Leaders of a Great Neck co-op are at odds with the village Board of Trustees over whose responsibility it is to repair a broken curb the co-op received violations for from the village. The co-op leaders say it’s not their obligation, and so does the village, but the leaders contend the code is too ambiguous.
Lisa Pereira, board president for 221 Middle Neck Road, said the curbs in front of the co-op are damaged and the village notified them that they needed to be repaired. She said Nassau County snow plows caused the damage.
Pereira fought back against the violations, saying it is not the co-op’s responsibility to repair the curbs.
“This is thousands of dollars that you’re asking the co-op to pay,” Pereira said.
Mayor Pedram Bral said while he’s not sure if it’s the co-op’s or the county’s responsibility, he believe it is not the village’s. He said Middle Neck Road is owned by Nassau County, not the village.
Pereira blamed the confusion on the village’s code. She said the code states that the co-op is not responsible for the paved street, which includes the curb.
Under the code, it is only the co-op’s responsibility to maintain the public area between the building and the paved portion of the public street, but not the street itself.
According to the Village of Great Neck code, “the paved portion of such public street, for the purposes of this section, shall include the curbs, if any.”
The Board of Trustees convened for an executive session about the topic. When they returned to the public session, the board did not share anything discussed during the executive session.
Bral suggested that the co-op contact the Nassau County Department of Public Works for clarity on who is responsible for repairing the curbs. He said the village would help by sending a letter to the county department.
In other news, the board voted to amend the village code to permit the board to approve changes of use from the allowed designations in the Middle Neck Road multi-family overlay zone.
Bral said this would be assessed on a case-by-case basis and would streamline the process by omitting the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“We’re not stepping on anybody’s toes when it comes to the BZA,” Bral said. “But there’s certain things that come to us and we do have the authority.”
Village attorney Stephen Martir said applicants currently have to get a variance from the zoning board and then an incentive from the Board of Trustees.
Resident David Zielenziger asked if this would be for the benefit of a specific property, which Bral denied. Bral said there are no applications pending for projects that this law change would permit, but this idea has been presented to them before.