Summons delays Oceanside man's flight plan

Neighbors and officials are trying to ground a man's hopes of someday flying his propeller plane down his suburban Oceanside street.

Hempstead Town officials issued Harold Guretzky, 69, a summons to appear in court for parking his 24-foot-long, 38-foot-wide Cessna 152 in his driveway. Guretzky has a Sept. 29 court date and could face a $2,500 fine.

The disassembled plane was towed to Guretzky's home on Yale Street three weeks ago, the result of his effort to avoid the monthly $150 storage fees from Farmingdale Republic Airport.

Guretzky purchased and restored the now reassembled plane last year but recently had his flight certificate suspended due to a heart condition.

He said he plans to get it reinstated once his health improves, but in the meantime would like to have a pilot take off down neighboring Riverside Drive facing the water. He said his plane can reach the air after a 600-foot taxi, or otherwise can land in the water. Guretzky said he was inspired by "The Miracle on the Hudson," the January 2009 landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, and wants to raise money for charity.

"I'm a 69-year-old man with a bucket list to get my pilot's license," Guretzky said Friday. "There's no reason someone can't do it. I want to have someone who can put down a plane bring one up into the air."

Hempstead Town officials responded to complaints and served Guretzky a summons July 22 for violating the building department code. He would need a zoning variance to keep the plane in his driveway, town spokesman Mike Deery said.

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"It's not an incidental use to owning a home," Deery said. "We got complaints from neighbors who considered it an eyesore. It's apples and oranges to keeping a boat at home. You don't wind up a plane and fly out your driveway."

The town's building department has already cited Guretzky several times for other items on his property, including a 60-foot and a 30-foot antenna he uses as a ham radio operator, Deery said. The town was not aware of any additional citations.

He plans to keep the plane in his driveway and fight the citations.

"I got so many summonses that I could put them up as wallpaper," Guretzky said. "Everyone has a boat. I don't understand why they say I can't have a plane in my driveway."

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.