Monday, November 10, 2025
A proposal to construct a three-story mixed-use building on South Park Avenue was denied last week by the village Zoning Board of Appeals, following months of vocal opposition from residents, business owners and the Rockville Centre Civic Association.
The application, submitted by property owner Joseph DiFigueroa, sought multiple zoning variances to allow for no front setback, no off-street parking and a substantial occupancy permit for a restaurant. The proposal included a ground-floor restaurant, and office space on the second and third floors.
In a 3-2 vote, the zoning board denied the application, and in its official letter, it cited conflicts with village code, including a required 10-foot front yard setback in Business A districts and a shortfall of 42 parking spaces.
“We certainly believe that we met the criteria needed to justify the approval of the variances sought, but clearly the board didn’t feel the same way,” William Bonesso, the attorney representing DiFigueroa, said.
Meghan Kearns, president of the civic association, said that community members had been following the project since it was first brought before the zoning board last November. An earlier version of the project, which included a rooftop restaurant, was withdrawn in March after meeting with similar public disapproval.
The revised proposal, with the restaurant on the ground floor, was presented to the Nassau County Planning Commission in May. The commission issued a “local determination,” meaning that it did not object to the project, though its recommendation was non-binding, because it left the ultimate decision up to the village.
Still, Kearns said, the civic association remained opposed to the plan and made its case to the zoning board on several fronts, from aesthetics and scale to foot traffic and parking.
“The building itself would be the only three-story building on the block,” she said, referring to the block south of Merrick Road, “and it would be the only mixed-use building that would incorporate a restaurant and commercial space on top. The other mixed-use buildings on the block have a restaurant on the bottom and residential on top, and it would be the biggest building and the only building of its kind, and so therefore it did not fit in the neighborhood, and it was out of place and too intensive of a use for that particular site.”
Kearns said that eight members of the civic association spoke in opposition at the zoning board hearing on Oct. 8. Two of them were David and Gina Wuestmann, Rockville Centre residents and co-owners of the Let It Brie cheese shop, three storefronts south of the property on South Park.
David conducted and submitted an independent parking study documenting available parking in municipal Field 4, behind South Park. He said his key concern was that “the added two floors of office space will bring additional owners, employees and others fighting for limited parking spaces at the expense of existing businesses and residents surrounding Parking Lot 4.”
Wuestmann walked through the lot on 26 days, usually at mid-day, and counted the number of available spaces. He recorded his findings in a spreadsheet to show how limited parking is in the area, which he submitted to the zoning board.
According to Wuestmann, there were seven or fewer shopper parking spaces available 81 percent of the time, and resident and employee parking availability was similarly constrained.
“There’s only, on average, like, four spots available, and now you’re going to add even more competition,” he said. “So that’s going to be off-putting to residents that have to park there every day.”
Gina Wuestmann highlighted the potential strain on Parking Field 8 nearby, which is frequently used by residents of the co-ops along Lenox Road, where she and her husband live. Both expressed their disapproval of the proposal due to the parking issues, as well as how the building would impact the character of the area.
“A three story building with zero-foot setback would be uncharacteristic on South Park Avenue, and that was one of the aesthetic problems with their proposal, as well as parking,” David said. “It is uncharacteristic for the rest of the street, something that tall with a zero-foot setback, and I think that factored into the decision by the zoning board as well.”
Bonesso said that DiFigueroa was “very disappointed with the decision.”
“The board has decided the case, so that that ends the application to the Board of Appeals,” Bonesso said, “and it’s now up to my client to decide what he wants to do next.”
The civic association, Kearns said, hopes the decision sends a message to future developers. “We think that the Zoning Board of Appeals made the right decision in denying the applicant,” she told the Herald, “and we hope that, going forward, developers who want to come to Rockville Centre and invest in our community are willing to work with our community and work with the Civic Association and see if there are ways in which we can come to an agreement on what would be best and what people would like to see in our village as we move forward.”
