As Carle Place homeowners, we have been given this opportunity to state our position with regard to the BOCES zone change.

Our position has been the same all along and mirrors our petition stating: We strongly oppose the change of zone to the former BOCES site and the current plans proposed by the property owner. Period. The application before the Town of North Hempstead is just that!

An application and we are opposed to it. We as homeowners have circulated a petition, as many of you know, to sign if you are opposed to a change of zone, and nothing more should be read into that. We are not against seniors as some people are misleading our community to believe. The reasons people sign and have signed the petition are varied and their own. Some of these reasons are:

1. They are opposed to housing of any description on the BOCES site and wish it to remain commercially zoned.

2. The tax base will not be maximized by housing [and our community will lose] a rare opportunity to hold the line on increasing taxes. Residential housing of any description will not return equal or greater tax revenue for our schools than commercially zoned property no matter how the owners care to play with the numbers.

3. If the project fails, the owner can reassign the property to multi-residence housing without the same restrictions as now being proposed.

4. The owner's own attorney said he did not have a crystal ball to see into the future! There are no guarantees that the property will continue in the same specific use regardless of any promises being made.

5. There may be a possible future impact on the Carle Place School District by overcrowding our already overburdened schools, if the project ends up as regular housing. This may include an increase in class size or another capital bond issue or both, further increasing our school taxes.

6. Many residents cited the possible loss in local property values and deterioration of our neighborhood if the owners proposed plan fails or is modified.

All of the above reasons and a few others were cited as reasons that people signed the petition against the proposed zone change. We feel an office building or similar use will maximize the tax base for our schools and have limited traffic impact at night and on weekends.

In summary, no zone change, maximize our tax base, take the risk of future impact out by keeping the present zoning, maintain our school standards and, in turn, our property values. That is our position on the matter, echoing the community of Carle Place.

We say no zone change without any spin or complications. Speaking to the people and using a petition to allow the people to speak for themselves is called freedom of speech and no government, local or otherwise can take that away from you. For the more than 2,200 people who have already signed the petition, we thank you. With your input and support and we will continue to oppose the zone change, monitor the situation and keep you informed on our website for Carle Place Homeowners at www.carleplace.homestead.com. You can also email us at carleplacevoice@yahoo.com.

Carle Place Homeowners