Zoning board approves pond proposal

Continued from Page 1 have a clue as to what you’re approving.”

“It’s not neighborly,” Grassi said.

He said he already pays thousands of dollars to restore his yard after weather events or development work.

“We have a responsibility to each other, and we all pay taxes, we should all be heard,” Grassi said.

At the previous meeting, on June 22, the board heard comments, many of them in opposition, until midnight.

Grassi said he would consider taking the case to court. Or, he suggested, the village could require a retaining wall be installed.

“I’m having mud consistently on my property,” he said.

Residents following the meeting noted efforts by the neighboring Science Museum of Long Island to remove invasive species from the pond and ongoing plans to restore the forest area surrounding the pond, which would be undermined by the site fill.

The fill itself was proposed to be 500 cubic yards, but the board lowered the amount in an alternative proposal to 350 cubic yards. Village code allows up to 50 cubic yards of site fill.

In April, the state Department of Environmental Conservation issued a notice of violation to the owner, for failing to comply with the grading requirements of the permit and for clearcutting vegetation within a wetland without authorization.

Leeds Pond, part of Nassau County’s 35acre Leeds Pond Preserve, overlooks Manhasset Bay and covers approximately 21.4 acres with a tributary watershed area of around 2.275 acres.

At a previous zoning meeting on June 15, three environmental experts told zoning board members the dirt plateau on the residential property is already causing harm to the ecosys- whatnot,” he said. “Anybody who knows anything about healthy water knows that fill is like toxic poisons. It’s filled with phosphorus. It’s filled with nitrogen. And it’s what causes algae blooms.”

Zoning board member Peter Kulka defend-