Politics & Government

Variance Request Riles Residents, CB 11 Members

Board Also Re-elects Iannece as Chairman, Discusses Fiscal Year Priorities

Community Board 11’s monthly meeting last night was an evening full of heated discussion, but board members voted in unison to retain Jerry Iannece as chairman as well as vote down a proposal to grant a variance at a Bayside Hills home on 216th Street.

Iannece was unanimously re-elected as chairman, while Christine Haider was kept on as first vice chairwoman of the board.

But Bayside Hills residents turned out in droves to the meeting and spoke vehemently against an application that would allow for the construction of a single family home without the required side and rear yards on 216th Street.

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“These front yards are sacred to Bayside Hills,” resident David Goldstein told the property’s developer. “The whole idea that there are two pieces of property is nonsense. Don’t feed us baloney. Baloney is not kosher.”

The applicant for the project said his plans included demolishing an existing property at 50-20 216th St. and building one large home, which residents said was out of character with the neighborhood's R2A zoning.

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The property is a triangle-shaped lot, which is not quite large enough to divide into two taxable lots. Under the variance, there would be no requirement for a backyard.

“We fought for years against overdevelopment,” board member Steve Behar said of the developers. “I’m asking the community to keep the pressure on.”

The board voted unanimously against the proposal.

Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, also stopped by CB 11’s meeting to discuss development, including a bill he has introduced that would give the City Council more power in terms of land use issues.

He said the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals is currently able to “get a variance granted at the objection of the community.”

“There is nothing wrong with responsible development,” he said. “What we don’t need is an arbitrary board to have control over 51 Council members and the land use process. We don’t have the power we should at City Hall.”

The board also discussed its Fiscal Year 2011 budget. Board member and Patch contributor Victor Mimoni said he believed that fixing a deteriorated stretch of Douglaston’s Shore Road be one of the top priorities.

“This is a funded project,” said CB 11’s Steve Newman, who led the budget discussion. “Everyone accepts that the road is about to collapse.”

The board also bid adieu to Rose Bruno, who has decided to retire from the board after having been a member for more than 45 years. Bruno, who was one of CB 11’s charter members, was given a plaque signed by Borough President Helen Marshall.

“Rose, you are the best,” Haider told Bruno.


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