Linda Murray believes her neighbor has a particular disregard for the surrounding community, and, frankly, she's tired of it. "The dilapidated garage has been left for two years and it's now filled with vermin," she said. Rita Lucy feels like she lives in the slums. "I had to put a fence and bushes up this past spring because they stare at me and have even made comments to myself and my piano students," she said. Lucy said she's called the police to register complaints, four times even in one week. "What kind of village is this?" she asked.

Doug and Peggy Kurz no longer feel safe and Thomas and Mary Ann Klein criticized that if the same situation existed on a numbered street in the village, none of this would be happening. Another resident who moved from Hempstead into a "dream house" in Garden City says he's trying to sell it back because he's had it.

The complainants live on Laurel Street and/or Old Country Road and are collectively trying to evict their neighbors at 460 Old Country Road.

The house had been converted to accommodate a law firm but Village Counsel Gary Fishberg noted that when the homeowner was forced to stop practicing as a lawyer, he rented the house to a services agency, which is currently sponsoring a halfway house at the location. For years, incidences, including domestic, involved police response - late night calls that neighbors say have certainly disrupted their quality of life.

Residents brought the situation to light during the July meeting and since then village officials have tried to ascertain what the facility actually is and why Garden City, if it is in fact a halfway house, was not notified, an action required under the Padavan Law.

Passed in 1978, the Padavan Law established a procedure of notice to the town in which the community residence was being proposed, gave the town a limited right to propose better sites and enabled the town to prove the particular community residence would substantially alter the character of the neighborhood.

Fishberg, through careful investigation, discovered that 460 Old Country Road does not fall within Padavan Law restrictions because the residence is not a "group home in that sense."

Care for the mentally disabled in a community rather than in an institutional setting was a focus during the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, when it was recognized that these individuals could more appropriately realize their fullest potential in the least restrictive environment consistent with their needs. "We looked closely at the people who license these facilities up in Albany," Fishberg continued, "and certain homes do need to be cited. This home, however, does not."

Often times the agencies sponsoring such residences were met with strong opposition. Prior to 1978, development of such residences was often a prolonged effort as communities raised concerns about the possibility of decreased property values and increased violence and crime. No formal procedure existed to allow for the community to interact with the sponsoring agency, and lawsuits abound.

In response to this problem, the legislature enacted what became commonly known as the Padavan Law, named after its sponsor, Senator Frank Padavan. The law set forth a step-by-step procedure intended to ensure that a community residence is built only after the community is notified and allowed to comment and have its suggestions considered.

After debating the legalities of the house in question with the sponsoring agency's attorney, Fishberg informed residents that the attorney assured he'd remove one female resident who created much difficulty due to a harassing husband, who police recently arrested. "This has been done," Fishberg said. Secondly, the attorney "promised" that the agency would not renew its lease, which expires at this year's end, and vacate the house.

"We came to an understanding that we would not pursue any legal action on the strength of the attorney's/agency's promise - which is not a binding promise," Fishberg said. "We'll see if they abide by that promise and give them until the end of the year. If not, we can look at whatever legal action we can take."