In compliance with the request from the Village of Great Neck's Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), the attorney for the applicant who seeks to build a stand-alone mikvah on Wood Road has submitted an outline spelling out the environmental studies the applicant will complete. In bureaucratic terms, this part of the process is called a "draft scope."

If there are other areas of concern about adverse affects if the building is constructed, members of the public may submit these concerns in writing or speak at the next meeting of the BZA on Oct. 2.

The project, as proposed by The American Society for Torah Education in Latin America and homeowners, Earl Basil and Catherine Brown, would demolish four existing single-family homes and would erect a mikvah with two accessory residential apartments on the second floor.

Based on a resolution by the BZA, attorney for the applicant Murray Honig submitted the following areas to be studied.

Air quality analysis screening will be based on the traffic study to be done and based on those findings, it will be determined whether or not a more in-depth study of air quality will be needed.

An extensive evaluation of stormwater management will be completed.

A traffic study that looks at vehicular and pedestrian traffic patterns will be done. It will include the intersection at Wood Road and Steamboat Road and will be done in peak hours on days when school is in session and when weather permits full activities at the next-door tennis facility. Such a study includes a three-year accident history, adequacy of the sight distance for either proposed driveway, and recommendations regarding mitigation of any potential problems that might be uncovered in the study.

Existing noise levels will be taken and a post-development noise analysis will be conducted.

Human health was raised as a concern by the board. The study will include information about the collection, treatment and disposal of water to be used in the ritual baths.

Land use, zoning and community character will be looked at as well. The report states that the study will "assess the impacts and compatibility of the proposed action, including the building and parking configuration and proposed buffers, on land use, zoning (including bulk requirements) and the established development policies, patterns and neighborhood character, especially with respect to proximate single-family residential development."

The last area of study in the outline is "segmentation." Under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, (SEQR), the intent of an environmental impact study is to take a look at the big picture. Applicants are not allowed to split big projects into smaller projects that, if looked at piecemeal, might be more acceptable to zoning boards. If projects are taking place at different times or places and are excluded from the study, that is a no- no as well.

Concerns have already been raised at the public hearing on this matter. Some people have expressed a fear that if adjacent Friendly Taxi sells out to the applicant, an even bigger project may be in the works.

The SEQR handbook states, "If later phases are uncertain as to design or timing, their environmental significance should be examined as part of the whole action by considering the potential effects of total build-out. If, after completion of the review, it can be determined that the subsequent phases will cause no significant adverse impacts or that the impacts can be mitigated, initial phases can be approved and no further analysis under SEQR will be necessary." It goes on to add "if later, substantial changes to the project are proposed, such changes should be evaluated and a new determination of significance made."

The applicant will provide an affidavit and "will request a letter from the owners of Friendly Taxi as to whether or not their property is or will soon be for sale." Friendly Taxi is not required to respond.

The SEQR handbook answers the question "Is segmented review ever acceptable?" It says that segmentation may be warranted "if information on future project phases is too speculative; future phases may not occur; and future phases are functionally independent of current phases."

What is a zoning board to do? The handbook states "sometimes the project sponsor has a definite plan for future development and other times the future projects are merely wishful thinking. It is up to the lead agency (in this case the zoning board) to determine if the project now before it is the 'whole action' or merely a part or segment of the action that should be reviewed."

The board asked residents in attendance at the meeting for any comments on the scope of the areas to be studied. Many wanted more time to digest the material. Councilwoman for the Town of North Hempstead Kitty Poons spoke asking the board to consider the need for residential houses in the area and the impacts to the tax base.

After the meeting, the Record visited Friendly Taxi and spoke with the owner, Paul Muller's mother, Marcia. Ms. Muller was emphatic in saying, "People come up to me and say, 'I hear you're selling your property' and I always say, 'That's news to me.' We're not selling in the foreseeable future." She laughed and added, "Unless they offer us $100 million."

The attorney for the applicant, Paul Bloom, had asked for the matter to be continued at next month's meeting.