The owners of Progress House Continued Treatment Center, a rehabilitation facility located at 3095 Hempstead Tpke. in Levittown, recently appeared before the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals to request variances of the Town Building Zone Ordinance to permit the expansion of the building, allowing for the construction of a second floor addition for office space; the usage of part of the premises to maintain a large metal storage container and also permission to park in front yards setbacks on Hempstead Tpke. and Grassy Lane, adjacent to the facility.

At a hearing before the Town Board of Zoning Appeals held last Wednesday, a representative for the property owners, attorney William S. Cohn, explained that the tenants of the facility were looking to expand not to increase clientele but rather to provide for more adequate space in the building. The tenants of the building, Progress House, a subsidiary of Pilgrim Psychiatric Center of Suffolk, which is under the jurisdiction of New York State's Office of Mental Health, provides a continued treatment program to outpatients, who are free citizens permitted to come and go as they please. Patients are treated with mental health programs, group and individual therapy and vocational programs. The facility is not a drug clinic.

Lori Shore, a representative for the NYS Office of Mental Health, explained that the people who come to Progress House do so voluntarily and they are free to perform in the day-to-day activities any individual does. She said that the clients that come to Progress House are there to seek the necessary skills to obtain jobs in society. Those served by the facility are residents of local communities, including Levittown and southeast Nassau County.

Several residents opposed the request for expansion and told the board that there are enough problems in the community associated with the facility. Many said that an increase in space could cause even more traffic congestion than the facility already does, in addition to an increase in the alleged interaction that has taken place between clients of Progress House and local residents.

Many residents argued that there is a strong lack of supervision at the facility, many stating that they have been approached and/or accosted at neighboring Astoria Federal Savings Bank and Rite Aid Drug Store. In addition, Pastor of St. Bernard's Church in Levittown, located across the street from Progress House, Father Jerry Ringenback, told the board that many parishioners have mentioned that they have been approached by clients of the facility.

"It is certainly the responsibility of the community to care for those in need," Fr. Ringenback said, noting that as the purpose of Progress House to begin with. He added that the issue of the variance does raise concerns, explaining that expansion could create difficulty in parking and traffic, among others. "In the past, we have had some minor occurrences. Nothing major, but it is still a concern of parishioners," he said. "We certainly do want to do our part to help the mentally ill, the suffering...[but] it might be worth considering an alternate location."

Many residents agreed, as noted Eric Rosenblum, who once worked across the street from the property.

"The lack of supervision is grossly irresponsible," he said. "Nobody is there supervising these people." Rosenblum noted that he is in favor of mainstreaming people into society but that Progress House's location is inappropriate.

"The chamber unanimously opposed this acquisition. The lack of supervision affects businesses and residents in the area. Any expansion is absolutely unacceptable to the community," he said.

Rosenblum and other residents also noted traffic problems, saying that buses who transport the patients to and from the facility back out, often illegally, onto Hempstead Tpke. to make a turn by hopping a curb.

With traffic problems and lack of supervision being the highest of concern, residents stated that the facility should consider relocating.

"This facility has existed for 18 years [in its current location,]" Shore said. "If this application is turned down, this facility is not going away." Shore added that even if the expansion is denied, the programs will remain the same, as will the existence of the facility in the neighborhood.

Shore noted that the staff at Progress House reports to the administration who then reports to her regarding any problems or complaints relating to the activities at the facility. Although residents and nearby business people told the board they have contacted Progress House with complaints, Shore said that there were far less recorded instances than residents had mentioned.

"We would want to know from the community if there are any problems," she said. "If these things are going on, we want to know."

Residents said that they did contact the facility regarding many of the problems going on outside the facility and don't understand why they weren't recorded.

Shore explained that not only are the patients allowed to go outside, but they are required to if they are smokers. She said that due to the current small size of the building, many clients who aren't being treated at the time have nothing else to do but go outside. She added that if they were allowed to expand, there would be more space for the clients to move around and could possibly deter many of them from going outdoors, although they still wouldn't be restricted from doing so.

"We want to provide more program [and] treatment space. We have no intention of changing the population of clientele," she said.

Board Chairman Gerald Wright suggested to Shore that the facility arrange to have a number available for residents to call in case of a problem and also suggested that perhaps Progress House representatives and community members should meet to discuss some of the occurrences. Shore said that they would need to know about any problems immediately as well as who was involved.

"You can't expect people to do that," Wright said, noting that residents can't be required to get the identities of the individuals. "People are only going to tell you what's going on, not the names of the people," he said.

"With the expansion, we are looking for more space for clients to stay inside. They're almost forced outside now," Shore said, noting that she would be willing to talk to local store owners and residents to try to come up with solutions.

Wright said that bringing in so many people to a community, an average of approximately 85 clients a day, is likely to have some kind of impact on the neighborhood.

"You can't bring an enormous amount of people into the community and expect it to not affect [residents]. It has nothing to do with space, you should reach out to the community," he said.

Ultimately, the application was denied. The board has not, as of yet, specified the exact reason behind their decision, but residents and local representatives have expressed their satisfaction about the decision.

"I'm glad that the board made the decision that they did for the safety of the community," said Legislator Dennis Dunne. "Traffic in that area is a problem and this would only make it worse."

Property co-owner Hanna Harel said that the owners of the facility are not trying to harm the community and noted that the expansion could ultimately solve some of the residents' concerns.

"The only thing that would have happened would be that Levittown would have gotten a nicer, larger, more modern and more beautiful building. We'd try to make more room for them to be maintained in the facility," she said, adding that this could resolve some of the concerns facing the community. "We could guarantee that there would be the same, if not less number of clientele."

She added that the state has shown no intention of finding another location, as Shore had pointed out at the hearing. Shore said that the state had briefly looked into another location, but that Levittown suited them well because of its central location.

"This building is not going to go away," she said, noting that they are willing to try to work with the community to address some of the problems associated with the facility.