Port Washington development plan denied

A Nassau County Supreme Court justice has reversed a Town of North Hempstead zoning board decision that approved a controversial development plan in Port Washington.

The town plans to appeal the ruling and the developer, Scott Seeman -- son of Town Board member Lee Seeman -- said he is considering doing the same.

"We're not giving up," Scott Seeman said. "We're not going away."

Seeman said he bought vacant land at 58 Bayview Ave. and a house at 60 Bayview Ave. in 2010. His plan was to renovate the house and build another house on the empty lot.

The building department denied the request, saying both lots would be 50 feet wide but that code required the lots be 68.69 feet wide.

Seeman appealed to the town zoning appeals board, which granted a variance last March.

Neighbors appealed that decision to Nassau County Supreme Court.

"We welcome a renovation to the current house and as a neighborhood we object to the subdividing of a beautiful lot and a second house," resident Thomas Huszar said.

On Feb. 1, Justice Vito M. DeStefano overturned the zoning board ruling, citing conflicting information about whether Seeman or Bayview Park Properties LLC owned the property.

Seeman is a principal in Bayview Park Properties and he says he considers the judge's ruling a technicality. "We still feel we're entitled to the variance," Seeman said.

North Hempstead spokesman Collin Nash said the town is preparing an appeal.

"The judge's decision says the board's ruling was arbitrary and capricious when in fact the board's decision was firmly rooted in the facts of the case," Nash said.