Appeal Denied To Lift Block On Jericho Housing Center Conversion

JERICHO, NY — An appeal was denied Monday morning that sought to lift a temporary block on the conversion of a former Hampton Inn hotel in Jericho into a transitional housing facility.

The Town of Oyster Bay sued 120 Westend LLC, the owner of the proposed Jericho Family Support Center, earlier this month, putting the future of the contentious project in the hands of the Nassau County Supreme Court.

A temporary restraining order against the owners was granted Aug. 7 by State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Diamond in Mineola. The 14-day order paused construction and restrained use of the center as transitional housing. The owner was also ordered to comply with the town’s work stoppage order, remedy violations outlined by the town and allow town inspectors access to the property.

The appeal was rejected Monday without comment in the Appellate Division, Alexander Roberts, executive director of Long Island-based nonprofit Community Housing Innovations, told Patch.

In its suit, the town said the center violates zoning laws and a special-use permit issued for the former Hampton Inn hotel. According to public court records, the town seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, declaratory relief and monetary relief against the housing facility’s developer.

“Because the illegal conversion [of the property to a housing facility] was undertaken without any permits or approvals from the Town, and because it creates a serious and imminent danger to the life, health, safety and welfare of the public, emergency injunctive relief is plainly warranted,” the Town’s outside attorney wrote in an Aug. 6 memo.

A hearing is set for Aug. 24 to address the town’s motion to obtain a preliminary injunction against the project.

Since the suit was first filed, three state judges have recused themselves from the case: judges Helen Voutsinas and John Michael Galasso both recused themselves from the case Monday, and Jack Libert recused himself Thursday. The case has now returned to Diamond, who said he expects to hear arguments from both parties at next Monday's hearing, according to Roberts.

The Jericho Family Support Center is intended to serve as a transitional housing facility that would house up to 80 families experiencing homelessness for roughly six to eight months each.

The facility was bought in July by 120 Westend and was approved and licensed by the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. The state does not typically consult with local communities about similar housing facilities, Roberts told Patch last week.

Community Housing Innovations, a federally and state funded housing organization, would provide services to residents through a partnership with Nassau County. The Jericho Family Support Center would be the first state-licensed housing facility in Nassau County that offers services to help individuals who are housing insecure find permanent housing, Patch previously reported.

The development of the Jericho Family Support Center has faced varied community responses, including opposition from neighbors concerned about the impact families experiencing homelessness could have on the Jericho School District, which encompasses the center. Residents also expressed fears about having housing insecure families in their neighborhood.

A campaign called “Concerned Jericho Parents” has raised more than $86,000 in opposition to the project. The group also organized a committee of residents and retained a lawyer to protest the development of the facility.

“We urge you to please join us and raise money to support our efforts to force local officials to STOP this facility from opening in order to help preserve the safety and well being of our families and neighborhood,” the campaign reads on its GoFundMe page.

The group plans to host a Tuesday morning rally, featuring Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino, to express their opposition to the Jericho Family Support Center.

The group has previously publicly protested the project. Around 200 people gathered at an Aug. 8 rally on the Jericho High School campus to express their opposition to the proposed facility, carrying signs that said “TRO Granted” and “No Shelter without public hearing.”

William Ferro, the president of the Jericho School District Board of Education, told Patch that the district did not permit the use of school district property for the protest. He added that he also asked the organizing members of the opposition to stop using the Jericho jayhawk mascot on its protest materials.

"It sends a bad message. It sends the message that the school is rejecting this possibility," he told Patch last week. "It’s not the school district's responsibility to either reject or accept transitional housing."

“As a school district, it is our legal obligation to welcome and educate every student who is lawfully here," Ferro added. "So I would hate to point a figure at a homeless student and say, 'we don't want you here.' Because if they're lawfully here, any action that this school district takes under my watch as president of the Board of Education, is going to one of inclusion rather than exclusion, always."

Marc Albert, a Jericho resident and member of the Concerned Jericho Parents committee, told Patch that the campaign is not in opposition to people who are experiencing homelessness, but the project itself has raised various concerns among some community members, prompting the group’s expressed backlash.

“There was a lot of outrage in the community, not because of any opposition to the homeless people or our desire for every homeless person to have a roof over their head — that's not what this is about,” he said in an Aug. 11 phone interview. “What this is about is that this come this far without any indication to the community or to the town that it was happening, how it was happening, or any facts behind what this would involve.”

The committee, Albert said, consists of Jericho parents “who are working together on behalf of our fellow community members to try and gain information and try to protect the rights of our town.”

He added that the case will “almost without question” also be litigated by the committee, which, according to the campaign, has hired an attorney from Abrams Fensterman, a law firm with an office in New Hyde Park.

Other residents have expressed support for the plan, launching a campaign called “Support Jericho Families.” The campaign has organized a petition, website, Instagram account and email template that residents can use to contact their legislators.

Supporters also plan to demonstrate peacefully in front of Oyster Bay Town Hall Tuesday in response to the planned rally in opposition, Sivan Komatsu, an organizer for Support Jericho Families, told Patch.

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Opponents of safe housing for Jericho families will be demonstrating at tomorrow morning at the Oyster Bay Town Hall North. We will be there as well, showing them that the Jericho community welcomes all families and telling them that everyone deserves safe housing. Show up and bring your friends! If you’re unable to attend, please share this wide and far — our voices need to be heard.
A post shared by Support Jericho Families (@supportjerichofamilies) on Aug 17, 2020 at 2:12pm PDT

Roberts, who founded Community Housing Innovations in 1991, said that the organization currently runs 29 housing facilities across Long Island.

“Our first goal is to get people out of emergency housing and back to permanent housing,” he told Patch, describing the organization’s “housing first” model.

At its facilities, Community Housing Innovations manages operations, 24/7 emergency housing, the development of permanent affordable housing and down payment assistance for first-time buyers. At the Jericho Family Support Center, the organization would also provide case management services, childcare, recreation and education services, housing support and 24/7 security.

“We’ve never had an issue once we’re established,” Roberts said, emphasizing that the organization does not tolerate drugs or contraband, institutes a curfew and ensures the security of its residents. “We have 29 years of experience on Long Island as the largest provider of housing for the homeless … The proof is in the pudding. The proof is in the actual experience we’ve had in the past 29 years.”

He added that the town’s demand that 120 Westend obtain a change-in-use permit for the facility “would take forever, and would never happen in the town. And they know that.”

“So it’s our position that it’s not a change of use,” Roberts said, adding that the alleged code violation was never enforced regarding the Jericho motels that currently house around 50 families experiencing homelessness. “It’s families, in a room, at a daily rate. But the only difference is that we’re going to be providing services to help get them out.”