"The Town has. . .dropped the ball" -- DUH!

From The Three Village Times:

All Eyes on the Courtesy
For West Hempstead Residents, Hotel Is Hot Issue
By Joe Rizza

As the campaigns heat up before Election Day in November, it's a safe bet that residents of West Hempstead will keep an eye on the Courtesy Hotel. Whether or not the hotel is closed or remains open could be seen by some as a testament to whether their local elected officials can get things done.

Former Town of Hempstead Councilman Scott Banks, who drafted the nuisance law in an effort to close the Courtesy Hotel in 2000, although he said the law that was eventually passed did not have enough teeth, lives in close proximity to the hotel. "Ultimately, I think the town has essentially dropped the ball on the issue," he said.

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray wants to redevelop not only the Courtesy Hotel property but the area around the hotel through an urban renewal plan, which calls for a multiple-family, mixed residential and commercial parcel immediately adjacent to the railroad station, a row of townhouses along Hempstead Avenue, a parcel dedicated as open space and community railroad parking.

Following a press conference on a visionary process for Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont, Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray said what the town and the county are trying to achieve in Elmont is similar to what the town is trying to achieve in West Hempstead with the area around the hotel. "What we're saying is let's look at the community as a whole. Instead of just developing the Courtesy Hotel, 2.7 acres, let's do 10 acres. If you just develop the Courtesy, the effect is just much more diminished. It's very important to me to do these 10 acres," she said.

Some residents of West Hempstead who have been lobbying the town to close the hotel prefer that the town rezone the hotel property to allow for a residential complex of 80 units per acre to allow for the purchase of the hotel property by Trammell Crow Residential, which would erect a 220-unit apartment complex on the site. However, the town board seems only likely to permit a maximum of 45 units per acre.

Banks, who is running this November on the Democratic ticket against incumbent councilman Ed Ambrosino, is among those who believe the sale of the hotel to Trammell Crow represents the best chance to close the hotel. "It does create a situation where, if this sale goes through, it would get rid of the main blight on our community. I think there's where we need to go at this point in time," he said. "Something has to get done about this. It's the people in the community who really should have the voice here. We're forgetting that the residents who have to deal with this location each and every day, they're the ones who should say what's right for our community and not someone in town hall and not some planning commission."

The town is seeking to redevelop the land through an urban renewal plan that would allow for 45 units per acre for residential developments as opposed to the 80 units per acre Trammell Crow is seeking in order to buy the hotel. Town officials believe allowing 80 units per acre would set a precedent through the entire town that would allow for developments that are too dense.
Through the urban renewal process, the town will be considering proposals from Trammell Crow, Breslin Realty, the Sheldrake Organization and the Alvin Benjamin company for plans to redevelop the 10 acres of property.

"Right now, we have a horrible hotel and we have an empty parking lot. Quite frankly, we can only go up. We can only improve those 10 acres. I think at the end of the day, people are going to be very happy. That's my sincerest desire with regard to that urban renewal plan and I have every confidence that the community, when they see beautiful new residential and some great commercial areas, is going to say this is what we always wanted. This is what we always envisioned," Murray said.

Comments made by Ambrosino, a fellow Republican, suggest that he may not feel that the urban renewal plan is the fastest way to close the Courtesy. Ambrosino said he empathizes with the residents of the community and supports whatever is going to close the hotel the quickest.