Residents oppose B&A Demo plan to turn site to scrap-metal yard

Roosevelt residents and business owners have pulled together to fight a plan by a demolition debris carting company to turn its property near homes into a scrap-metal yard.

About 75 people turned out Monday night at a meeting to raise concerns about and start a petition against the proposal by B & A Demo, also known as NY Demo LLC, which currently hauls containers with construction debris onto two properties on Debevoise Avenue.

"My concern is not what you can see," said Dermot Sutherland, 74, of Roosevelt. "It is about what you can't see."

Residents at the meeting in the Roosevelt Fire District headquarters said they were concerned about potential environmental effects, noise, parking issues and traffic congestion, considering the Centennial Avenue Elementary School is nearby.

"This is too shortsighted and we can't allow it," Gloria Gregory of Roosevelt said.

The proposal by NY Demo's owner Charles Levine of Oceanside calls for special authorizations from the Hempstead Town Board of Appeals to maintain Dumpsters on two properties, across Debevoise from each other, for outdoor storage to be used for a proposed "commodity sorting facility," as well as off-street parking variances. A public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 4.

"There is no toxic level. It is metal," Levine said in response to environmental concerns.

NY Demo's attorney, Christian Browne of Uniondale, a former appeals board member, said they would consider conducting a traffic study, and accepting conditions to restrict work hours and truck traffic.

The appeals board granted NY Demo a special exception in 2007 to use the parcels for storage of contractor equipment and trucks, but instead it has also been using the sites to sort construction debris to recycle copper, steel and concrete, town officials have said.

The department has issued dozens of tickets since 2007 after receiving complaints, they said.