By Sophia Chang
Grace Presbyterian Church, located at 216-30-56 28th Ave. in Bayside, has appealed to the city Board of Standards and Appeals for a permit to expand and renovate its facilities, according to a copy obtained by EBHA President Frank Skala.
The church's original application was denied by the city Department of Buildings on the grounds that a mapped city street, a closed portion of Little Neck Boulevard, runs through the property and cannot be built upon.
The church, which Skala said has been at the location for about 10 years, sits on a parcel of land bordered by 216th Street, 28th Avenue and the Cross Island Expressway.
According to the application filed by the church's lawyer Sheldon Lobel, the church's current two-story facility is 11,538 square feet, and the church plans to “expand and reconfigure its existing building, constructing an approximately 18,931 square feet, two- story extension on the northerly portion of its lot” where an old swimming pool now sits. The church also wants to add 9,100 square feet to the easterly portion of the building for a total of 30,469 square feet to serve 650 parishioners, the application said.
At the meeting attended by 30 people, EBHA and other local civic association members voiced their opposition to the addition, with parking and traffic issues among the chief concerns.
“I live a mile away and I think it will be a neighborhood catastrophe if hundreds of cars come through,” Skala said, adding that there would undoubtedly be a decline in property values. “What will your property be worth if you're faced with cars all the time?”
Community Board 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece said he does not anticipate CB 11 supporting the church's appeal, although the board's approval is not needed for a community facility like Grace Presbyterian.
According to Iannece, Lobel had sent a letter to CB 11 member Bernie Haber informing him of the church's plans last week, with the caveat that if there was no response from the board in 45 days Lobel would assume the church had no opposition. CB 11 does not meet again until September, Iannece said, citing this as an example of Lobel's unwillingness to work with the community.
“We have to be leery of what they're doing and how they're going to do it,” he said.
Iannece pointed out that the proposed addition could accommodate well over the stated number in the appeals application. “If this facility is used at full capacity, you could have almost a thousand people there,” he said. “It would destabilize the existing surrounding community.”
The EBHA members unanimously passed a motion to oppose the church's appeal and agreed to seek legal action if necessary. “The one legal thing that could defeat the proposal is that there's the mapped street bed,” Skala said, referring to the DOB's rejection of the church's initial building permit application.
At times, attendees struggled to emphasize that the race or religion of the church founders and members was not an issue. “This has nothing to do with ethnicity or theology,” Skala said.
“They're lovely people,” said Dr. Blanche Felton, president of the John Golden Park Civic Association Inc. She said while she does not support “blockbusting,” where a shift in residential demographics is portrayed negatively by realtors hoping to scare people into selling homes, “it certainly could alter the balance of the way the population is set up” in the area.
Reach reporter Sophia Chang by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
