At the public hearing held last week at Marcus Christ Hall, adjacent to New Hyde Park Village Hall, on the corner of New Hyde Park Road and Jericho Turnpike, New Hyde Park Village residents turned out in droves to discuss the proposed change in the local laws of the village. The purpose of the meeting was to gather input from the residents. One of the goals of the law is to exercise controls over illegal housing in the village. One of the laws that would be changed would be the Mother/Daughter residence law.

At the outset of the hearing New Hyde Park Mayor Daniel Petruccio announced that anyone with an existing Mother/Daughter residence would be "grand-fathered" into the law and would not be affected by the new legislation. At that point everyone in the room either seated or standing broke into a very loud round of applause.

Further, he stated that residents would be allowed the right to have sub-terrain kitchens; the right to have boarders living in the house as long as there was only one kitchen and one social center and one entrance and family members could also live in the home as long as there was no second kitchen.

The point that everyone took issue with was the part of the law that states that no Mother/Daughter residence may be sold as such when the house is resold. Many residents felt that was a selling factor to each home to be able to sell it as a Mother/Daughter residence. However, it was the feeling of the board that this was how illegal residents filter into the village. But at the end of the night no decision was rendered on that point, due to all of the negative feedback by many of the residents who were not quiet about their opposition. In fact some were very loud in their protest of the proposed law and said that the village was trying to keep them from reselling their homes at a profit.

It was pointed out during the hearing that a Mother/Daughter residence permit must be renewed every year. Further, if there are any changes to the residence within that year then a new certificate of occupancy must be issued and the home must be inspected. Stricter rules have been put in place to allow access into homes to facilitate the inspection of the home. Any residence with two meters must have one meter removed, at the owner's expense. That law went into effect, after a five year moratorium, on November first.

In the case of any request for a duplicate or copy of any certificate of occupancy previously issued by the village, no such duplicate or copy shall be issued before an inspection of the premises followed by a certificate of compliance, based on the inspection.

A new law was also put into place to deal with stronger fines for real estate firms that don't follow the laws pertaining to the new laws for two family occupancy in village homes.

The board, at the end of the very long, very vocal night reserved decision on the law pertaining to Mother/Daughter residences.

They did, however approve the proposed establishment of a Planning Board to consist of five members. Each member would be appointed by the mayor with the approval of the board. The term of Planning Board members would be five years. At the time when the Planning Board is established, one member shall be appointed for a one year term, one member shall be appointed for a two year term, one member for a three year term and one member for a four year term and the remaining member for a five year term. Plus, there will be three alternate members of the Planning Board and each shall attend meetings, and may participate in its deliberations, but shall not vote except when a regular member is absent.

The mayor, subject to the approval of the board of trustees, shall each year designate one member of the Planning Board as its chairman who would serve until the commencement of the next official year of the village or until a successor has been designated and qualified.

The entire board issued the following statement a few days after the hearing:

"The Village Board of New Hyde Park was very pleased with the enthusiasm, opinions and support they heard from the village residents that attended the Dec. 4 public hearing regarding a series of new local laws, some of which were passed and are now part of the village code. Responding to the overwhelming amount of comments and input, these laws will be part of a multi-faceted plan aimed to preserve and improve the suburban character of the Village of New Hyde Park today and in years and decades to come. The plan included local laws that established a mechanism for organized planning and community development, new tools for increasing enforcement of illegal rentals and stiffer penalties to encourage greater compliance with our zoning code

"The establishment of the Planning Board will most likely be the most significant. The new board will be a forward-looking body that will among other things, perform architectural review of new construction and major reconstruction projects in the village. The board will play a key role in how the village looks in the future.

"The board of trustees reserved decision on removing the special exception permit from the village zoning code, as well as establishing a validity period for a Certificate of Occupancy. The two proposals are still to be considered by the board who will be seeking additional input as well as evaluating alternative scenarios."

No date has been set for a future hearing, but the village will notify its residents when a date and time has been established. The next regular New Hyde Park Village Board Meeting will be held on Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. at village hall, corner of New Hyde Park Road and Jericho Turnpike in New Hyde Park.