The Garden City News (5/26/23) by Litmor Publishing

Friday, May 26, 2023

Vol. 100, No. 21

FOUNDED 1923 n LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED

Put My Passio n and Experien ce To Work For Y ou

Kev in K im

Lic. R. E. Sales person O 516.307.940 6 M 516.578.278 7 kevin.kim@ell iman.com Garden City Office 130 Seventh Street | 516.30 7.940

Village bans short term rentals

Protect property PAGE 22 n Plant sale PAGE 12

PLAYOFF BOUND

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County approves Sands Casino lease agreement

BY RIKKI MASSAND

BY MEG MORGAN NORRIS

Just prior to opening the public hearing on Thursday, May 18, Mayor Mary Carter Flanagan said the Village Board had not addressed the issues of transient and short-term rentals of properties in Garden City. The rentals addressed include any Garden City listings of private homes on Vrbo and AirBnB. The mayor explained that this has become an issue for suburban communities across the U.S. recently with a proliferation of transient dwellings in New York State, and presents concerns over displacing permanent housing, driving up market costs and causing worker shortages in certain areas, as well as competing with hotels and bed and breakfast businesses that pay taxes on their rental service. “This came to our attention and many residents who contacted me assumed you would not be able to have transient dwellings in the village – upon looking at our municipal code there was no prohibition of it on the books. We have consulted with counsel and other communities have previously addressed it. This is something unique that was not covered by any municipality’s codes 20 years ago,” Carter Flanagan said. Issues presented by transient housing and short-term rentals include “introducing security concerns” of Garden City neighborhoods and impacts to the environment, the mayor said. Mayor Carter Flanagan read aloud See page 40

On Monday night, May 22, the Nassau County Legislature approved the lease agreement between the Las Vegas Sands Casino for the Coliseum property in a 17-1 vote. Only Legislator Delia DeRiggi - Whitton (D-Glen Cove) voted against it. Garden City residents held a rally against the casino on the prior day, on the steps of the Nassau County Legislature building, urging county lawmakers to reject the agreement. In addition, residents organized a phone and email campaign to let legislators know of the community’s concerns. During the legislative session just prior to the vote, dozens of county residents spoke on both sides of the issue, including Garden City Mayor Mary Carter Flanagan and Trustee Bruce Chester. The comment period lasted for over four hours and was livestreamed on the county web site. However, the final vote on the project was 17-1 with one member who recused himself from voting. In the days before the vote, Sands agreed to provide several communities with funding for various community projects, including: $10 million each to Uniondale and East Meadow and $5 million to Hempstead. The lease includes a $54 million payment to Nassau County, which will be paid even if nothing is built on the site. The Sands corporation must still receive a gaming license from New York State in order to operate a casino on the site. If it does not obtain the license, Sands is still required to build on the site, including a 200 room hotel, an entertainment venue and up to 500 residential units. It would be allowed to reassign the lease to another corporation that agrees to take over all of the obligations. Zoning changes for the property will still need to be approved by the Town of Hempstead. Local opponents of the project have said they will continue to fight it. In a letter to the editor of this week’s Garden City News, the “Say No to the Casino Civic Association” stated that it will continue to organize to fight the selection of the site for a gaming license approval.

The Garden City High School Varsity Baseball Team has advanced into the playoffs. See page 56

Children’s Room opens after renovations PAGE 3 Vet donates pet chip scanner to GCPD PAGE 7