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Trump resubmits Jones Beach plan

BY BILL BLEYER | bill.bleyer@newsday.com

9:27 PM EST, January 15, 2008

Developer Donald Trump Tuesday asked the state to allow the same basement under his Jones Beach restaurant and catering facility that was rejected last month, but this time he included additional reports, testimonials and letters to support his application.

The revised application from Trump and partner Steve Carl was received in time to be the subject of a hearing Feb. 5 by a review board that meets in upstate Cortlandt Manor, said Department of State spokesman Eamon Moynihan.

But Nassau Assessor Harvey Levinson and local residents have asked the department to shift the session to Long Island. Moynihan said the request is being reviewed.

Last month, the same review panel rejected a variance for the real estate mogul's planned 350-seat Trump on the Ocean. It ruled that his team had not made a convincing argument that Trump should be allowed to deviate from the state building code, which prohibits basements in floodplains.

"We've documented everything better and refined the primary arguments," said Michael Russo, the Trump on the Ocean project manager.

Trump this time has omitted his economic hardship argument -- that he couldn't make the 70,000-square-foot project profitable without the 26,710 square-foot basement. The review board dismissed that line of thinking.

Among the new supporting documents:

A study that Russo said proves the design of the Trump on the Ocean piles and foundation are sufficient to withstand a storm that would be expected to occur once in a century.

Information about the effectiveness of the proposed flood-proof basement doors made by Presray Corp. that, according to the manufacturer, has successfully protected hospitals, communications centers and other key sites from hurricane damage on the Gulf Coast.

A new letter from the state parks department summarizing how the developers were given approval for the project. Russo said he requested the letter from parks officials because the board wanted more information on how the project came about.

"It is typical for the agency to write letters of support to controlling agencies to advocate for a project with which we are contractually bound," said parks spokeswoman Eileen Larrabee, who added that the department had submitted a similar letter with the first application.

Levinson said the additional documentation didn't change his opinion that Trump's project remains ill-conceived. "The state law prohibiting basements for buildings in floodplains was established for a reason," he said.

Alexandra Wolfe, of the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, said the new application "doesn't change our concerns that the scope and scale of this building is too big and the one acre of parking on the recreation side of the park compromises Robert Moses' original design intent of keeping recreation and services separate." The group nominated Jones Beach for the Preservation League of New York State's annual "Seven To Save" list of most endangered sites. Jones Beach was added to the list this week.