying that this enforcement would make a difference. He further noted that there is an empty lot on Sixth Street that should be used by employees who work in the business district. He also questioned why the village is allowing employees of Winthrop-University Hospital to park in village lots and be bused to the hospital if there is such a parking shortage.

Marlene Knoth, past president of the chamber of commerce, stated, "Regardless of what you may have heard or read, homes are not being taken for parking." She then went on to speak about the economic impact the parking shortages have had on the village. "It is an undisputed fact that the percentage of tax revenue derived from commercial real estate has declined from 41 percent in 1990 to 31 percent in 2000. The sad reality is that all residents of our village are negatively affected by this shift of the tax burden to single family dwellings," said Knoth. "It cannot be denied that the stability and synergistic relationship between residents and business is essential to our continued high quality of village life."

Rob Rothschild, former president of the Estates POA noted that the condemnation of homes has never been suggested. He further noted that convenience is very important to people, many of whom think, "No parking, no thank you," which is why the central business district is suffering. Rothschild also brought petitions, but did not present them to the board, because he said he did not feel the village should be run by petition. He noted that 10-15 percent of the people who signed his petition requesting that the board enact the Park Buffer Strip Plan also signed the CPOA petition requesting that the plan not be enacted.

Anthony Albanese, who owns the property being offered to the village presently, and said that he and other commercial property owners would pay for 90 percent of the cost, as per the Park Buffer Strip Plan. He further offered to reimburse the village its 10 percent of the costs, conditional upon specific terms, one of which that the plan be implemented immediately.

Francis Elmi, a resident of Lee Road, noted that in his former home town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, homes were torn down for parking then stores closed because of malls despite the additional parking, thus leaving the town with empty stores and empty parking lots. "Is that what we want for Garden City," he questioned.

Russell Miller, a resident of Tenth Street, in addition to speaking, put up enlarged photos of the homes that are still part of the Park Buffer Strip Plan and green space that the village is considering paving. In speaking, Miller stated what many others before him did, that there is no parking shortage. He said that the assertions that it is too dangerous to cross Franklin Avenue "don't fly." Miller further noted, "The ecological cost, the destruction of trees and green space, and the significant change in residential integrity as well as the devaluing of contiguous homes is immeasurable." He added that the notion that the failure of the village to take the house would significantly alter the residential/commercial tax ratios was false. "In fact, new facts, the ratios for school taxes, our most major tax has remained stable in 1995, Class 1 paid 61.7 percent and Class 2-4 paid 38.3 percent. For 2000/2001 Class 1 paid 61.8 percent and 2-4 38.2 percent, essentially the exact same percentage. There has been no tax erosion," said Miller. Miller concluded, "Please consider all noninvasive measures and noncontroversial measures first which most people can agree upon. Listen to the vast majority of your constituents and don't pave over paradise for parking."

Deborah Kanner-Sandler, whose family has lived in the Tenth Street home which is included in the Park Buffer Strip Plan since before the plan was established, disagreed with the notion that this is a situation that only affects a minority of people in the village. "The whole is equal to the sum of its parts," said Kanner-Sandler. She further noted that when there was a controversy regarding the Long Island Rail Road, the village banded together even though only certain residents would be affected, and she asked the board to give the residents who are affected by the Park Buffer Strip Plan the same consideration. "For as long as the buffer strip plan exists these homes are not safe," said Kanner-Sandler. "Our sentence has not been revoked." She noted that there is not compromise, that there is a contradiction, either her family's home is safe or the plan is completed.

John McKay, chairman of the Central POA's Parking Sub-committee, presented a series of questions to the village board and requested the answers to these 10 questions, in writing. One such question was, "The board of trustees has voted not to acquire 116 Eleventh Street each time it was offered since 1989, most recently 1997. The village has also spent almost $100,000 in the successful defense of lawsuits and appeals that challenged their decisions not to acquire homes. Have there been any changes in the village that would justify a reversal in the position of the village?" Another such question was, "At times the board of trustees has professed that it will not condemn homes for parking, yet at the same time village residents have witnessed the village isolate homes by building parking lots around private residences and property (Farrell home). If in fact the village does not support condemnation of homes which are occupied then doesn't that noncondemnation policy imply some respect for the integrity of the residential neighborhood? Along with that isn't it true that the village's consultant recognized this fact, the integrity of the residential neighborhood, and affirmatively did not recommend the taking of 116 Eleventh Street because it would invade the residential community in the area and skew the parking line that already exists?"

Agnes DiChiara, a resident of Stewart Avenue, noted that no other parking alternative has been proven viable and said that accepting the offer of this home, one home, will hurt no one. She encouraged the board to "Have courage and be brave and do the right thing."

Gary Bencivenga, a resident of the Wyndham, and former member of the Business Planning Coalition, noted that he has seen the village go from "glory day" to days of vacancy, but that parking has remained the same. He expressed his belief that parking has nothing to do with the number of vacancies on Franklin Avenue.

Former Mayor Frank Tauches commented on the civility of the proceedings and thanked the board for the opportunity for residents to be heard. Tauches asked the board to base their decision on facts and experience rather than on "unfounded fear and misinformation." He noted that the recommendations of the past consultant and the business planning coalition were all sound and pointed to a revitalization, some were controversial and "our village was polarized and paralyzed." He added that during this time stores were boycotted and the business district was divided and this issue is still ongoing. Although his efforts as mayor, according to Tauches, helped the beautification of Franklin Avenue, the revitalization cannot be completed without the additional parking. "I commend you for your efforts thus far. I urge you to continue these efforts in every way you can. I urge you to reassure those residents whose homes lie within the planned buffer zone that their homes will never be taken unless offered. I urge you to reassure those residents whose homes lie outside that zone that their homes will never be taken but I urge you to act on what is being offered to you and I urge you to do the right thing."

Mohamed Kazemi, of the Kazemi Gallery on Franklin Avenue, offered a different perspective from many Franklin Avenue business owners. He stressed the importance of listening to the residents and taking their concerns into consideration, because it is they who will be shopping in the stores in the business district.

Bert Donley, immediate past president of the chamber of commerce, stated that the plan was fully implemented on Ninth Street and the value of those homes has increased rather than decreased and increased at the same proportion as the rest of the village. Of Field 10, Donley stated, We need parking in that block to get good tenants on that block. That block is a blight and it is stalling the revitalization." He further said that the tax certioraris came about because the buildings were over-assessed and that over-assessment was due to a fall in property values because of the vacancies on Franklin.

The final speaker was M. John Pittoni, resident of the village and an attorney who just purchased space on Seventh Street, said that he had wanted to be on Franklin but would not ask his clients to come to the Franklin strip because of the lack of parking.

The board has not yet announced when they would make a decision regarding public parking in the village.