Apartments Going Up In Village

Building owner Anthony Zambratto has received planning board approval to go add a third story and convert second-floor office space to apartments at his property on New York Avenue and Elm Street in Huntington Village. Above are the existing building at left; and a rendering of the proposed addition at right.

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com 

Plans to add a third story and nine apartments to a building on the corner of New York Avenue and Elm Street in Huntington village are moving forward.

The Huntington Planning Board last week weighed in on the proposed architecture of the building on 356 New York Avenue, which currently houses a Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union on the first floor and offices on the second.

Planning Board Chairman Paul Ehrlich said during the meeting the architecture of the proposed third story appeared “consistent with the rest of the building and the general area.”

Building owner Andrew Zambratto’s planned conversion of the second-story office space into apartments and the construction of a third story was previously approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals in 2017. The plan required a variance from the ZBA for the “increase of gross square footage,” according to town documents.

There was no parking variance required for the project because the building’s current office space requires 40 parking stalls under town code, while the planned apartments require only 34 stalls.

Plans submitted to the town show the NEFCU would continue to occupy the commercial space in the first floor of the building. The existing 4,000 square-foot second floor and proposed 4,000 square-foot third floor would be converted into nine apartments. Planning officials said there would be four one-bedroom and five two-bedroom apartments divided between the top two floors.

Several members of the planning board expressed at last weeks meeting some concern about the design of the exterior of the building’s first floor, saying the brick from the second and third stories should remain consistent across all three floors.

Ehrlich said at the meet the board did not reach a consensus on the architecture, and planning officials said they would notify the building owner to “make some revisions.”

Last week’s meeting was Ehrlich’s first at the helm of the planning board. He was appointed by the town board last month to replace longtime planning board chairman Paul Mandelik. Mandelik led the planning board for around 15 years. Ehrlich, a relative newcomer to the planning board, was first appointed to the seven-person board last February.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the name of Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union.