Amityville approves key zone change to allow multifamily development on Oak Street

A proposed 12-unit apartment project in downtown Amityville cleared a major hurdle when village trustees approved a zoning change allowing multifamily development on the Oak Street parcel where the project would be built.

Trustees voted 5-0 Monday to approve the change, reaffirming the village's push for development along the Broadway corridor even in the absence of a master plan. The developer is Robert Curcio Jr., who built Village Estates near Sunrise Highway and New Pointe Estates on Louden Avenue.

"As long as we've sat up here, the public has asked us for solutions to improve our downtown," trustee Nick LaLota said. "This could help us do just that."

The vote came a week after a visit from representatives of Artspace, a nonprofit arts developer that may partner with the village to build income-restricted live-work space for artists. The village took other steps to encourage redevelopment of downtown commercial space with a residential component earlier this year.

One-bedroom apartments in the proposed two-story project would rent from between $2,000 and $2,200.

"Adding legal rentals at a price attractive to professionals would not only help stop the 'brain drain' that has been plaguing our county for the past 20 years, but would bring new people into our friendly bay village," Amityville Chamber of Commerce president Dina Shingleton said in a statement.

Curcio lawyer Bruce Kennedy, formerly the village attorney, said his client would help resettle a tenant who lives in one of the three houses on the Oak Street parcel that would be demolished to make way for the apartments. A second house is vacant and a third is occupied by a tenant who is delinquent on rent, he said.

The project still faces Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board hearings.

But approval in the absence of a master plan could cause trouble in the future, Bay Village Civic Association president Joan Donnison said. "What is the overall picture, other than more 'feet on the street'?" she asked, echoing a phrase used by LaLota and Shingleton. "I understand that change is inevitable, but are we doing it in a cohesive way?"

Mayor James Wandell answered that a master-plan study could cost as much as $250,000, beyond the village's means. "So we're doing it on our own," he said, adding the village has received some help from the Regional Plan Association and could be eligible for planning grants in the future.