Things are moving along smoothly for the Forest City Daly senior housing project in Roslyn. Recently, the Village of Roslyn Planning Board gave the project a unanimous recommendation to the board of trustees. The project has also received Site Plan approval, plus Development Incentive Bonus and Special Permit approvals.

Forest City now needs Board of Zoning Appeals approval for some height variances. It also needs approval from the village's Architectural Review Board for certain exterior appearances.

"We are extremely enthusiastic about the project," said Michael Daly, president of the Manhattan-based firm. Mr. Daly added that his firm recently gave the village $700,000 to help it purchase property previously owned by the Town of North Hempstead. Mr. Daly said his firm will use the land to build a bulkhead and walking paths for a proposed waterfront park.

In all, the senior housing development will contain 250 units. Forest City hopes to build on an 11-acre site off Skillman Street in downtown Roslyn. All throughout the debate on the development, board of trustee members have noted that the land in question was zoned specifically for senior housing.

The project will be subject to numerous restrictions and requirements. At the same time, Forest City may receive certain bonuses from the village for developmental purposes only because the firm has promised to make such additions to the area as a walkway and waterfront development. Specifics of the Village's restrictions and requirements will appear in future numbers of The Roslyn News.

There has been some public opposition to the development, mostly from homeowners in the area, who have based their complaints on traffic and size concerns.

The size of the project was also a main concern of the Planning Board. In the hearings leading up to the board's eventual recommendation, some members expressed unhappiness over the "height, massiveness and scale" of the project, while others complained that the administrative building was beginning to look like "corporate headquarters."

Such complaints had some effect on Forest City's plans. The administrative building was reduced from 10,000 to 4,000 sq. ft. In addition, buildings that were scheduled to be three stories high were reduced to two stories. The development's Assisted Living building was reduced to one story in height. The size of all three wings of the Dependent Living building were reduced in size, also. In all, the entire size of the development was reduced slightly, from 286,000 sq. ft. to 270,000 sq. ft. Forest City planners also promised to keep most of the buildings out of sight from traffic and residents in the Skillman Avenue area.