Project Zip Codes: Glen Cove

Waterfront wrangling

Building proposals rile some residents and fire up debate at city hall meetings

BY EMERSON CLARRIDGE
Newsday Staff Writer

December 10, 2006

On a recent night at Glen Cove City Hall, it was the issue no one wanted to talk about. Not the consultants charged with developing a broad plan for the community's future, not the members of a task force selected to guide the process, certainly not Mayor Ralph Suozzi.

But not long after the beginning of a meeting called to revise the city's master plan, 34-year resident Janet Blatt stood up to share her concerns about a proposal to fill the waterfront on the north side of Glen Cove Creek, the site of a former toxic-waste dump, with high-end condominiums. As the crowd began to grumble, Suozzi charged across the room, grabbed a microphone and tried to wrest control of the discussion.

"Listen," he said, visibly angry. "This is not a waterfront meeting." The forum, he said, was for a broader discussion of quality-of-life issues; waterfront concerns would be heard at a later meeting.

But for Blatt, a retired kindergarten teacher, and many other residents in this rapidly changing community, waterfront development is inexorably linked to everything else on the docket. It informs every discussion, frames every conversation.

Undeterred by Suozzi's admonition, Blatt, 63, continued to rattle off a litany of concerns about the size and nature of the proposed project, which calls for 860 condominium units in a series of buildings, some 16 stories high. Seemingly disgusted, master plan task force member Peter Rapelje told Blatt to "shut up."

And so the acrimonious debate goes in Glen Cove, a city of stark contrasts and disparate neighborhoods, a place where Gold Coast mansions sit a short distance from subsidized housing. It's a place struggling to retain its small-town feel as it decides what it wants to look like in the future, the latest step in its evolution as one of Long Island's most diverse communities.

Ten years ago, half of the storefronts on School Street were empty. Now, the downtown commercial district hums with activity and local leaders have turned their attention to the land along Glen Cove Creek. The space is only 5 percent of the city's 7-square-mile area, but many worry the project proposed for it would add traffic to an already burdened city that saw its population increase by 10 percent between 1990 and 2000. City officials say Glen Cove has 26,600 people.

Political leaders hope the waterfront development will add to city coffers. With a nearly $10 million budget deficit, Glen Cove is trolling for tax dollars. It recently increased property taxes for 2007 by 15.7 percent.

Almost every city politician supports "smart growth" for the 46-acre area, but is coy when asked to elaborate. For his part, Suozzi seems to get high marks from all corners for opening up the process, particularly when he forced reluctant Glen Isle Development Co. to agree to a public meeting in July, when the developer's proposal was first revealed.

Questioning the rezoning

Community activist Pamela Tamaddon questions the decision of former Mayor Mary Ann Holzkamp to push for the area to be rezoned for condominiums, and said Suozzi has a tough task ahead of him.

"I think he's in deeper than he ever thought," she said. "I do think he cares a great deal about the city."

Suozzi said he has been aggressive, traveling twice to Washington, D.C., to lobby lawmakers for waterfront funding, while noting he's not committed to a sprawling, exclusively residential complex. The site might be the place for a public swimming pool or skateboard park, he said.

"We want to be one of the shining stars on the North Shore," Suozzi said of the city his family has helped shape for 50 years. Three other family members -- including Nassau County Executive .Thomas Suozzi, Ralph's cousin -- also have served as mayor.

And while Ralph Suozzi says construction at the waterfront could be 10 years away, the debate roars now among neighbors and at city council meetings that, in recent months, have stretched on until midnight. Before the waterfront was on the agenda, public comment at meetings was unrestricted. Now there is a tight five-minute limit per person.

Glen Cove city police were called to a city council meeting in September after receiving a report that Glen Isle developer Donald Monti had threatened Suozzi when the mayor cut Monti off after his time ran out. Deputy Police Chief William Whitton said he and seven other officers responded and interviewed Monti, Suozzi and several witnesses. Whitton said Monti told them he could not recall making a threat, but Whitton assigned a patrol car to Suozzi's house that night, anyway. Monti told Newsday he was upset at Suozzi but didn't threaten him.

A new master plan

Glen Cove's master plan covers everything from building code regulations to sidewalks and was last revised in 1960. Proposals under consideration include a plan to add a ferry to Manhattan and a panel that would arbitrate tree disputes among neighbors. A dramatic rethinking of public transportation, including light rail and jitneys, is on the agenda.

The review of the master plan was spurred by a moratorium on subdivisions that Suozzi guided through the city council in June. But the move does not specifically address concerns about "McMansions" being built on the sites of more modest-size homes.

For now, Tamaddon says she thinks frequently about her farm in Vermont and considers moving there if development in Glen Cove doesn't slow down.

"They just don't get it," Tamaddon said of city leaders. "It's a mind-set in Glen Cove, and I think Ralph has his work ahead of him. They're constantly selling without thinking about the future."

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