Representatives of Forest City Daly showed up at a Planning Board meeting at the Bryant Library last Thursday night to continue to make their case for a proposed senior housing development to be built on 11 acres of land in downtown Roslyn.

The meeting was part of ongoing public hearings on the plan, this one focusing on the draft environmental impact statement. Before introducing the speakers from Forest City, Deputy Mayor Nolan Myerson said the land north of the Roslyn Viaduct had been zoned for senior care facilities. He added that no variance is needed because of the acreage size of the property.

Michael Daly, a principal at Forest City Daly, said he had met with numerous local residents in recent weeks to hear their concerns. He said his company had brought together one of the "premier design teams....probably in the world."

Mr. Daly said the 11.077-acre site is not on "pristine wetland." Right now, asphalt, concrete, and a "rusted-out bulkhead" are on the land, one that Mr. Daly still said offers "one of the most spectacular vistas on Long Island."

He said resident concerns have centered around the four acres set aside for public access, plus usual concerns over traffic and sanitation.

Forest City, Mr. Daly said, will do "what the village wants us to do" with the four acres. The company, he added, would also pay taxes on the land. Residents have asked if the land would be accessible to the Grist Mill on Old Northern Boulevard. While he gave no time frame, Mr. Daly said that eventually there will be a waterfront park accessible to the public and the Grist Mill.

Concerning traffic, Mr. Daly said the staff peak hours would run from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. There would be 46 cars arriving in the morning, and due to visitors, 73 cars leaving in the afternoon. The daytime staff would consist of 50 to 53 people. The 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. staff would only be comprised of 11 employees.

Mr. Daly also said up to 70 percent of the residents would be senior citizens from the Roslyn area. Other residents would include New Yorkers-turned-Floridians who would be lured back to their home state. According to a traffic engineer hired by Forest City, fewer than five percent of the seniors own their own cars. Plus, once they move into such facilities, most seniors discard their automobiles. Most of the traffic is generated by the staff and their hours (arriving for work at 7 a.m., for instance) do not overlap with normal peak traffic hours.

The odors and noise from garbage compactors and kitchen activities would be handled by putting the kitchen in the middle of the site and hiding the trash compactor in a well. Forest City would work with the village to alleviate any noise problems, Mr. Daly said.

Paul Whalen, an architect hired by Forest City, said the residences would be constructed in classical style with welcoming porches and columns similar to what exists at Roslyn Presbyterian Church and several older homes in the village.

A slide show with a drawing of the proposed development showed what Mr. Whalen called a "most grand" entrance to the main building with large welcoming porches.. He said only one of the buildings would be seen from Bryant Avenue. In all, the development, with its tree-lined walkways, would look like a campus or a small community.

Charles Fallman, president of Land Use Ecological Services, said his firm planned to cut off the existing bulkhead, while adding rocks to the seaward side, all in an effort to plant a wetland for a "habitat value" that he claims does not exist now.

Questions about the development from local residents centered on cleanup, traffic, and master plan concerns. Steve Kirschman wanted to know the price and the safeguards involved in the possible cleanup of contaminated soil currently on the planned site.

Erica Robrum noted the traffic numbers given by Daly personnel, adding that even at 7 a.m. there is still "a helluva lot" of traffic on local streets. She suggested that the senior housing employees enter the proposed site through Landing Road rather than Bryant Avenue since Landing, at least, has a traffic light.

Kay Bromberg had questions about the village's master plan and the proposed project. She noted that in the plan, buildings were limited to 10,000 sq. ft. and two stories in height. The senior housing development, she added, was proposed at 180,000 sq. ft. and at 40 ft. high, a number she thought exceeded two stories.

"There are a certain amount of residents that may desire to be transported from the housing development to the library," Roslyn resident Paul Burros told The Roslyn News. "This may result in more than one van, contributing to the congestion between the housing development to the library during peak driving hours. How can the transportation of these people be helped?"

Finally, Peter Wyler, an attorney for Mr. and Mrs. Tim McLaughlin of Roslyn, wondered how Forest City Daly would project adjacent property owners, including the McLaughlin property. Mr. Wyler said that if more buildings were moved further south on the property it would protect the northern-most natural land area.

Mr. McLaughlin is co-founder of an organization called the Coalition for the Preservation of Historic Roslyn, which is opposed to the housing development.