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Parking garage in works for Huntington Hospital

A Google aerial photo of the hospital parking lot, at right, and one showing roughly where the parking deck would go. This was prepared for the hospital to show the concept of the plan and are not the final drawings. (Courtesy of Margolin and Margolin)

BY MICHAEL R. EBERT | michael.ebert@newsday.com

8:14 AM EDT, March 24, 2008

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Calling the need for additional parking "critical," officials at Huntington Hospital are knee-deep in a proposal that would erect a two-level parking garage and add more than 200 spaces to the Park Avenue facility.

On Tuesday, the Town of Huntington held a public hearing at which hospital officials explained their plight and requested a relaxation to a 15-year-old property covenant that restricts the distance from the street a building can be located. Under the current proposal, the hospital is eyeing a 25-foot setback to construct a 19-foot-high garage.

Previous proposals included a three-level garage at a height of approximately 38 feet, which drew criticism from local residents.

"The best win-win situation is for a two-level garage," said James S. Margolin, an attorney at Huntington-based Margolin and Margolin, which is representing the hospital. "The feedback we're getting is that people are happy with the current proposal."

According to Margolin, the property-line covenant was created in 1993 when the Adams House, a 19th-century clapboard dwelling on the National Register of Historic Places, was scheduled for demolition in conjunction with the hospital's plan to expand parking. Ultimately, the home was hauled a few blocks away by the Huntington Historical Society.

In 2004, the hospital received approval for a three-level parking facility that was a sufficient distance from the property line, but the $9.6 million cost exceeded the town's limit.

"It became clear that the best alternative was a two-level facility," said Margolin. "To fix the plans, we made the proposed structure wider to accommodate more spaces. Now, there's only a 10-15 car difference between the two- and three-level garages."

Margolin expects to hear whether the town will approve the hospital's proposal within the next 30 days. The hospital will then need permission from the town's Zoning Board of Appeals, since the project covers 32 percent more than the property's allocated land for construction, which is 3 percent over the amount approved by the town in 2004.

The town has agreed to allow the hospital to use Mill Dam Field, which is less than a mile away, as a temporary lot and bus people to the facility when construction begins.

"If all goes smoothly," Margolin said, the project could break ground in early 2009.

Established in 1916, Huntington Hospital is a 408-bed nonprofit community hospital that has been a member of the North Shore - Long Island Jewish Health System since 1994. Its current parking lot contains roughly 745 spaces.

Calls to town spokeswoman Fran Evans were referred to Anthony Aloisio, the town's director of planning and environment, who did not immediately return calls for comment.