The Levittown Property Owners Association met on March 9, 2004, with Treasurer Joe Towell presiding in the absence of President Jim Morrow.

We were given several copies of Nassau County Acting Supreme Court Justice Daniel Martin's decision overturning the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals' (BZA) denial of parking variances at the North Village Green. After a public hearing on Feb. 3, 2003, the board denied on Feb. 20, 2003 an application from the St. Thomas Malankara Orthodox Church, Inc., to waive off-street parking for 73 spaces required under Hempstead Town Code #319. The judgment, under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, was dated Dec. 24, 2003. Most of the meeting was centered on reading and commenting on the decision, which is being appealed by the Town of Hempstead to a higher court, the 2nd Department, Appellate Division. The appeal must be made within six months.

The property, vacant for over 10 years due to a fire, and owned by the church, is located on a business-zoned site adjacent to a public park, a swimming pool and a bowling facility, and is part of the Levittown Park District.

The BZA denied the variances because the church's traffic expert studied the area's parking in the early morning of Super Bowl Sunday (January) when neither the bowling alley nor the pool were open, and no study was made about traffic at the church's current location in Floral Park.

The BZA's determination denying variances was made "on the merits" within the law, according to Code 319 and Town Law 267-b(3)(6). Its decision can be voided only if it is "arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion." Judge Martin overturned the BZA's denial saying its decision "is not supported by substantial evidence and ... the benefit to petitioner outweighs that of the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood."

Judge Martin's interpretation of the "record" of the Feb. 5 hearing left the LPOA audience stunned and mystified. The church's lawyer and traffic expert argued that 1) parking was sufficient in the town-owned parking field, 2) traffic congestion was no problem, 3) Section 319 was misinterpreted by the board, 4) the Code does not require the church to own or maintain the parking field, 5) the board offered no traffic expert to rebut, 6) the board restricted the church to base its presentation on parking, 7) "the Board's determination was discriminatory, unconstitutional and a violation of preferential treatment to which a church is entitled."

The board took into consideration the benefit to the church if the variances were granted as weighed against the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the community under Town Law 267-b(3)(6) and Town Code 319.

The judge, however, accepted the church's traffic expert, who said travel in local streets would require only about 20 minutes (for about 150-200 members) viewing parking in the early morning hours of January was insignificant, that the board's objections were based on "conjecture and generalized complaints from the community," that the board and community did not provide a traffic expert.

Judge Martin also did not take into consideration that the parking field will be used almost exclusively by church members who are not residents (only two members live in Levittown) and mostly on weekends when use by residents is heaviest. The historic village greens were created first and foremost to serve the needs of Levittown's homeowners and have done so for over 50 years. The traffic on local streets with parked cars on weekends is already a problem, especially on the only road leading off Hempstead Turnpike, Wolcott Road, which is congested by overflow from the parking field at the Baptist Church located there and is the main access to the North Village Green. In light of the considerations of parking and traffic, which the judgment ignored, the LPOA considers his decision to be "arbitrary and capricious," unfair, with no consideration for the health, safety and welfare of the community. We are pleased that that Town of Hempstead will appeal this decision. The members voted to request Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, a resident of Levittown, to attend a future meeting to discuss the situation with us. They would also like to meet the lawyer representing the town.

A new member asked us to respond to a "notice of violation" given him by the Hempstead Town Building Department. The department told him the complaint came from "the civic association." He has a large house where members of his family live, including grandparents and others, and he was told it had "illegal occupants." The LPOA made no such complaint, as we have our own forms which are used to protect complainants' anonymity. We will look into the matter.

As the meeting ended, we learned about the situation concerning residents, parents and PTA members from the area near Salk-MacArthur schools regarding the installation of an 85 foot cell phone tower on a Wantagh Avenue shopping mall parking lot field opposite the schools' athletic playing fields. There is concern about possible radiation emissions as well as the negative aesthetic consideration and property values. The mall's owner is seeking a variance permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals at a public hearing on April 21 at 2:30 p.m. This will be discussed further at the April 13 meeting.

We invited Levittown Schools Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance, Jeffrey Carlson, to speak at the April 13 meeting. He will discuss the budget for the next year which will be voted on in May.

The next meeting of the LPOA will be on April 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Levittown Public Library.