The Oyster Bay Town Board tabled an application April 30 by the Life Center of Long Island to modify restrictive covenants that would allow the non-profit organization to utilize an additional 1,000 square feet of space by dormering the existing building at 35 Willow St., Massapequa. The group, which operates under the corporate name of Mother and Unborn Baby Care of Long Island, and also has an office in Deer Park, is simultaneously seeking a variance for parking that would allow them to operate with less than the required space.

According to Executive Director Lorraine Gariboldi, a covenant placed on the second story of the building in 1996 restricted usage of the space for storage only. Since then, a change in the zoning to "NB" Neighborhood Business prompted Gariboldi to seek relief from the covenant. "Since we are outgrowing our Deer Park building, we are just hoping to get a little more office space for our files and computer work in Massapequa," Gariboldi explained.

Representatives from Planned Parenthood, who operate a facility at 35 Carmans Rd., in walking distance from the Life Center, voiced concerns at the board meeting that added office space coupled with decreased parking space would contribute to traffic problems.

"We are very concerned that by doubling their space, they are bringing lots and lots of cars to the neighborhood with no place to park; that those cars will, in fact, spill over into our lot and the streets and create traffic and hazards," said Karen Pearl, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Nassau County.

Based on statistics from the Deer Park office, Gariboldi estimated that the Life Center in Massapequa will see 100 women a month, or approximately four clients a day. Together with one receptionist, a center director, and a licensed technician performing sonograms, "This will not make for a traffic jam," Gariboldi said. "It is a heavily trafficked area, but the traffic doesn't come from Willow St., it comes from Sunrise Highway."

Although the Life Center has owned the Willow St. property since February of last year, Gariboldi said they would wait to begin construction on the rundown building until all the proper legal procedures have been completed. "We have allowed the building to sit vacant for 15 months while waiting for a town hearing because we are committed to following the letter of the law, dotting all our I's and crossing all our T's." Gariboldi said. "We don't want anyone to stop us from doing what we want to do because we aren't following proper procedure."

But Pearl insists that expanding the square footage of the building without allowing for adequate parking is problematic. "The town put this covenant in place at the point in which the number of parking spaces was reduced, with the reasoning that they could live with having less parking if less space was utilized," said Pearl. "Now they want to put that space back into usage and further cut the parking, which is really dangerous."

Zoning laws rule that one parking space is required for every 200 square feet of space. The 1000 square foot Willow St. building, as it exists now, requires five spaces. If the additional square footage were added, 10 spaces would be required, a number that cannot be accommodated due to the size of the property, which was out of compliance when they first purchased it, according to Gariboldi. The zoning board will make their decision based upon the findings of the town board regarding relief from the covenant.

Gariboldi said that even if the town refuses to modify the covenant, Mother and Unborn Baby Care will continue on as planned, offering sonograms, free pregnancy kits, crisis intervention, counseling, adoption and foster care information and post-abortion counseling to women, free of charge.