Residents who bought homes in Garden City's historic Central section, which boasts large land plots and many curb-free streets, urged trustees to immediately place a moratorium on pending requests to subdivide two properties in the heart of the village, one on Hilton Avenue and the other on Rockaway Avenue.

Both requests are currently before the village's Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). The aforementioned plots make up two of approximately 65 that could be subdivided under current village zoning codes.

Steven Irace, who lives on Fourth Street and has called Garden City home for the past 58 years, said allowing any changes to the large plots of land in Central will undoubtedly alter the neighborhood's historic character.

"When my father moved the family here, he obviously chose the Village of Garden City because of the history, the tradition, the sense of order, the normalcy that it presented," Irace said. "I moved here with my family. I bought a house here for the same reasons after I got married. My wife grew up in the Eastern section three blocks from me and we feel that Garden City carries with it a sense of history, tradition and order."

Irace added that the village's Central section was part of A.T. Stewart's original plan. He said the section currently has 23 large corner lots. Building Superintendent Mike Filippon was not at the Nov. 20 meeting and therefore could not confirm that number.

Irace is primarily concerned with the corner lot at Fourth Street and Rockaway Avenue, which sits next to his Fourth Street home.

The application currently pending with the BZA seeks to subdivide the existing 44,918 square foot premises into two plots of 20,461 square feet and 24,457 square feet respectively. This request was adjourned at both the Sept. 23 and Oct. 28 BZA meetings. The decision, as of press time, was pending.

"We're trying to preserve the village as we all know it," Irace pleaded with trustees. "These corner lots were part of the original plan."

Third Street resident Gregory Burke, a 50-year resident who now owns his fifth house in the village, built in 1890, loves his hometown and doesn't want to see it change.

"When I finally had the ability to buy what home I would live in for the rest of my life with my kids, I purchased it in the Central section because ... the numbered streets have big plots and beautiful homes."

As a kid who grew up and worked at Clip's Pharmacy, Leo's and the chophouse, and who caddied at the Garden City Country Club and delivered newspapers, Burke said Garden City is a part of him. "As part and parcel in keeping Garden City the way it was, I would ask the board to consider the moratorium on subdividing lots," Burke told trustees.

The second home in question, on Hilton Avenue, seeks to subdivide the existing 56,250 square foot premises into two plots of 31,225 square feet and 25,025 square feet respectively, which on the improved plot would reduce the required 20-foot minimum side yard to not less than 18.68 following the removal of a 322 square foot, two-story portion and covered porch. The BZA reserved decision on this matter at the Oct. 28 meeting. As of press time, this decision was also pending.

Building Department liaison and deputy mayor, Tom Lamberti, who represents the Central section and placed the item on the Nov. 20 agenda for discussion, told both gentlemen that he appreciates their seeking a moratorium but said facts are first needed, along with an opinion of counsel.

He believes all plots capable of subdivision under current zoning must be identified, essentially an inventory from the Building Department; a planner engaged to determine what steps could be taken to prevent this from happening; and an opinion of counsel sought to ensure such steps are appropriate. Always optimistic, Lamberti said he hoped to have all this accomplished by the Dec. 18 board of trustees meeting.

Trustee Donald Brudie, who also represents the Central section, thought fellow trustees were missing the point. "Get a moratorium as soon as possible and then investigate," he said. "I think we're going backwards...Get it in effect as soon as possible. It could do a lot of damage in the meantime..."

After spending nine years on the village's Planning Commission, Deputy Mayor John Mauk agreed the issue of subdivision is an important one but certainly one not new to the village. While serving, he recalled a proposal that came before the Commission to subdivide a large plot into three separate plots "up on the hill" in Central, near the country club. "We did all we could to prevent it from happening," he said. "I still think it's a travesty how it happened."

Deputy Mayor Mauk doesn't believe a moratorium should be exclusive to the Central section. Trustee John Watras, who represents the West, agreed, recalling a similar issue on Fairmont Boulevard.

Pat DiMattia, Central Property Owners' Association president, submitted a letter to the BZA supporting the preservation of the historical design of the larger corner plots in the Central section as laid out originally by the village's founders.

"Any action by the Board of Zoning Appeals that would alter the original design through subdivision or another zoning modification would change the character of the neighborhood ..." the letter in part read.

Although the issue does primarily affect the Central section, trustees agreed to study it more closely, specifically whether or not to include commercial properties in the moratorium, whether or not to make such a moratorium village wide versus just in the Central section and whether or not to place the moratorium on requests seeking to subdivide corner lots versus all land plots in the village.

An inventory of all land plots capable of subdivision has been compiled, using the village's GIS system. This information will now be forwarded to Buckhurst Fish and Jacquemart (BFJ), which will determine how the village can protect itself. Village Administrator Robert Schoelle, Jr. expects to have BFJ's report in the mayor's hands by the Dec. 18 meeting.