The debate over the proposed senior housing project in downtown Roslyn continued last Wednesday night with a well-attended informational meeting held by the village Planning Board at the Bryant Library.

For beginners, Michael Daly, president of Forest City Daly, the firm that hopes to construct the housing units, wanted to set the facts straight over the size of the development. The entire project, he said, would cover 11 acres and be comprised of 265 housing units.

According to Mr. Daly, it would bring in $1 million in real estate taxes to the village and be "responsible to [its] neighbors."

A brochure available to all attendees described the residence as including a "new public park" that would contain pedestrian and bicycle paths, large open green fields, a children's playground, a wildlife pond, fishing spots at new bulkhead rails, a variety of seating along walking paths, and "spectacular vistas" of Hempstead Harbor.

The brochure also claimed the residence would "reinforce the historic character of....Roslyn with a composition of buildings that echoes the prevalent colonial revival, and a classical revival language of the historic houses in the Village."

Roslyn Mayor Janet Galante opened the meeting by saying she was "very excited" to see Forest City Daly's construction plans. Deputy Mayor Nolan Myerson added that the senior housing concept had been in the works for the past 3 1/2 years. Noting that there is the possibility of federally-funded housing going into the area off Skillman Street, Mr. Myerson said there is support among development experts for a residential property such as the senior housing residence for the downtown area. The village, he added, has looked at either multi-family, two-story units or senior housing for the site in question.

While much of the meeting centered around environmental issues, local residents expressed their own concerns over the project. Leah Rosky had questions over the size of the waterfront park, claiming it would be "far bigger" than Long Island's LILCO plant.

Roslyn resident Marshall Ward called the site off Skillman Street a "toxic time bomb," claiming that contractors, with the help of a homeless man who lived in the area, used to dump water materials into the harbor. Mr. Ward said that there currently is a Federal moratorium on building any steel bulkheads on the land in question.

Other questions were posed by Peter Wyler of Locust Valley, an attorney for Mr. and Mrs. Tim McLaughlin of Roslyn. Mr. McLaughlin is co-founder of an organization called the Coalition for the Preservation of Historic Roslyn.

Mr. Wyler noted the "massiveness" of the residence. Echoing Mr. McLaughlin, the attorney called it the "biggest thing anyone has seen in Roslyn."

"What happens if it doesn't work out?" he rhetorically asked, "and [the site] becomes a big hotel?"

Mr. Wyler also wondered what would happen if the "usage" of the housing development changes. He urged the Planning Board to be "very cautious" and to move "very slowly," adding that concerned residents need time to look at all the details of the housing plan.

Another public meeting on the environmental and other issues of the housing plan will be held Thursday, July 8 also at the Bryant Library.