Church looks to make Baldwin new home

The former site of a Chinese restaurant on Grand Avenue was the focus of more than a dozen Baldwin residents last week who attended a Town of Hempstead Board of Appeals public hearing. It was also the focus for members of Sutun-e-Haqq Assembly of God, Inc., a church currently based in Queens that purchased the property in 2012.

The building is on the southeast corner at the intersection of Grand and Stanton avenues. Sutun-e-Haqq is a unique church in that its services are conducted in urdu — a language spoken in Pakistan and northern parts of India. According to the church’s pastor, Pervez Khokhar, there are currently no urdu-speaking churches in Nassau County.

The reason for the hearing on July 30 was Sutun-e-Haqq’s request for three items: a special exception to use the building for religious use, a variance in off-street parking and to get the OK to construct a brick masonry wall with a metal bar fence on top. The church needed the Board of Appeals’ approval to build the fence because it would have infringed upon the “clear sight triangle” between Stanton and Grand.

A clear sight triangle is maintained at the corner where two streets come together so a driver can see around the corner before making the turn. According to the Town of Hempstead’s code, “no wall, fence or other structure shall be erected…at a height greater than 2 1/2 feet at any point within a radius of 20 feet of the point formed by any intersecting property lines adjacent to roads or highways.”

The church had an initial proposal to construct a four-foot brick masonry wall with a decorative fence on top. The proposal also called for six-foot brick masonry posts every 10 to 12 feet.

Baldwin residents attended the hearing to voice their concerns with the proposal. Several people who live in the area said the wall would be a danger to pedestrians and drivers alike by cutting down on visibility.