Deal would let town buy country club's land

North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman said Thursday that the town has come to an agreement with the owner of the Roslyn Country Club to purchase most of the property for a new town park.

Kaiman said that under the agreement, arrived at this week, the town will purchase 7.3 acres of the Roslyn Country Club property, including the pool and tennis courts, from owner Manouchehr "Manny" Malekan for $2 million.

Malekan would retain roughly three acres of the 10.5-acre property, including the catering hall, and would have use of the facility's parking lot. His portion of the property would remain commercial, while the zoning on the town's portion would be changed to parkland.

The money for the acquisition would come from the town's environmental legacy fund, which the town uses to purchase open space and make park improvements, Kaiman said.

If the agreement leads to a contract, the town would issue a $7 million bond for improvements to the facility. The debt service on the bond would be paid for by membership and user fees.

Membership at the new park would be open to all town residents, and fees would be roughly $1,000 a year for a family, Kaiman said. He said he expected town residents to purchase about 1,000 memberships.

The town board is scheduled to vote on the acquisition at its June 19 meeting.

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Malekan said he has agreed in principle to the deal, but is hesitating to complete it in the face of litigation that neighbors of the club filed separately against him after he closed the pool and tennis courts. Homeowners in the 668-home Roslyn Heights development hold exclusive rights to access to the club in their deeds.

"There are some things we've agreed to verbally. These are subject to conditions, and one of those conditions is the entire group has to drop the lawsuit," Malekan said.

Todd Zarin, president of the Roslyn Country Club Civic Association, said he welcomed the news of the agreement.

"I think it's going to be an outstandingly good deal for the town and obviously for this community," Zarin said.

He said while it's up to each resident to decide whether to continue litigating, he said Malekan's concerns about the lawsuits will likely carry a lot of weight.

"I'm certain the neighbors will take that into consideration in making their decision," Zarin said.