Farmingdale Village Board Votes on Zoning Tonight

The will vote tonight on changing the local zoning code, which will allow residential units to be built over stores on Main Street.

Around 50 community members to hear about the new zoning code that the village's requires.

"Everyone here tonight loves Farmingdale Village," said . "Including me. This proposed plan is just that. A proposal. We listen to everything you say and try to incorporate it into the plan."

Attendees were given the draft of Local Law 5 of 2011, which if approved will amend the zoning code of the village to add Article XIV, a downtown mixed-use zoning district, allowing residential units to be built over stores on Main Street.

At the meeting, much of the discussion concerned parking issues, apartment overcrowding, the heights of buildings along Main Street and the conformity of the look in the area. The mayor passed around a detailed diagram of proposed architecture along the northeast end of Main Street.

“The downtown area in Farmingdale is ripe for jobs and businesses," said Chuck Gosline, a Farmingdale resident and president of the . "This is an opportunity for us to improve the area and make it better than it is now.”

Valerie LiCausi, at the end of Main Street, initially spoke against the plan for not considering the current parking problem in the village and the number of occupants in existing apartments along Main Street. At the end of the meeting, she revised her opinion.

“After reading the plan tonight, I see that you have addressed the parking problem in the plan,” she said. “I also see that you have addressed the apartment issues in the plan."

After a two hour discussion, the board recommended that the proposal be opened up for discussion and voted on at the November meeting. Changing the zoning is one component of the board's overall

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