Glen Cove Village Piazza draws flak

More than 100 people turned out for a Glen Cove planning board hearing Tuesday night on the proposed Village Piazza project -- with the majority opposing the mixed-use development because of concerns over traffic, density and the possibility the rental housing might attract undesirable "transients."

The board said it would vote within a month on the application for a special-use permit that would allow the project across from City Hall to go forward if other city approvals are granted.

Developer Michael Puntillo's $60-million privately financed project would redevelop the 35-year-old Village Square -- mostly owned by his company -- with 142 apartments, 27,632 square feet of retail space and a decorative-brick public plaza that would be deeded to the city.

Besides the opposition, Puntillo faces another hurdle to achieving his dream of replicating a traditional Italian downtown. He told the board that he so far has been unable to purchase four Village Square parcels containing three businesses in two buildings so the structures could be demolished to create more open space.

Puntillo said he was prepared, if necessary, to build around the existing structures that total about 5,500 square feet. That would reduce the size of his piazza to about 14,500 square feet. But, he said, that would still be an improvement over the existing 5,000 square feet of open space at Village Square.

John Canning, traffic engineer for the project, said that going from the current 38,000 square feet of retail and office development to the new project "will not generate much more traffic" than the retail-only Village Square did when it was fully occupied.

But resident Alicia Pagliara said, "I do have a great concern about traffic. Traffic in this city has become crazy."

Adolph Nolta said that with the density proposed "it's going to start to look like Queens."

A third resident, David Nieri, said if the apartments are not rented at the $2,500 per month Puntillo envisions, they could turn into tenements.

Representatives from the Long Island Association, Long Island Regional Planning Council, Long Island Builders Institute, the planning group Vision Long Island, the Downtown Glen Cove Business Improvement District and New York Institute of Technology supported the proposal as the kind of high-density mixed-use project essential to turning around an underperforming downtown and providing needed housing for young people.

Alvin Ramnarain, 36, said, "The housing for young people would be a tremendous gain for Glen Cove. They don't have a center to gather in. I would love to have something like this that I could walk to and enjoy."

JoAnne Cygielman, who owns a beauty salon in Village Square, said she was looking forward to relocating her business into the new project. It's hard to attract customers downtown now, she said. "There's not enough traffic . . . We need to grow."
 

Inside the Piazza

• 142 apartments, 20 percent affordable, and 76 for medical graduate students at New York Institute of Technology

• 27,632 square feet of retail space, compared to 38,000 square feet in the current all-retail Village Square

   

   

• 107 parking spaces

   

   

• Public square of at least 14,500 square feet -- triple the open space at Village Square

   

   

• Project would generate 169 trips in the busiest peak afternoon travel hour. Village Square when fully occupied would have generated 143 trips

   

   

• Project cost: $60 million