The Levittown Property Owners Association met on May 9, with President Jim Morrow presiding. The guest speakers were: Town of Hempstead Councilman Gary Hudes, Town of Hempstead Senior Deputy Attorney Charles S. Kovit and Town of Hempstead Department of Buildings Chief Plan Examiner Lois Carnovale. They spoke on issues which are both current and long unresolved.

Some of the topics which members brought up included: 1) the North Village Green, which is the site of an abandoned, dilapidated building which has been an eyesore for several years; 2) the continued battle to uphold Levittown's unique zoning (the LPRD) at the Josato property in a vacant section of the former Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, which has been the object of legal action in the courts since 1984; 3) the plans to move the present HSBC bank across Hempstead Tpke. to a new location at the corner of Gassy Lane and the Turnpike; and 4) the zoning irregularities at the construction site of the Levit-Style Company on Jerusalem Avenue.

Attorney Charles Kovit said that the legal action at the North Village Green, where the St. Thomas Malankara Church wishes to construct a church, "does not look good, but that the Town will do all it possibly can, they are not giving up, but we are constantly losing arguments with the judges on this one." The neighbors, whose homes are adjacent to the North Village Green, object to the excessive parking needs of the church, most of whose members are not Levittown residents. The Green has swimming pools, two pre-schools, a bowling alley and playgrounds to serve the residents, who feel that out-of-town churchgoers will clog surrounding streets and the town parking lot serving the area. "Courts find it hard to deny churches in these kinds of cases and disagree with the Town's case," said Kovit, who added that "the case could even reach the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court."

As for the Josato case, Attorney Kovit is working with the law firm of Berkman, Henoch, Peterson and Peddy on this. The town won the case in the Nassau Supreme Court, which upheld the LPRD zoning; the case has now been appealed to the Appellate Court, 2d Department, where similar cases make the outcome look encouraging because "the character of the neighborhood" has been a valid argument in other decisions. The developer requests variances to build on lots 85' x 60' instead of the required lot size of 100' x 60' which Levittown's zoning stipulates.

In the case of HSBC bank's relocation, the situation is on hold, as is the Levit-Style case. Both will probably not be acted upon at the Board of Zoning Appeals until the fall, or after September, we were told. In the HSBC case, even though the relocation is viewed positively, some residents are disturbed by the idea of removing a residence to provide parking, thus changing the site from residential to commercial zoning.

As for the home under construction on Jerusalem Avenue by the Levit-Style Company, a "stop work order" has been issued on interior work but the building's exterior can be finished.

The cooperation and willingness to inform the LPOA on issues raised by the three speakers from the Town of Hempstead was indeed gratifying.

Before the meeting ended, Vice President Andy Booth distributed a letter directed to the Congressional representatives, Senators Schumer and Clinton, to support Bill SJR 12 which concerns a "constitutional amendment to protect the American Flag from physical desecration." He encouraged members to mail their letters with their signed name and address.

The next meeting of the LPOA will be on June 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Levittown Public Library. This will be the final meeting until September.