By Kathianne Boniello
Citing community opposition and a history of corporate disregard for the neighborhood, Borough President Claire Shulman followed the lead of Community Board 11 by denying a variance request last month by a Bayside business seeking to extend its hours of operation.
At crowded May 7 meeting in which both residents living near the company and its employees pleaded with the board to see their side of the situation, CB 11 in Bayside voted overwhelmingly to deny the variance request by Lund Fire Products to extend its office hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on those days. Lund Fire Products, which has from 85 to 100 employees, is on a 40th Avenue property that stretches from 215th Place to 216th Street.
At a May 17 public hearing Shulman heard testimony from six people in favor of the application by Lund and six people against it. On June 11 the borough president pointed to the impact of the company's growth on the neighborhood as one of the reasons for her disapproval of the request.
“Lund Fire Products Inc. is a growing business which may have expanded to a point where it may no longer operate at that location without negatively impacting the surrounding neighborhood that has become predominantly residential in character,” Shulman wrote in her decision. A community board vote is non-binding and considered a suggestion to officials on how local residents view issues such as variance requests and land use.
Lund Fire Products occupies a property that was first operated as a laundry in the 1930s. Since then the area has become mostly residential, although Lund was permitted to continue at the location based on conditions such as operating hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekdays.
Both Shulman and CB 11 noted the company’s history of disregarding the operating hours condition of its variance by working long past 5 p.m. in their respective disapprovals of the variance. The borough president also referenced petitions she received from residents opposed to the Lund Fire Products variance request.
The variance request will proceed to the city Board of Standards and Appeals for a final decision.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
