Glen Cove OKs parking leases to Village Square apartment tenants

The Glen Cove City Council agreed to allow tenants of the Village Square apartment building under construction downtown to lease spaces in an adjacent city-owned parking garage.

The arrangement allows the developer, Uniondale-based RXR Glen Cove Village Square LLC, to rent at least 25 spaces in the Brewster Street garage for $65 a month.

The 146-unit Village Square, which also will feature retail space on the ground level and a public plaza, will have 171 on-site spots. Under a September agreement, RXR will pay the city $207,000 for 69 spaces in the garage to meet zoning requirements.

But that agreement doesn’t designate specific spots for Village Square tenants. The new agreement approved last Thursday does, and allows up to 75 reserved Village Square spaces, depending on demand.

John Zozzaro, an owner of the nearby Downtown Café, and Vincent Taranto, who has a law office nearby, said they were concerned that patrons of School Street businesses would have a harder time finding convenient parking if spots are reserved for Village Square. Zozzaro called for imposing time limits on some spots during the day and early evening “so people don’t park there all day.”

Mayor Reginald Spinello said the 553-space, four-story garage typically is only about 30 percent full.

Resident Daniela Crocchiola, 44, said the $65-a-month price was too low.

“The city can make more money on this,” Crocchiola said.

City Attorney Charles McQuair said the lease price is similar to the one the city charges a car dealership to park cars in the Pulaski Street garage.

“We’re getting the best of both worlds because we’re getting paid for 25 spaces, money we normally would not be getting, and we get to use that money and put it back in the garage for repairs, which we so desperately need,” McQuair said.

RXR must pay for at least 25 spaces, whether all those spaces are used or not.

Frank Haftel, first vice president at RXR, said that without the leases, “those tenants would have had the right, like anyone else, to park in the parking spaces for free.”

The council also approved four other resolutions involving Village Square. In one, RXR handed over ownership of a 0.376-acre public plaza in Village Square to the city and Glen Cove Industrial Development Agency. It will be open to the public and used for concerts, holiday celebrations and other events. The agreement allows tables or chairs from restaurants, cafes or bars in the plaza, within 24 feet of the building.

An easement approved Thursday allows the public to use a passageway RXR is building toward the waterfront. Another lets RXR use city property to build a covered walkway to the garage, and for the public to use the walkway when it crosses RXR property.