At the opening of the Glen Cove City Council meeting of Tuesday, March 14, Mayor Ralph Suozzi asked for a moment of silence to honor the passing of Cecelia Benevisto, longtime Glen Cove resident who died on Sunday, March 11 following a hard-fought 15-year battle with cancer. "She was a wonderful woman," said Mayor Suozzi, "and she fought a very hard fight." Ms. Benevisto's funeral was held Wednesday, March 15 at St. Patrick's Church.

Although it was no longer listed for a public hearing, nor was there to be a vote on it, the proposed moratorium on residential subdivisions in Glen Cove continued to come up in the public comments section of the meeting. In fact, as soon as Mayor Suozzi adjourned the meeting and asked for public comments, Steve Gonzalez walked to the podium and asked, "What is the status of the moratorium?" Mayor Suozzi stated that the council will probably vote on it at the next meeting and that they are still estimating costs and time concerns. He said that the decision involves many participants and as he and the council do not have all the necessary information yet, they are not ready to proceed.

"I am still receiving letters, and the support is overwhelming," said the mayor. "It is a very complex issue. I'm going to look at maps from years back and see the progression of development, and a projection of the future." He said he has met with local civic groups discussing traffic, variances and codes. He also said he wants to examine current planning and zoning board codes and regulations.

Mr. Gonzalez remarked that the zoning laws have not been changed in a long time, except for a few exceptions. He suggested the mayor evaluate zoning codes, as he said developers find loopholes and other ways to get around current laws. Mr. Gonzalez supports the moratorium.

The two men also discussed the possibility of instituting an Architectural Review Board for the city. Mr. Gonzalez said such a commission existed in the city years ago. The mayor said he has been looking into it and would like to have one in place as the first board to review applications from builders and developers; from there plans could go on to planning and zoning. The mayor also voiced his idea to have a planning board member at zoning board meetings and vice versa, to better facilitate communication between the two boards.

While other questions were raised, the subject kept getting back to the moratorium and the many and varied effects it could have on the city; much talk was of the moratorium improving quality of life issues, such as housing, traffic and space. The mayor said the moratorium would bring about "a more robust effort of code enforcement." He called Glen Cove "a small city with big city problems" and said he is determined to take care of the small problems before they get worse. "I think the community supports this approach," he added.

Mayor Suozzi said he is in the process of constructing a letter to be sent to all taxpayers, attorneys, judges and the Long Island Board of Realtors laying out the laws and ordinances concerning housing. "I am putting people on notice," said the mayor, "that Glen Cove is not going to take it anymore. We are not going to supply housing and jobs for everyone and anyone who needs them." He said he plans to increase fines and enforce laws for which there is noncompliance. The mayor wants the code enforcers to work more closely with the police department and he is looking to put code enforcers on different shifts, "more of a 24/7ish schedule," he called it, so that anytime police find an issue that needs to be explored, the code enforcers will be ready to step in. The mayor is planning to produce a quality of life blotter to be published in the local papers and on the city's website so residents can see just what is being done.

As an example of his determination, Mayor Suozzi cited the new Dunkin' Donuts on Glen Street. "The store was allowed to be built, but with 10 planning board conditions. It came to my attention that some of the conditions were not being met. I have contacted them that the conditions will be met, or the store will not open." He added that he plans to review all conditions set on all new construction, and is "ready to pull any COs (certificates of occupancy) that are noncompliant."

The subject of eminent domain was brought up, and the council was asked if the waterfront developers are looking to seize property for their project. The mayor said that the waterfront is a very big project and has to go through a long process of review and acceptance by the planning board, zoning board, architectural review board (if one is set up) and the public. While he has met with the architect and developers, the mayor said, "Nothing is set yet. The horse has not left the barn." Mayor Suozzi stated, "So little is known by so few people. I have no details yet, but public hearings are going to be held before anything is set. I want the developers to be able to make presentations to all residents. I plan to advertise aggressively when the hearings are scheduled. We will hold them in the middle or high school, whichever can hold the most people, and I plan on smaller meetings in individual neighborhoods. I am looking into the possibility of videotaping a hearing and putting it on public access TV for any residents who can't get out to a meeting." He added that the Land Development Agreement (LDA) states that the project must have "broad public acceptance."

It was also suggested by resident Gail Waller that perhaps the mayor should send a letter to all residents explaining just what the zoning laws are in the city. She said she feels people may not be breaking laws intentionally; they might not know what the laws entail.

The next meeting of the Glen Cove City Council is March 28, 7:30 p.m. in the main chambers of city hall.