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Trump's Jones Beach plans hit rough surf

BY JENNIFER SMITH | jennifer.smith@newsday.com

10:27 PM EST, December 11, 2007

An indignant Donald Trump said Tuesday that a state board's denial of a variance for a basement at his planned restaurant and catering facility at Jones Beach could delay construction "for years."

The high-profile developer needed a variance for the 36,000-square-foot basement because Trump on the Ocean would be built in a floodplain.

"That decision cannot be appealed," said Eamon Moynihan, spokesman for the Department of State, whose review board issued the decision in Cortlandt Manor Tuesday.

"This particular project, as designed, will not be built" unless the parks department -- which applied for the variance -- decides to take the matter to court.

Trump was incensed. He complained last week that the state already was slowing his progress on the project, and Tuesday he blamed state parks officials for the latest holdup. He also said that agency had repeatedly approved the plan -- basement and all. Finally, he threatened legal action against the parks agency "if they don't get this straightened out."

"What it means is that for years, that site will sit the way it is, no income will be derived, and the state will have a huge liability," Trump said.

Eileen Larrabee, spokeswoman for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation, said the agency has not yet signed off on any final design for the facility.

She added that Trump and partner Steve Carl had been told earlier this year that the basement could pose a problem. She said that the developers are ultimately responsible for ensuring that the project has all the necessary permits and variances under the terms of their contract with state parks.

Trump's seaside vision also prompted questions from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. That agency is concerned that waves hitting the portion of the basement that is above ground could cause scouring and possibly undermine the entire structure, said William S. Nechamen, chief of the DEC's floodplain management section.

"Lack of a recent flood does not decrease the possibility of future flood," he said in response to a statement from the Trump architectural team that the area had not experienced flooding in years.

Next in the process: Trump's people and the parks department will review the variance board's written comments and decide how to proceed.

Trump's team and state parks officials had traveled to Cortlandt Manor yesterday to present their case before the review board overseen by the State Department of State's Division of Code Enforcement and Administration. After more than three hours of testimony and deliberation, the board announced it had turned aside the request. It cited "insufficient evidence to grant the variance for the basement."

State building code requires that new buildings in the floodplain be elevated above the expected level of flooding and waves in a 100-year-flood -- an event that has a 1 percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

The proposed site is about 22 feet farther inland than the previous restaurant, said Michael Russo, team project manager for Hawkins Webb Jaeger, the Medford architectural and engineering firm working on the project.

According to a 2006 environmental impact statement, the Trump on the Ocean site has a 1 percent chance of being flooded in any year and the flooding would be accompanied by breaking waves that are 3 feet or greater in height. There is a 26 percent chance of the flood within 30 years, DEC officials said.

Questions during the hearing centered on the facility's proposed 37,000-square-foot basement, which would have coolers and storage areas.

Nassau Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick), who attended the hearing, said he was concerned that the basement would worsen erosion of the surrounding area during bad weather.

Trump's representatives said putting the building entirely above ground would be impractical because it would take up too much space on public land and conflict with the parks department's demands that the building be low enough to blend with the surrounding historic buildings. Before yesterday's setbacks, Trump had said his construction schedule was six weeks behind.

But when board members asked Russo whether any legal reason prevented Trump from proceeding without a basement, he said "No."