Developer wants to build storage facility on toxic Roslyn Heights property

Blumenfeld Development Group has applied the Town of North Hempstead’s Board of Zoning Appeals to build a storage facility on a contaminated property with a vacant building in Roslyn Heights, the Island Now reported. The Syosset-based developer wants to tear down the vacant structure and build a 98,000-square-foot Extra Space Storage facility with 690 storage units on the site at 71 Jane Street, which is zoned for both industrial and residential use. Blumenfeld, which is in contract to buy the property, applied for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s Brownfield Cleanup Program after finding soil gases. The state approved the application in June and now Blumenfeld is coordinating cleanup with the DEC. Preparation for the cleanup will take months and the developer plans to keep locals abreast of how they plan to tackle it before work starts. Those who live in the area have said they are concerned that a storage facility will increase traffic, but Blumenfeld doesn’t believe that will occur. The next building would have 31 parking spaces and the developer expects only about 17 to be filled at any given time. The project requires 23 zoning variances for things like height, floor area and signage. [The Island Now]