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Business & Tech

Community Deliberates Combined Residential and Retail Space

East Meadow Commons project presents potential residential units added to already approved retail space at former Savani's Crystalbrook space.

A distinctive revitalization project of East Meadow Avenue’s “downtown” area might soon be coming to the streets near you.

East Meadow residents heard a presentation from RMB Development Consultants and MVK Architecture and Planning at the monthly CEMCO meeting at the . Locals also had an opportunity to voice their opinion about the potential mixed residential and commercial building called the “East Meadow Commons."

“East Meadow Avenue is sort of the main drag as our community road in East Meadow,” CEMCO President Joe Parisi said. “So anytime an opportunity comes up when we could make East Meadow Avenue better – whether it is a nice development or some type of beautification – that is what we are looking to do.”

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President of RMB Development Consultants Richard Bivone explained that he wanted to come to the meeting to include residents in the decision to add the residential units onto the already approved commercial space. Bivone is also an East Meadow resident and highlighted that they wanted to come up with something that would “complement the community.”

“We always wanted to create some sort of downtown on East Meadow Avenue,” he said. “We have actually spoke to our legislators about creating this downtown and having a walkable community like other communities have.”

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Saeed Ahmed, owner of the property, the former Savini’s Crystalbrook Catering location on East Meadow Avenue, previously submitted an application to the Town of Hempstead for the construction of the commercial space. It went in front of the Board of Appeals to deal with some needed variances and was approved for a seven commercial unit retail center. The parking that was attached to the location, located on the opposite side of East Meadow Avenue, has been severed from the parcel of land. The parking lot remains vacant at this point in time and is not part of the actual site, Bivone said.

Bivone explained that the plan for a retail space containing seven storefronts – the one that is approved and ready to go – includes 20 spaces for parking in the front of the units.

The two proposals that were brought to the community during the meeting showcased modified versions of a two-story, seven-retail unit and nine residential unit building. Proposal A featured 20 on-site parking spaces and 20 spaces in the old lot across the street, with all of the spaces in the front of the building – similar to the already approved plan. Proposal B had 24 on-site spaces and 20 across the street in the lot, but on-site spaces would be split between the front and rear of the facility. Bivone stressed that these plans would still have to be approved by the Town of Hempstead if they decided to move forward.

If the builder was to go ahead with the residential and commercial combination building, the parking lot located across the street would be dedicated solely to the property in order to accommodate all of the people using the stores and residing in the apartments. If this was not the case, the owner could possibly use the parking lot to build a different facility, but only with permission granted from the town.

“If we were to propose this, we would take the parcel of land across the street and dedicate it to parking – never to be built on ever again,” Bivone said. “If we take the apartments off and we just have the retail all we are going to have is the parking that has been proposed and approved by the town now.”

Jennifer Morris, a resident who lives on Adelaide Court, explained that when the builder first came to the residents they all “agreed on the building as he posted it originally with the seven stores - knowing that it would have an impact on our traffic situation, but also knowing that something had to go there.”

“I think the safety of our children is a major factor," Morris continued. "The safety of the residents is already an issue and bringing all those extra people is going to be a problem. The traffic is a nightmare; it can take you 15 minutes to get out of the street. We don’t have an option…when you block our street you could be blocking someone from emergency care or getting to work on time.”

Ahmed said that as a next step, he is going to have a meeting with “the immediate people who feel that they are most affected – specifically on Adelaide Court – and see if we come up with some sort of plan."

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