Ground Broken for Scudders Subdivision

Construction of six new homes has begun where one once stood on a lot at the southeast corner of Scudders Lane and Lincoln Avenue in the Hill Terrace area. The Nassau County Planning Commission has approved the subdivision, and the Town of Oyster Bay (TOB) has issued building permits for four of the homes.

The building permit for the fifth home is approved, but TOB is waiting for the Nassau County Dept. of Public Works to sign off before releasing it. The sixth home requires a rear-yard setback variance because of the way the home will be situated on the lot. The request is on the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) agenda for Thursday, April 6. To confirm the ZBA agenda or find out where to get more information, contact the ZBA at 624-6230.

Although the Glenwood / Glen Head Civic Association perceives this project as significant, it did not participate in the review process primarily because of time constraints. In addition, because of the lot's proximity to Hill Terrace, we thought it best to defer to whatever comments residents in that area might choose to make.

However, concern about the breakup of relatively large lots into smaller ones has prompted the Glenwood / Glen Head Civic Association to join the Todd Estates Civic Association and the Hill Terrace Civic Association to request a meeting with TOB to discuss aspects of the zoning code pertinent to this type of situation and how the code might be applied or improved to better protect the character of a neighborhood and preserve open space.

For example, perhaps, when a larger lot is being subdivided into smaller parcels, setback variances should not be an option—particularly if they are being used to accommodate a structure that would otherwise not be possible—or perhaps the minimum lot size required in subdivisions should be the average lot size in an area rather than the minimum lot size required by the code.