The-Leader_1987-12-17

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Villages)
Freeport
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Freeporl
School Dislrlct
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Baldwin
School District
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FREfPORT
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FREEPOrtT MEMORIAL LIBRARY
LEAOER
53rd YEAR, NO. 36 FREEPORT, NEW YORK December 17. 1987. PRICE 25* PER COPY
Board rezones Stadium property;
authorizes sale to Scalarhandries
by Sue Morgan.
HELLO UP THEREI Ninataan-month-old Jamin Latino, above, ia
wida eyed aa clowita on atilta at Sunday'a holiday party in the
Fraeport Racraation Cantar tweak hia lialtoon. .Luckily, Jamaa
waa aala in the arma of Ma aunt Stephanie Qirolami, who
daaigned a lifa-aizad toyland viewed by almoat 1,000 children at
the fatthdtiea. Below, Santa and a vaguely fannlliar Mra. Claua
hear Chfiatmaa wiahaa from MIchaal Bruaeino. 8.
The rezoning of the 9.S acre
Freeport Municipal Stadium-property
from Residence AA to
Service Busineit was appro%-ed
by the Village Board of Trustees
Monday night by a vote of 4 - 0.
Trustee Ralph Smith was absent.
The Board also passed a reso-lution'authotizing
Mayor
Dorothy Storm to execute a con-tract
of sale with Fred and Joseph
Scalamandre, of Freeport. who
plan to develop the site with two
warehouses and a sports/health
complex. The vote on the sale
was 3 - 1 . with Trustee Anna Jean
Cacdatore dissenting.
Although Mrs. Cacdatore said
she believed the Scalamandres'
plan for the property to be
• "appropriate.'^'the objected to the
-exchange of a portion of other
Village land for a portion of the
Stadium site which she felt might
binder the future needs of the Vil-bge
with respect to the recycling
of trash mandated for'19g9.
According to Village special
counsel Harrison Edwards, the
execution of the contract b
ifflmioent despite the Village^
court involvement with Breslln
Realty, which had planned to
develop the site as a shopping
center prior to the Village^ nego­tiations
with the Scalamandres.
Bresiin is suing tlie Village for
. "specific performance" of a con­tract
it maintains exists, although
the Village has denied that such a
HOUDAY PRESENT FOR SHOPPERS. From left Matar Maid Wanda Grtfioiy, Mayor Dorothy
Storm and Chamber of Commerce Retail Dhdaion member Nat Mi^h) ptaea bag over • parking
metar on Sotrth Main Street algnainng free parking for hoHday ahoppera. tWa la done each year
at the request ofthaChamber.the group responaiWe for the hoHday decoratlona throughout the
Village which ara hung by the vaiaga'aEIectite Department. - . •
contract was ever executed.'The
Village will move for dismissal in
a court proceeding scheduled for
Friday, Mr. Edwards said.
According to Mayor Storm, .
negotiations with the Scalaman­dres
produced a nuinber of modi-flcations
to the oripnal proposal
which would protect the land
from overbuilding.
While the original proposal
was keyed to a parking require­ment
of one space for each 1,000
square feet of building area, the
contract now requites one space
for each 400 square feet, pre\ent-.
ing the buildings from being
expanded when lesttictive cov­enant
expire.
Among other alterations to the
original proposal are: a reduction
of.20.000.squaje...feet in.ware-
' hbtise space, an increase in the
recreational use of 68,0Q0 to
75,000 Kjuare-feet, and the con-,
struction of a resuuiant facility
of 8,000 square feet. The Scala­mandres
had also upped their
offering price for the parcel from
$2.6 to $3 million.
. "This project will substantially
increase commercial assessed
valuation for not only the Village
but our loeU School District,"
Mayor Storm stated. "We must
take every means possible to
increase our commercial tax base
and not overbuttien our residen­tial
tax base."
. The Board had heard public
comment on the sale and rezon­ing
at a public hearing during
which many local residents
voiced opposition to the sale
because they objected to the loss
of open space and recreational
fadlities represened by the Sta­dium
operation. Six Freeportets
had brought "suit against the Vil­lage
to prevent the sale, but th.e
sun was subsequently-dropped
because no contract was then in
existence.
Fran Campion, one of the six
plaintiffs, told the Leader Mon­day
that the lawsuit would be
reiiutitnted.
SAVE DUSTY ACRES?
PAGE 4
"Well wait for them to sign the
contract,-and then well bring
them back into court,' she said.
In its notice of ado(>tion, the
Board stated that Stadiumt tise
as a radng fadlity had been dis­continued
in 1983, such uses were
not munldpally sponsored, and
that "substantiar recreational
facilities provided by the N^llage, •
School District, County, Town
and State were available to Free-port
residents.
, The' Board also dealt with the
"open space" issue, saying tiiat
the parcel is closed to view bo
three sides, and that what open
space exists "consists basically of
a gravel, asphalt and dnder park­ing
field and race track."
Baldwinite meets
Gorbachev
An experience she'll never forget
Debbie laveline, a junior at
Brown University and a 1985
graduate of Baldwin Senior High
School where she was class presi­dent,
met with Michail S. Coiba-
SSKV and.lus wife on Thursday,
Dumber 10. Ms. Javeline was
part of a contingent of IS high
'sehoot and college students
whose meeting at the Russian
Embassy was arranged by the
youth exchange organization
Direct jConnection.
Ms. Javeline, who is a political
science/'Russian major, had
attended a summer program at
Norwich Uni^xrsity's Russian
School in Vermont and was able
to greet Gorbachev in Russian.
The purpose of the meeting with
the Russian leader waa to request
an increase in student exchange
programs. Although the group
had hoped to question Gorba­chev,
the IS minute meeting con­sisted
mostly of a short address
by'Gorbachev on his desire to
-0CTeas« cultural and educational
exchanges between youths from
the United States and Russia. He
indicated that.he had discussed
this topic with Fresideiit Ronald. '
Reagan as part of their summit
Ulks.
In a phone interview with Ms.
Javeline's mother Barbaia, The
Leader learned that the group
was hoping that a meeting could
also be arranged with President.
Reagan. Mn. Javeline said that,
her daughter waa "flying high"
and said that it was an experience
she would taver forget.
Ms. Javeline is an ofllcer in the
American Association of Univer­sity
Studenu. " 'j; 5;