Leeds Ponds hearing moved to July 20

Residents petition against development application

BY BRANDON DUFFY

The Plandome Manor Board of Board of Zoning Appeals will continue a public hearing to consider issuing a permit for a developer to place 500 cubic yards of site fill on a property that sits on Leeds Pond.

The five-person board closed the hearing June 15 and reserved a decision on the matter until at least July 20. The record remains open at this time.

Opponents of the application submitted by 1362 Plandome Road LLC, primarily led by attorney Christopher Murray, who is representing adjacent neighbors at 1 Stonytown

Road, have two weeks to review any documents with the application and submit any written correspondence they may find necessary. 1362 Plandome also has two weeks following that to respond as well.

Village code allows up to 50 cubic yards of site fill, according to the code.

Ahead of the June 15 meeting, an online petition was started that opposed the application. The petition calls upon the village, North Hempstead – which owns the pond – Nassau County and the state Department of Environmental Conservation to preserve and protect the health of the pond.

Leeds Pond is part of Nassau County’s 35-acre Leeds Pond Preserve, which overlooks Manhasset Bay. It is approximately 21.4 acres in size with a tributary watershed area of approximately 2.275 acres.

Plandome Manor Mayor Barbara Donno said the “Save Leeds Pond” petition and accompanying flier disseminated to residents contained inaccurate and misleading information.

Donno said the application itself has nothing to do with Leeds Pond and is entirely about the property at 1362 Plandome Road. The mayor stressed that the project has full ap-

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