At its March 15 meeting, the East Hills Board of Trustees is expected to vote on a temporary moratorium on residential and commercial construction in the village and additions of 25 percent or more to the floor area of existing dwellings. The moratorium will cover all residential districts in East Hills.

If the proposal passes, the moratorium, according to Village Attorney Gerard Terry, will be effect for "several months." During that time, the village may also consider significant amendments to the zoning code to restrict the bulk and height of any new houses being built in East Hills.

In addition, the village has hired a consulting firm, Frederick P. Clarke and Associates of Rye, to look at height and bulk issues. Mr. Terry said the firm will gives ideas to the BOT on restricting height and perhaps restricting bulk of the aggregate floor area homeowners can have on their house property.

According to East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz, the village is evaluating land lot ratios, the height of buildings and subdivisions all in an attempt to prevent builders who are "trying to buy a lot and then overbuild on it." Some builders, the mayor claimed, would like to buy a property and then build a house "three times the size" of other houses in the same neighborhood.

"We want the neighborhood to stay the way it is," Mayor Koblenz added, while admitting that there have been some instances of overbuilding in East Hills.

The moratorium effort in East Hills is similar to what has happened in other villages in the Roslyn area. In the wake of the Stop & Shop controversy that took place several years ago, the newly-elected Village of Roslyn Board of Trustees drew up and enacted an entirely new zoning code and master plan for the village.

More recently, residents in Roslyn Heights were able to secure historic district status for a residential area they felt was being threatened by the subdivision of older homes. Currently, residents in the Donaldson Place neighborhood of The Heights are opposing efforts by a local contracting firm to subdivide a lot on their block; a lot which the contractor acknowledges falls short of required zoning code plot sizes.

The East Hills BOT did not take a vote on the issue at its Feb. 23 meeting, mainly because the Nassau County Planning Commission has yet to weigh in on the matter. County law stipulates that villages such as East Hills submit any amendments to their zoning codes to the Planning Commission.

The commission, according to Mr. Terry, then does one of three things: They declare the amendment to be a "matter of local determination," giving the village to go ahead to proceed; they ask for more information; or they issue a "co-jurisdiction" decree with the village, which gives the county considerably more say in the zoning matter.

Mr. Terry added that for a moratorium such as the one East Hills is considering the county "usually doesn't get involved with co-jurisdiction."