ZBA to consider proposal for Hebrew Academy site

Developers file variance request for 12-story towers

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The developers looking to build two 12-story luxury condominium towers at the site of the Long Beach Hebrew Academy recently applied for a variance from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals, after months of public debate and criticism of the project.

Wittek Development and Sackman Enterprises were scheduled to appear before the zoning board on Oct. 13. The hearing could be postponed, however, according to Jerry Kremer, a former state assemblyman and Long Beach resident who is serving as counsel to Ruskin Moscou Faltischek P.C., the Uniondale-based law firm representing the developers, who plan to construct the 154-foot-tall buildings at 530 W. Broadway. (Full disclosure: Kremer is a columnist for the Heralds.)

Kremer said that one of the consultants scheduled to testify would not be available on that date, and added that his clients have filed a request to the zoning board to have the meeting rescheduled. The board is expected to decide on a later date at its Oct. 13 meeting.

“… [W]e’re entitled to present a full case with all the consultants at the same time,” Kremer said. “It’s like if you had a wedding and you say, ‘We’ve got the flowers, but the band’s not available,’ are you going to have the wedding?”

The developers’ consultants are expected to address the impact of the project on traffic, the environment, tax revenues and the city in general, according to Kremer, but many residents have joined forces to challenge the project.

The Long Beach Neighbors Against Overdevelopment — a group comprising residents, building board members and civic leaders — is strongly opposed to the plan. The group has raised money to hire an attorney, Charles Peknic, who has helped it secure a team of experts who were scheduled to speak in opposition to the proposal on Oct. 13.

Members of the group have cited parking and overcrowding as chief concerns, despite the developers’ plans to include a 292-space parking garage for 130 condo units. Peknic told the Herald last month that the experts would address the environmental impact of the development, as well as the negative effect it would have on the city’s emergency services and those living closest to the project.

Residents showed up at last week’s City Council meeting with signs urging the city to halt what they called “overdevelopment.” In a guest column this week, City Councilman Scott Mandel also expresses opposition to the plan.

But not everyone opposes it. “I think this development is going to be great forLong Beach in terms of the overall economic impact of the community,” said Josh Levin, 36, who has owned property in Long Beach for 19 years. “I think it’s going to help raise property prices across Long Beach … and bring high-net-worth individuals who are able to afford those apartments into Long Beach, who are going to be spending their money in Long Beach.”

Levin and his wife live in Beachwalk Landing, an oceanfront condo complex adjacent to the potential building site, which is currently zoned for structures with a maximum height of 40 feet. He said he believes the Neighbors Against Overdevelopment are using “fear-mongering” to push their beliefs, and added that he thinks his views represent the “silent majority.”

“I think the LBNAO is going to be there, and I think they’re going to have their frivolous lawn signs,” Levin said. “But I think they should have a really hard think about the economic development that this is going to have on Long Beach in terms of jobs and commerce.”

The developers’ application for a variance comes two months after the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency denied iStar Financial’s request for a 20-year, $109 million tax abatement to build 522 apartments in twin 160-foot-tall buildings on the city’s Superblock, a project the zoning board approved in 2014.

Though many residents anxiously await their opportunity to speak out at the meeting and the subsequent vote, Gregory Kalnitsky, the city’s assistant corporation counsel, said a decision on the variance would most likely not be made on the day that both sides testify.

“Typically, and especially with big projects, they will hold the vote over for at least one meeting,” Kalnitsky said, “for additional submissions by the public and for additional contemplation on their own.”