BY COLLIN NASH
STAFF WRITER
Most of the residents who flocked to North Hills Village Hall were ready to sound off about the controversy consuming one of Long Island's wealthiest enclaves: the village's contemplated seizure of the members-only Deepdale Golf Club.
But the standing-room-only crowd of about 120 residents Wednesday night was greeted by a stone-faced Mayor Marvin Natiss who told them that Deepdale was not on the agenda for public discussion. They'd have to wait until April 19, he said.
The meeting proceeded with frequent interruptions and heated exchanges between Natiss and a resident who filed one of two lawsuits against him and the village last week to block the seizure.
"It's poor government when you have a turnout like tonight and the mayor shut down the discussion," John Wilson Jr., whom the mayor called "out of order" several times, said after the meeting.
Natiss, citing the pending lawsuits, declined to comment on the disruptions and on a letter Wilson circulated urging residents to show up en masse to the meeting.
The Village of North Hills recently said it was considering condemning the 18-hole golf course to make it a residents-only club. Two lawsuits, one filed in federal court by the club and a group of citizens and another filed by Wilson, seek to block a takeover of the club.
In the letter, Wilson, a retired stock trader and member of Deepdale, alleged that the mayor and the village board granted a variance to a New York City developer to build a 244-unit condo project on a 17-acre parcel just south of the Long Island Expressway near New Hyde Park Road in exchange for $21 million in incentive fees. In one case, North Hills Holding Co., the developer of a condominium project wedged between the Northern State Parkway and the Long Island Expressway, paid the village $12 million in return for rights to build on a two-acre parcel the state Department of Environmental Conservation designated as protected wetlands.
On one of three or four occasions, Wilson rushed up to the podium and accused the board of operating under the radar.
"I want the residents to know that there will be serious traffic problems," he said, referring to the condo project.
Natiss shot back.
"You're out of order," he screamed. "You've said enough about me in your letter." Hinting that one of the letters ended up in his possession, Natiss said, "You even asked me to join your committee to fight me.
| Mayor Natiss responds to John Wilson's request to speak. |
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