North Hempstead board approves rezoning correction at Northern Boulevard to allow broader commercial uses

Kathleen Deagan Dixon, counsel for applicant FES Northman Realty LLC, told the Town of North Hempstead board on Oct. 28 that the proposal would correct a split-zoning anomaly so the Staples building at 1410–1420 Northern Boulevard is wholly within a Business A district.

Deagan Dixon said the proposal would not change the building or its commercial character but would remove a use-variance limitation that currently confines the site to retail. "We're not proposing to change the use of the property," she said, and added, "This is really to correct the fact that there is a building in the parking district." The applicant identified the preferred new tenant as the Goddard School, a national daycare operator, and said Business A would allow other uses such as medical offices, personal-service shops and restaurants, while future variances would be handled through the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The applicant submitted a traffic study from R and M and an appraisal/market report from Lynch Appraisals; Deagan Dixon summarized the reports as concluding the zoning change would have "no discernible change to the immediate commercial districts" and described off-site access improvements discussed with Nassau County DPW. Proposed solutions include angling the northerly curb cut to discourage unsafe left turns and potentially extending a left-turn lane on Shelter Rock Road to improve flow at a nearby signal.

Deagan Dixon said the Collin family, the property owners, have committed to certain on- and off-site improvements, and that the owner has a pending application at the Board of Zoning Appeals for conditional use approval for the daycare and a parking variance if the zoning fix is approved. The board closed the public hearing after no public questions and offered a resolution to effect the zoning correction. The resolution was adopted with all members recorded as voting in the affirmative.

The change does not itself authorize a daycare lease; it places the property in a zoning district that permits a broader set of commercial uses and allows future applicants to seek area or conditional-use relief through the BZA. The applicant will return to the BZA for any required conditional-use and parking waivers.

What happens next: the rezoning correction is adopted by the town board; the applicant said it will proceed to the Board of Zoning Appeals to seek conditional-use approval and a parking variance for the planned daycare lease.