LETTER TO THE EDITOR

GLEN COVE VILLA PROJECT A POTENTIAL NIGHTMARE FOR SEA CLIFF; MEETING TUESDAY NIGHT

By Geri Reichgut, Sea Cliff

To the Editor:

I'm  writing concerning a situation that if passed will have an enormous impact on our Village of Sea Cliff.  The City of Glen Cove will be voting to allow the building of SIX,  four story high apartment buildings called The Villa, on this Tuesday September 30th.  There will be 194 units that are expected to house 776 occupants.  This proposed development will be on a narrow two block strip of land, on the east side of Glen Cove Avenue, on that very dangerous steep hill just south of the Boys club and a few blocks from the Village of Sea Cliff's border.     This past winter with all the snow & ice storms, this was an extremely treacherous steep hill to navigate driving up and down.

Personally, I am extremely concerned the residents living in the Villa will use Prospect Avenue, Glen Street & Sea Cliff Avenue for their egress traveling west to the expressway and/or parkways, and the same for their return drive home. The streets are already inundated with cut through traffic - do we really need MORE?  An inadequate traffic study was done which did not take into consideration the potential magnitude of this development, nor the other huge developments proposed for Glen Cove.   Other Villa residents could very well consider using Glen Cove Avenue, which is already overcrowded - witness the necessity for speed cameras near the two schools.  Sea Cliff's narrow, already over-crowded streets can not accommodate this extra traffic!  This could very well be the Village of Sea Cliff's worst traffic nightmare ever. 

Please read over all the facts below.   Traffic is NOT the only issue here, but it is of great concern to me. These facts below were carefully researched & written by the organization Glen Cove Citizens for Balanced Development.

What can we do to stop this?  Glen Cove Citizens for Balanced Development needs our help.  On Tuesday, September 30th at 7:30 pm, we must fill Glen Cove City Hall with people, (bring your children & let them see how important it is to let their voices be heard) and protest this dangerous, unnecessary over-development of an area that is not capable of such an abundance of buildings and people.  (To give you some perspective, this area was originally zoned for single homes on ½ acre, which is what exists there now).  Please bring  your questions. The developer and builder will be there. Let them know the impact this will have on our hilly, winding & narrow streets of Sea Cliff.  You can also make placards requesting that Glen Cove "STOP THE VILLA", "STOP THE OVERDEVELOPMENT", "NO VILLA!!!"

If this is passed, it will change our quaint Victorian Village FOREVER! 

I would hope you would pass this e-mail on to as many people as you can.  I haven't seen anything about this on Facebook.  I think it's advisable to let people in the area know the potential for a huge traffic disaster.  We must get as many people as possible to be at this meeting, even if they don't have questions, they can find out more information and decide for themselves if this is a development that shouldn't be built.  

Sincerely, 
Geri Reichgut
Sea Cliff

* * * *

STOP GLEN COVE OVERDEVELOPMENT!

The Villa Project is scheduled to be voted upon, on Sept.30th, at City Hall. The Planning Board and the City Council will hold a joint meeting, at that time, which is open to the general public. The Villa Project is to be located on Glen Cove Avenue, on one of our only 2 corridors, proposes 194 units, and will be capable of housing approximately 776 occupants within a narrow, 2 block, curving strip of land, on a dangerously steep hill. Are you aware of the following facts:

1. All legislation passed by the City of Glen Cove must be filed with the Secretary of State, by law, in order for it to become effective. It has recently been discovered by watchdog residents that Glen Cove, over a period of years, neglected to follow that procedure. Therefore, all legislation passed by Glen Cove during that time frame, which was not filed with the Secretary of State, is null and void. The City has been informed that the Master Plan and its associated zoning changes fall into that category.
2. The administration chooses to ignore these facts and still plans to vote on The Villa Project on Sept. 30th.  Our rights are being violated by both appointed and elected representatives who have not taken the State’s required annual training courses, in order to prepare them to perform their duties knowledgeably. They are responsible for decisions that will transform Glen Cove forever, into the Master Plan’s “new suburbia”, (i.e., an urban mass of high density, housing complexes with their associated problems), which will decrease the value of our homes and destroy our quality of life.
3. Despite the State Environmental Quality Review Analysis’s warning, the City continues to ignore the totality of the effects arising from the following projects, thereby increasing our population by approximately 6,500 residents, (25%):  The Villa (194 units), The Village Square Piazza (110 units), Carney St. Apts. (50 units), The Mews (Congregation Tifereth Israel - 72 Units), Garvies Point Waterfront Project (860 – 1110 units), North Manor Estates (Glen Cove Mansion – 46 units), and Sea Isle (8 units). There are also projects currently pending, under discussion: The Triangle (STAPLES), and the Konica Imaging and Photocircuit sites.  Will other projects surface?
4. The City grants developers and certain selected businesses, PILOTS, (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes), for long periods of time, which are drastically lower than their normal, local taxes. The shortfall must be absorbed into the property taxes paid each year, by the City’s homeowners, during the duration of the PILOT. The REGENCY just had its PILOT extended for 40 years, even though it defaulted on the bonds used to finance it. New developments, like The Villa Project, most likely will ask for, and may be granted PILOTS, burdening the taxpayer even more. It seems the City favors the developers over its taxpayers. 

Now ask yourself the following questions:

1. Will The Villa Project and others like it, make Glen Cove, a more, or less desirable place to live?
2. Will market conditions force the applicant to offer the units as rentals, not condos?
3. Will its expected increase in traffic cause intolerable and dangerous traffic jams?
4. Will its enormous increase in student population proportionately raise our school taxes?
5. How much will our property taxes be increased, in order to build the necessary, additional infrastructure it requires, and to provide the municipal services needed, to sustain this population?
6. Can members of the Planning Board and City Council, freely vote their conscience, without fear of reprisal?
7. Why has the City accepted the Applicant’s inadequate solutions to the numerous, adverse, environmental impacts, defined by the SEQRA, rather than demanding their TOTAL ELIMINATION?
8. Why did the Planning Board  adopt the Villa Project’s inadequate Findings Statement and recommend specific density bonuses for the project, to The City Council, knowing that its legal basis is non-existent?

The current administration now has the opportunity to rectify the misguided vision of past administrations, thereby taking responsibility for its own actions, starting with The Villa Project.  YOU can help to prevent Glen Cove’s overdevelopment by contacting us, as soon as possible. Please refer to the contact information below. It would also be tremendously helpful if you would attend the Sept. 30th meeting, in a show of force, and make copies of this article to distribute to your friends and neighbors. 

Glen Cove Citizens for Balanced Development

Contact Information:         [email protected]              Cell Phone: 516-768-1000