At its most recent meeting, the Village of Roslyn Estates board of trustees rejected an amendment that would have given more powers to the Architectural Review Board (ARB), primarily on matters of residential housing demolition.

The vote was 4-1 against the amendment, with Trustees Jules Kauffman, Richard Levine, Bonnie Weinberg, and Alan Mendels voting no, and Mayor Susan Ben-Moshe casting the lone vote in the affirmative. The BOT will now consider the revamped version of the bill, one that eliminates the portion dealing with demolition. That vote may take place at a special meeting to be held later this month.

In addition, the BOT discussed a bill that would terminate the temporary building moratorium that has existed in the village since last spring. The moratorium extended to all subdivisions and certain construction and demolition projects in the village. The BOT also discussed a bill that would amend regulations on tree protection in the village. No vote on either bill was taken, but ones are expected at the next regular village meeting, to be held Monday, Jan. 6, 2003.

Legislation concerning residential zoning has, in recent months, attracted much attention among Roslyn Estates residents. The Dec. 10 meeting, for instance, was scheduled at the Roslyn Middle School rather than at the village hall so as to accommodate all the interested residents.

Prior to the vote on the amendment, the village had mailed out questionnaires to all Roslyn Estates residents, mainly as a way to gauge public opinion. Of the 400 questionnaires sent out, about 150 came back answered, and of those, opinion was split on the amendment change.

Trustee Jules Kauffman called the ARB the "linchpin for stabilizing the village's future." He said he favored legislation strengthening the ARB, and also having no demolition in the village unless the resident's replacement is within village standards.

Mayor Ben-Moshe said the main purpose behind the proposed amendment was to keep older homes from being demolished. The task for the BOT, she added, was to craft balanced legislation that would help maintain the character of the village's homes while also keeping property rights intact.

Landmarking "special" homes, the mayor continued, was the right thing to do. Toward that end, she favors the establishment a historic preservation committee. The mayor also said that labeling the village as a historic village might drive potential buyers away, and that the village's character could be preserved without such a designation. The amendment, she said, echoing Trustee Kauffman, would allow a homeowner to "take down" a house, as long as they rebuild it with a similar architectural pattern. Furthermore, the amendment would give homeowners not one, but two appeals to village officials when going through the entire demolition-rebuilding process.

Citing lack of public support, Trustee Richard Levine said he would vote against the amendment. Trustee Alan Mendels said that while he favored giving more power to the ARB, he felt the feature of landmarking should be removed from the amendment.

After the vote was taken, BOT members said the next order of business was to draft a new bill, one that Trustee Kauffman hoped would remove all references to historic preservation. Meanwhile, along with new legislation will be an entirely new Architectural Review Board. Mayor Ben-Moshe said all current members of the ARB would resign. At the meeting, the BOT issued a call for new ARB members.

Several residents also noted the acrimonious feelings the entire zoning debate had caused. Some expressed their unhappiness with the mayor's performance, but most defended her motives. Mickey Zucker, himself a former Roslyn Estates mayor, said he opposed the designation of certain homes as historic ones, but he also agreed that any new legislation needs a balance between preservation and property rights.

Scott Henry, who has maintained that current zoning laws are sufficient to preserve the village's architectural character, said whatever legislation the BOT agrees on should have some consistency concerning both demolition and renovations. Another resident wanted to know if new zoning laws would allow homes "to be demolished at will." Trustee Kauffman reiterated that homes in the village cannot be demolished until replacement plans are approved by the BOT. He said that there are only about 20 houses in Roslyn Estates that fall in the "vintage category." Such homes are so large in size that it is not economically feasible for them to be destroyed.