Deciding to fight or negotiate

The Woodmere Merchants Association insists it needs more parking spaces for its businesses as the Woodmere Rehabilitation & Health Care Center moves forward with its plans to build a new five-story, 280-bed facility in the area of Franklin Place, Broadway and West Broadway.

The merchants are concerned that the new facility, along with many new potential occupants in the building Woodmere Rehabilitation has vacated, will create such an increased demand for spaces that local merchants’ employees and customers won’t find parking.

The care center wants the Town of Hempstead to allow it only 134 parking spaces, instead of the zoning-code-required 225. The town’s Board of Appeals hearing on the variance is slated for Nov. 3.

“What’s enough parking, what’s not enough parking?” asked Dr. John Santopolo, the newly installed president of the Merchants Association, whose dental office is adjacent to the current rehab center building.

But the merchants do not want to chase the care center away. It is the only nursing home in the Five Towns, and it is an economic engine for the business district, with employees eating at local restaurants and shopping in the area.

“People have the right to build what they want, if it’s up to code,” said Dr. Barry Rosenberg, a Woodmere dentist. “I’m worried about the parking.”

Santopolo presented three options to his membership on Oct. 12, and a decision was to be made by the end of this week. The association could accept the 134-space plan, negotiate with the care center for more parking — possibly 174 spaces — or oppose the plan at the town hearing, complete with an attorney and a traffic-impact study.

Mitchell Teller, the care center’s administrator; Wayne Edwards, the attorney representing the center; and Robert Eschbacher, an engineer and principal of Hauppauge-based VHB Engineering, presented their plan and took questions at a meeting of the Merchants Association on Oct. 12.

The basis of Woodmere Rehabilitation’s argument is that there will be more parking in the area, not less, since the staff and visitor lots will free up more spaces on the street. Also, there will be fewer cars driven by Woodmere Rehabilitation staff and visitors because there are 56 fewer beds in the new facility.

In addition to the new building, the care center will raze the Five Towns Community Center and an old car dealership, both on Franklin Place, to construct two new parking lots. “Fewer beds means more parking, and it is a less intensive use,” said Eshbacher, who noted that the new building plans boast “more parking on our own site and less demand for that parking.”

According to Eshbacher, 96 people now drive to work, while 30 use other means besides car-pooling. Fifty-five people on the evening shift drive to work. Teller noted that there are usually 25 to 30 resident visits per day, and if everyone on the staff drove to work, the center would need 125 spaces, nine fewer than what it is seeking.

Attorney Alan M. Stein said that the Board of Appeals applies a balancing test when considering an application. “Whether it is a benefit to the applicant or a detriment to the community,” Stein said is the concern.