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nine-story application.

In addition to the height, the event space was reduced from 24 feet to 14 feet between the two applications.

Resident Kathy Novak said adding another development of this size would be a quality-of-life issue for Mineola, posing a challenge for the volunteer fire department and school system.

“Progress is inevitable, but manage environmentally sound progress and not the almighty dollar of what will be judged by in the future,” Novak said.

Mayor Paul Pereira clarified that the village’s population recorded during the 2020 U.S. census is lower than the 1970 numbers even after adding over 1,000 units in the past decade.

The mayor pointed out that the Mineola school district, where Pereira graduated and now works, has graduating classes below 200 students, lower than when he got his diploma in the 1980s.

Pereira also said the process the village board goes through with potential developers that involves a backand-forth on what developments and projects can come to the village provides more transparency than what the state previously considered ahead of adopting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget.

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