West Hempstead residents will once again hold a rally this Sunday morning to close the Courtesy Hotel. This will mark the second straight year a rally is being held on Mother's Day and yet the hotel remains open.

The members of the West Hempstead community and the West Hempstead Civic Association believe the best way to close the Courtesy is for real estate developer Trammell Crow to purchase the property and erect an apartment building complex on the site. However, the Town of Hempstead Board is reluctant to change the zoning for the site to allow Trammell Crow to put 65 rental units per acre on the site.

West Hempstead Civic Association President Rosalie Norton, who helped to organize the rally last Mother's Day, is against leading the charge to have the Courtesy Hotel closed.

Civic members and those in favor of having the hotel closed favor the Trammell Crow rental apartment project. However, the town board feels that 65 units per acre is too dense and prefers 45 units per acre.

Trammell Crow submitted an application to change the zoning for the area. Although the town board did not render a decision on that application, it did adopt an urban renewal plan for the area including and around the hotel property.

Still, Norton is optimistic that the town board will eventually let the Trammell Crow project go through or negotiate a density with the developer that would seem to be suitable to the town board.

"The only progress that's going to be made is to let them know that the community hasn't turned around and decided we're disgusted or tired or disillusioned or that we're just going to fade away into the night. They should be ashamed of what they're doing," said Norton. "It defies logic and opens up Pandora's Box and to why not."

The rally will be held at the hotel on Hempstead Avenue on Sunday, May 11 between 10:45 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.

- Joe Rizza