The-Leader_1989-07-06

              Freeport • Baldwin
THE LEASER SSlhYear. No. 27 Freeport, N.Y. 11520 Official nempipci of the Village of Freepon-Frceport and Bildwin School Districts Thursday. July 6.1989 25c
Restraining order continued by State Supreme Court
by Debra B. Honig
and Andrew S. Ripps
A hearing held at State
Supreme Court in Mineola
last Friday has continued a
temporary restraining order
issued on the constraction of
a marina on JeHenoa Street
inPteeport.
Judge Alfred Bobbins
handed down his decision to
continue the order after hear­ing
argument* from all sides
of the proposed boat storage
fadli^ issue. He will release
a written statement as to
whether the order win stand
or be vacated on Jufy 6.
If Judge Bobbins contin­ues
the restraining order,
¥n3rlc will not be able to con-tioue
at the oonstraction site
until at least July 20, when a
hearing on a preliminary
lojixacttoa being brou^t by
the VniBge wfll be held. If he
vacates the crder. construe-ticm
will be able to resume
pending the decision on July
20.
The restraining order.
imposed due to the continua­tion
of construction at the
site despite a lade of building
permits, halts any work until
plans that conform to area
zoning laws are submitted
and approved. 1!he order was
issued on June 27.
Work-Stop revoked
Preeport Mayor Dorothy
Storm had ordered the first
work- stop on June 16. 'Hiree
days later, however, she was
forced to revoke the order
after Village Attorney
William Glacken informed
her that the order had no
legal merit.
Freeport oCBdals imposed
a second work-stop on devel­opers
Donald Van Holt and
Wesley C Ford on June 21.
According to Village
spokesperson Jean Peters, it
was found that the inspector
who bad issued the building
peniUts had miscalculated
the xotiing measurements,
therefore not realizing that
the boat storage facility
would be in violation of both
marine business and marine
industries zoning laws. The
marina would occupy 82 per*
cent of the construction site,
32 percent more than is per­mitted.
All building permits were
revtdced as of the discovery of
the inspect(v's error
According to the develop*
erSt construction resumed
after both of the work-stop
orders because they Mt that
the Village had no legal
grounds to issue them, l^ey
could not be reached for com­ment
on the decision to
impose the temporary
restraining order, but no ad­ditional
construction work
has been done since the
order.
Resklems Irate
Hw work-stop orders and
subsequent temporary re­straining
order were impoeed
lar^gely as a result of prnsure
from irate residents who live
near Hudson Canal and the
proposed site of the marina.
The facility, Jefl'erson
Marine Services, is to cover
46,500 square feet, have
walls that are 40 feet high,
and store 150 high perfor­mance
boats.
Residents are concerned
about several aspects of the
plan, all of which they say
effect them greatly. Among
their complaints are several
safety fjactora, including the
risk of keeping large amounts
of gasoline and oil in an
enclosed building, and the
installation of a sprinkler
system that they say would
not douse a gasoline fire in
the building.
Other factors in the resi­dents'
fi^t are potential traf­fic
problems in the area,
reduced property valuee due
to the locatioa oif the focOity,
and a loss of the view of the
nearby canal. A rally held on
Jiine 16 voiced their appar­ent
concern over the planned
marina.
Moratorfajm Imposed
A moratorium dealing with
the land along Hudson
Canal, and therefore effect­ing
the site of the propoced
boat storage facility, was
approved by the Village
Board on June 19.
Since the marina had been
granted building permits
before the moratorium was to
go into effect, it was to be
exempted from the new ton­ing
laws. The revocation of
those permits, however,
made it poasible that, if new
building permits are issued
to the developers after the
moratorium is enacted into
law, the new zoning niles will
effect the facility. This would
mean a drastic reduction in
the proposed size of the
building.
The moratorium effects
areas classified as either
Marine Business or Marine
Industries, and prohibits the
granting of building permiu
in those areas except to thoae
residential and commercial
structures that already exist.
Applications for repairs or
extensions of these buildinga
will also be accepted, as long
as they conform to the area
zoning laws-
FREEPORT SCHOLARSHIP WlNNERSare, ctockwtse from top left photo, Eflwn ClMry and
DoDgtat Hahrina; Chitoln»^«nJOto g«U award trom Uary Ann Rosa; Dave Opatow presents
award to Baojamki bunkto; SJoas Foundation wlww»: Brian Oumbs geU-twardfrom Chris Re