Listen to this articleNew zoning that would have allowed multifamily development on about 20 acres in North Lawrence and Inwood has been rescinded by the Hempstead Town Board.
The board voted Tuesday to repeal the transit-oriented zoning that was enacted in May 2019 citing a faulty public notification process when the zoning was being changed as the reason for scrapping it.
The town’s TOD District covered about 11.7 acres near the Lawrence LIRR station and about 9 acres near the Inwood LIRR station. The zoning allowed for the redevelopment of light industrial and manufacturing uses in the area to encourage a “mix of housing and commercial uses” that will “sustain vibrant flourishing hamlet centers,” according to the town’s plan. The TOD District also required that 20 percent of the housing be priced affordably for people making up to 60 percent of the area median income and rents no higher than 30 percent of a renter’s income.
The reversal of the TOD District zoning comes after the town board enacted a temporary building moratorium for the new Inwood and North Lawrence zoning areas in Sept. 2022 and extended it twice. The board cited concerns that the requisite environmental impact statements conducted to establish the new zoning districts, and previously accepted by the town, failed to take a “hard look” at potential negative impacts on infrastructure, transportation, public safety and special districts. The board said the moratorium would give it time to consider “potential amendments and/or alternatives” to the zoning districts, according to the resolution, to “insure the health, safety and welfare” of the town’s residents.
The town’s moratoriums and subsequent pause on the TOD District zoning spawned a couple of lawsuits from developers that had already invested millions of dollars to acquire and prepare properties in the area for new multifamily projects.
In September, two affiliates of Commack-based Heatherwood Communities LLC filed an Article 78 lawsuit in Nassau County State Supreme Court citing the town’s failure to comply with the process established in the Transit-Oriented Development District and not acting on its application to build a $154 million transit-oriented mixed-use building in Inwood.
Heatherwood says it has invested more than $30 million in property acquisitions and other costs since the end of 2021 towards its proposed project that would bring a five-story, 391,241-square-foot building to a 5.3-acre site on Lawrence Avenue between Wanser Avenue and Bayview Avenue, less than 100 feet from the Lawrence Long Island Rail Road station.
The Heatherwood project, which was approved for economic incentives from the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency in Dec. 2021, would replace a school bus depot, aimed to bring 309 rental apartments over about 20,900 square feet of ground floor commercial space and a garage parking lot to accommodate 427 vehicles.
Another lawsuit, filed against the town on Monday by Prospect Five LLC and Yourewelx LLC, affiliates of local developer Eric Sternberg, seeks to compel Hempstead to comply with its TOD District zoning. The development entities claim they have invested more than $19.69 million in acquiring several Inwood properties on Prospect Street and Alvin Place in advance of building a proposed mixed-use project that would bring 314 apartments, 24,000 square feet of commercial space and parking for 415 vehicles, according to their court filing. The developer is represented by Valley Stream-based law firm Minerva & D’Agostino.
A town spokesman has yet to respond to a request for comment.
Attorney Daniel Shapiro, a partner at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek in Uniondale, which represents Heatherwood, told LIBN his client is considering its next steps on the town’s zoning rescission.
“Our client is sorely disappointed by the action, and we are evaluating our options,” Shapiro said.