Legal efforts by the Village of Roslyn to have earlier decisions that declared sections of its Master Plan to be void and inoperative overturned by the courts have failed. And so, the village Board of Trustees will have to hold public hearings to debate and then reenact both their Master Plan and Zoning Codes.

The village made a motion for the Appellate Division of the New York State Court to reconsider their surprise decision last July, which ruled that rezoning elements of the village's Master Plan were enacted too hastily for it to apply to the village's dealings with LCS, Inc., the Syosset-based firm that once wanted to build a supermarket on the 11,000 sq. ft. area of land off Skillman Street in downtown Roslyn.

In several decisions made late last week, the Appellate Division rejected the village's appeal and also its attempt to have the Court of Appeals hear the case. LCS also had their own motion to have the village's automatic stay on the downtown property lifted rejected by that same court.

Village of Roslyn Attorney John Spellman said the decisions basically left the status quo on such matters in place. The village may still try to get the Court of Appeals to hear its case, but in the meantime, the BOT will have to hold public hearings to once again approve a Master Plan they enacted nearly four years ago. That in itself will only take a short time during a future public hearing, but the BOT will also have to draft an updated version of the Master Plan's Environmental Impact Statement. Mr. Spellman has advised the BOT that such a special meeting happen as soon as possible so that public hearings and notices may be processed.

Once the new Master Plan is readopted, another LCS option for prolonging their struggle over the downtown property will have ended. For several months, the BOT has looked forward to reviewing a plan by Phillips International to build rowhouse-style housing on some of the land in question. The land itself was recently sold to Phillips by LCS with such development in mind.

Rezoning elements of the Master Plan have remained in limbo since last June when the Appellate Court claimed the BOT adopted that section without first gaining proper recommendations by the Nassau County Planning Commission. In short, the village, in 1997, enacted its new rezoning law two weeks earlier than it should have. The entire Master Plan was eventually approved by the Planning Commission.

LCS itself filed the suit that the court ruled was viable. In 1995, a new Board of Trustees, one opposed to LCS's planned supermarket in Roslyn, came into power, promising to adopt new zoning codes for the village. This included rezoning the downtown area for residential rather than commercial development. LCS lawsuits have maintained that the new laws did not apply to its project. The latter claim has not been a problem for the village, but for the past six months, they have contended with the possibility that the Master Plan would have to be reenacted to satisfy the concerns of the Appellate Court.