Another West End development?

The Great Neck developers want to demolish a building shared by Vito’s Fish & Chips and 13 apartments and build two Moorish-style duplexes, separated by a 40-foot corridor, on the site and an adjoining vacant lot. The plan also includes an open area with a swimming pool and cabana.
The city zoning board denied another developer’s proposal to build six houses on the vacant lot in 2006. At an April 24 zoning board hearing, the Rafimayeris’ architect, Angelo Corva, and real estate appraiser, Robert Marks, described their proposal as having much more open space, fewer dwellings — 16 instead of a total of 19 — and 44 parking spaces, 12 more than the minimum required by code.
West Enders opposed to the plan and board Chairman Rocco Morelli said that most of the patrons of Vito’s, its employees and the upstairs dwellers at 5 New York Ave. travel predominantly by foot, and their apartments are relatively small compared to the spacious townhouse units. “The size of the unit does not determine the amount of parking,” Marks responded, “and right now there is no parking ...”
Former zoning board and City Council member Denis Kelly, speaking on behalf of two Pennsylvania Avenue couples, said that a development with 44 parking spaces is “too dense.”
“The traffic between New York and Pennsylvania avenues is incredible,” said Linda Alper, who lives on Pennsylvania. “Forty-four more cars coming in and out is going to cause more havoc.”
But some residents whose homes abut the Vito’s property welcome the plan. Patricia Pasqua, a 15-year resident of 19 New York Ave., agreed that the traffic on her block is “a major nightmare” — from the garbage and lifeguard trucks that enter and exit the beach to the restaurant patrons who park haphazardly along the sidewalk — but she and her husband, Vincent, believe the townhouses would actually improve the traffic situation.
“The way they’re proposing to build it,” Pasqua explained, “it will split and equalize the traffic because there will be two roads now instead of one.”
Her husband said the Rafimayeris’ development is the best proposal for the property he has seen. “This is the only plan I support because it provides the most open space and the most parking,” he said.
Matters of economics and zoning
While the Rafimayeris have yet to close on the adjoining properties, they signed a $5.1 million contract for the vacant parcel last June and a $2.1 million contract for the restaurant in October. Marks estimated that construction costs would total $15 million, and that the units would likely sell for $1.1 million to $1.3 million.
Others, however, questioned those numbers. Arizona Avenue resident Janet Sorenson said that those rates are “nothing” for beachfront townhouses. “I think it is very low,” Sorenson added. “A house on Arizona on the beach was just listed for $3.9 million.”
Morelli expressed concern that the townhouses might not sell in the current unpredictable real estate market. “Although Long Beach seems fairly stable,” he asked Marks, “are you concerned that the market has not continued to bottom out yet in Long Beach?”
But Marks insisted that his estimates were realistic, and said, “I think the one thing we have here that you may not have in other parts of Long Beach is that we are directly on the beach.”
Marks added that the townhouses would improve surrounding property values and expand the city and school tax base, and that the expected tenants would likely have few, if any, school-aged children.
Kelly, meanwhile, pointed out that the Vito’s property is zoned for a mix of commercial and residential use, and the adjoining property for single-family homes. “[The Rafimayeris] are proposing to build multi-family housing where only single-family housing is allowed,” Kelly said. “That’s a change in use. For them to be given these variances, they have to show a hardship that they don’t have. As a matter of law, they should be denied.”
Does character matter?
“In my opinion,” Marks said of the townhouses, which would be 34 feet high, “there will be no undesirable change to the character of this neighborhood with this development.”
Ocean View resident Richard Santoro, whose windows look out onto the vacant lot and the ocean, said that the six homes previously proposed for the lot would have blocked his view. “But the corridor [between the two townhouse buildings] right down the middle still gives me a view,” he said, expressing his support for the plan.
Another neighbor, Eric Bentley, who lives in an apartment building at 780 W. Broadway, said the townhouses would obstruct his ocean view.
Both Kelly and Joe Cavanaugh, a California Avenue resident and a member of an organization called Pennsylvania Ocean View of New York, or PONY, said they believe the townhouses would actually rise to 40 feet, making them the tallest buildings west of New York Avenue. “These are going to be massive buildings,” Kelly said, “and although they’re going to have a nice corridor between them, that’s not going to benefit anyone, given their size and density.”
Cavanaugh said that PONY was established to fight proposals like the Rafimayeris’ “from ruining our neighborhood,” and predicted, “This type of overdevelopment will march right across the beachfront.”
Others who live near Vito’s or the neighboring lot said they favor the development over the restaurant, claiming that the business’s garbage attracts rodents and roaches, and its bar brings drunks and drug deals to their streets. “This seems like the best proposal,” said a California Avenue resident who identified himself as Peter. “Anything that gets rid of Vito’s is worth it to me. Anything that levels that building is progress.”
But Kelly cautioned such residents not to confuse the perceived advantages of the proposed development with proper code and police enforcement. “If Vito’s is a problem, it is an enforcement problem,” he said. “The city should take it upon itself to do its job and enforce the law.”
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.