Town weighs turning vacant Glen Head lot into parking spots for 30 cars
The Town of Oyster Bay is considering turning this lot on Walnut Street in Glen Head into a parking lot. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
The possible expansion of a municipal parking lot in Glen Head is drawing mixed reactions from business owners on the commercial strip it would serve.
The Oyster Bay Town Board on May 9 approved getting an appraisal of the vacant property at 2 Walnut St. The lot is adjacent to a similarly sized town-owned parking lot that has about 30 parking spaces.
“The administration is exploring the possibility of expanding public parking,” town spokesman Brian Nevin said in an email.
Mike Ricciardi, owner of Sea Breeze Deli on Glen Cove Avenue, which faces the existing town parking lot, said he was “100%” in favor of the parking expansion.
“We always need parking,” Ricciardi said last week. “I would love to see a parking lot go there.”
A few shops down the block, Karli Langone, owner of KJ’s Corner, a toy store that also faces the lot, said she’d rather see the property developed.
“Besides lunchtime, there is never an issue with parking,” Langone said in an interview last week. “I would love to see it be utilized for other businesses or homes, something more useful.”
A day care center sold the property to Liberty Walnut Street LLC in 2016, property records show.
Jennifer Chen, one of the partners in Liberty Walnut Street, said she is based in Connecticut and had planned to develop the property with two local partners into a medical or pet-related business. But Chen said her partners backed out and they put it on the market this year for $799,000.
“Without those two local partners, I will not develop out-of-state,” Chen said last week. She said their broker told her Oyster Bay is one of the potential buyers.
The property is being marketed as a development site where a two-story commercial building with a cellar and on-site parking for 14 vehicles could be built, according to a listing on the real estate site Trulia.com. The property is within walking distance of the Glen Head Long Island Rail Road train station.
Last year the Town of Oyster Bay seized a parking lot in Hicksville near the LIRR station through eminent domain to ensure the property wouldn't be developed. Nevin said that “purchase is always preferred” to eminent domain.
The possible expansion of a municipal parking lot in Glen Head is drawing mixed reactions from business owners on the commercial strip it would serve.
The Oyster Bay Town Board on May 9 approved getting an appraisal of the vacant property at 2 Walnut St. The lot is adjacent to a similarly sized town-owned parking lot that has about 30 parking spaces.
“The administration is exploring the possibility of expanding public parking,” town spokesman Brian Nevin said in an email.
Mike Ricciardi, owner of Sea Breeze Deli on Glen Cove Avenue, which faces the existing town parking lot, said he was “100%” in favor of the parking expansion.
“We always need parking,” Ricciardi said last week. “I would love to see a parking lot go there.”
A few shops down the block, Karli Langone, owner of KJ’s Corner, a toy store that also faces the lot, said she’d rather see the property developed.
“Besides lunchtime, there is never an issue with parking,” Langone said in an interview last week. “I would love to see it be utilized for other businesses or homes, something more useful.”
A day care center sold the property to Liberty Walnut Street LLC in 2016, property records show.
Jennifer Chen, one of the partners in Liberty Walnut Street, said she is based in Connecticut and had planned to develop the property with two local partners into a medical or pet-related business. But Chen said her partners backed out and they put it on the market this year for $799,000.
“Without those two local partners, I will not develop out-of-state,” Chen said last week. She said their broker told her Oyster Bay is one of the potential buyers.
The property is being marketed as a development site where a two-story commercial building with a cellar and on-site parking for 14 vehicles could be built, according to a listing on the real estate site Trulia.com. The property is within walking distance of the Glen Head Long Island Rail Road train station.
Last year the Town of Oyster Bay seized a parking lot in Hicksville near the LIRR station through eminent domain to ensure the property wouldn't be developed. Nevin said that “purchase is always preferred” to eminent domain.
