The Rockville Centre Civic Association hosted a meeting on Feb. 11, with over 50 attendees gathering at the Rockville Centre Library to discuss the proposed redevelopment of 24 South Park Ave. into a three-story mixed-use building.
The proposal has garnered strong reactions from residents, many of whom are concerned about the project’s impact on parking on South Park Avenue and the character of the neighborhood.
The proposal for the building has changed since it was introduced last November “based upon communications with the village,” according to William Bonesso, the zoning and land use attorney with the firm Forchelli, Deegan and Terrana Law representing the owner of the property, Joseph DiFigueroa.
The original three-story building had a restaurant on the first floor, medical offices on the second and third floor and a rooftop dining area. This proposed development required 56 parking spaces to be available for use, as it was deemed a medical building, as well as a 10-foot setback from the road.
The new building, Bonesso explained, no longer has the proposed rooftop dining component, and it only has one floor of medical offices, with the third floor holding regular offices, therefore removing its designation as a medical building by the village. This reduces the parking requirement from 56 spaces to 42 spaces.
Bonesso is asking for a parking variance to remove the requirement of 42 spaces, as well as a front yard setback variance to remove the requirement of the 10-foot setback.
“If you take a look at South Park Avenue, every building on it is right on the front property line,” he said. “So, if we complied with that (setback), we would actually be out of character with the rest of the area.”
Despite the changes, community members voiced concerns about the building’s size and proximity to the street, with some expressing it would appear out of place among the smaller buildings lining the street.
A significant point of concern expressed at the civic meeting was the lack of parking spaces. Meghan Kerns, a member of the civic association, said that small businesses in the area are worried about how the already existing parking challenges for customers would be exacerbated by this new building.
“They would be impacted by the additional traffic and parking demand that comes with that building,” she said.
In addition to parking concerns, some attendees are worried about the building’s potential impact on the neighborhood’s character. The existing structure that would be replaced is a Civil War-era home with a rich history in the village.
According to the Rockville Centre Historical Society, the home dates back to 1863, 30 years before Rockville Centre became an official village. South Park Avenue was mostly residential until the 1920s and 30s, when it housed a variety of businesses. Most recently, the house served as a bar modeled as a speakeasy, which closed in 2020.
The historic home also hosts the history of early immigration into the town, with the Goldstein family, Polish immigrants who moved to the U.S. in 1929, renting it.
Matt Clisziz, a member of the historical society, said he wrote a letter to the house’s current owner, suggesting alternatives to demolition.
“You could have offices upstairs and a restaurant downstairs by redeveloping the existing building changing the building around slightly to conform to the use that he’s looking for,” Clisziz said.
Clisziz stated that offers have been made to connect the owner with a local architect who is willing to donate her time to help create plans for repurposing the space.
“It’s a shame to lose the last remaining home on South Park Avenue, on the street that was once all a residential street,” Clisziz said. “That house is one of the oldest in the village. And so, to lose something like that, would not only change the character of the street itself but also take away from the history of our village that dates back that far.”
From what the Historical Society can gather, Clisziz said, the home is “pretty much” in its original form. He said the town does not have “any sort of preservation ordinances,” meaning that historical houses like this are always under threat of development.
“I think as a village, we need to understand whether or not enacting some sort of protection for buildings like this is something that we all feel is important,” Clisziz said.
The developer is currently working on a new traffic study based on the revisions to the development.
The project’s approval process requires a zoning board hearing, scheduled for March 5. Kerns said the civic association encourages everyone to attend the hearing to express their opinions on the development.
Additional reporting by Xiomara Trinidad Perez.
