Glen Cove to vote on condo plan changes

Glen Cove City Hall in 2010. Credit: T.C. McCarthy
The Glen Cove planning board is scheduled to vote April 5 on amendments to a site plan it approved March 15 for an upscale condominium complex that would displace nearly 50 residents of existing apartments, most of them low-income.
The planning board declined to release details of the amendments in advance.
Board chairman Thomas Scott said after the March 15 meeting that there “are a lot” of conditions to the site-plan approval but declined to reveal them. The board voted 6-1 in favor of the site plan.
Queens-based Livingston Development Corp. plans to build a 176-unit, six-building complex on Glen Cove Avenue just outside downtown.
Daniel Livingston, owner and president of the company, said he hopes to begin construction this summer.
City officials say the project would generate additional tax revenue and provide more customers for nearby businesses.
But some of the residents of the apartments on the site worry about finding an affordable place to live in pricey Nassau County, despite promises by Livingston that he would help them with relocation expenses and searches for new housing.
Some residents of the hillside above the site say the project will mar their views, disturb their tranquility and reduce their property values.
Two of those residents, Roni Epstein and Marsha Silverman, filed a lawsuit in January seeking to annul City Council approvals for “density bonuses” that allow Livingston to build more than double the number of units otherwise allowed.
Their suit asks court injunctions to block the city from processing Livingston’s application and Livingston from building on the site. Their attorney, Amy Marion of Sea Cliff, said another legal complaint would be filed if the planning board approves the site-plan amendments.
9 arraigned in missing girl case ... JoAnn's closing 2 LI stores ... 90 couples renewed vows ... Romantic spas in the winter
9 arraigned in missing girl case ... JoAnn's closing 2 LI stores ... 90 couples renewed vows ... Romantic spas in the winter