Manorhaven sets November hearing date for proposal that would exceed height limits

The Manorhaven Board of Zoning Appeals has adjourned a hearing for a proposed 52-foot, four-story building that would exceed the village’s zoning code height limits by more than double.

The board voted 4-0 Monday, with one member absent, to continue the hearing to Nov. 13, following nearly an hour of heated community opposition.

The applicant, New-Jersey based Secatoag 20-26 LLC, has proposed building two mixed-use buildings with ground-floor retail space and nine two-bedroom apartments in each building.

When asked by those in the audience, the applicant’s attorney, Howard Avrutine, confirmed that one of Secatoag 20-26 LLC’s principals was Peter Dejana, a Port Washington-based businessman who recently sold his landscaping company, Dejana Industries. Avrutine added that Dejana would be “overseeing the project.”

Dejana runs the Peter and Jeri Dejana Foundation, a nonprofit that awards charitable grants to local and regional organizations, according to the foundation's website. Jim Avena, Manorhaven’s mayor, is the foundation’s grants administrator.

The standing-room-only crowd included many residents who said that if approved, the project would set a dangerous precedent for overdevelopment in the village.