Narrow lot sizes nixed after North Hempstead restores former zoning code 

North Hempstead has updated its town code to prevent developers from subdividing properties and building homes with lot sizes that are narrower than the rest of a neighborhood. 

Residents of University Gardens, a hamlet on the Great Neck peninsula with a population of more than 900 residents, raised concerns that prompted revisions to the town code.

In a statement, town spokesman Umberto Mignardi said the "amendment generally requires that neighborhoods containing large residential lots maintain those large residential lots."

Mignardi said the town learned of the issue from "the University Gardens Property Owners Association, who were concerned after one of the large lots in the neighborhood was subdivided into three separate parcels. This law will prevent that from happening again without approval from the Board of Appeals."

The issue bubbled up in May when members of a homeowners association opposed a developer's plan to subdivide a property that had a width of 200 feet into three parcels. The homes' lot widths will span slightly more than 65 feet under the proposal, officials said. 

That would be smaller than the average lot width for homes in University Gardens, which is about 110 to 115 feet, according to Steve Perlman, the former president of the University Gardens Property Owners Association. 

For years, the town policy said new home lot widths had to be the greater of the zoning minimum in the area — 65 feet for University Gardens — or the average width of lots in a 200-foot vicinity. But the code does not require a lot width to exceed 100 feet in such cases.

But in 2021, the town removed the requirement that lots had to be at least the average width of nearby homes at the front setback line. 

Amid opposition from residents, the town board reinstated the former policy in August. The minimum width must be the greater of 65 feet or the average of existing lots within 200 feet of each side of the property. Similar rules were instituted in other parts of the town, where different zoning requirements are in effect.

After University Gardens residents got wind of the subdivision proposal, they raised concerns with town officials.

The new owner, Uni Garden 2023 LLC, could not be reached for comment. 

Perlman said in an interview that residents felt the proposal was wrong for the community.

"We feel that's detrimental to the overall ambience of the neighborhood," he said.

Residents had reached out to Christine Liu, a Democrat who serves on the town council and represents the area.

The proposal, she said in an interview, "is not in uniformity with the look of what the rest of the block is," she said. "Your hope is to be within the character of the community. I think lot size makes a big difference for people."

Kathleen Levine, the association's president, said she is pleased with the town's decision.

University Gardens, she said, is "just charming and unique. And when you put up three saltbox houses on a property, it changes the community."

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.