Garden City's neighbor, the Village of Mineola, is seriously considering a condominium complex dubbed The Winston for the north side of Old Country Road, between Willis Avenue and Main Street, because village officials believe the project could provide tax revenue as well as housing for an area that some consider underutilized.

Garden City officials, however, have one major problem with the proposal - it's too big. The Winston is expected to stand 88 feet high. The suggested nine-story, 285-unit condominium complex, with a 15-foot setback, will undoubtedly impact Garden City, Trustee Tom Lamberti said. "This is going to be a massive structure," he continued. "Being good neighbors, we need to urge them to respectfully take another look and scale down their project."

Fellow Garden City trustees agree. Village Consultant Buckhurst Fish & Jaquemart, Inc. (BFJ), zoning experts who took a closer look at the project, provided the board with a report that BFJ was expected to present at the third public hearing held Feb. 13 in Mineola.

Specifically, Garden City trustees want the project's height significantly lowered, from nine stories to five or six, and the complex's density adjusted to 45 to 60 units to the acre, rather than the 140 units to the acre currently on the table.

"I personally think this is way too much. It represents a real urbanization in a village that is clearly suburban," Trustee Nick Episcopia, who was slated to personally attend this week's hearing, said.

Mayor Peter Bee recused himself from all discussion of The Winston because Polimeni International, LLC, which is proposing the complex, is also landlord to his law firm's office building.

BFJ met with developer Polimeni International earlier this month.

The complex, said to cost $165 million, would provide one and a half parking spaces per condo, provided underneath the condo units, Vince Polimeni, owner of Polimeni International, said at an earlier hearing in Mineola. He added that the complex would have a doorman, a concierge and health club.

"The revenue will be tremendous. The amount of people spending money downtown would be tremendous because you can walk to restaurants and all these things [people] use right there," Polimeni said. "That's what Mineola wants to do - basically come back and revitalize the entire downtown area and to do that, you need pedestrian traffic. People can literally walk to the downtown area and walk to the train station."

Consulting economist Dr. Pearl M. Kramer has estimated real estate taxes derived from the complex would total $804,380 toward the town/county tax; $2,848,133 toward the Mineola School District; and $251,050 toward the Village of Mineola. Currently, the property that the complex sits on is generating $90,106 for the town/county tax; $331,129 for the school tax; and $92,000 for the village tax.

Mineola Mayor Jack Martins opted to hold a third hearing this week before the village board rendered its decision on the project.

According to Garden City Village Counsel Gary Fishberg, the Winston has not yet gone before the Nassau County Planning Commission.

"I applaud the decision to have BFJ make a presentation at the hearing," Huntington Road resident Hal Hecken, who was deputy mayor at the time of the Saks Fifth Avenue incident, said.

Joe Rizza contributed to this article.