Public debate over the B.I.T.I. row house plan for downtown Roslyn continued last Tuesday evening with another meeting at Village Hall.

As reported in recent issues of The Roslyn News, B.I.T.I. has scaled down the number of housing units it wants to construct from 126 to 80. The proposal is scheduled for land on the east side of Roslyn Creek, between Skillman Street and Old Northern Boulevard.

The Village of Roslyn Board of Trustees has allowed B.I.T.I to use that proposal as the basis for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) study.

Under New York State's SEQRA provision, a developer must conduct a thorough study of their plans to see what effect it will have on the local environment, including any changes in traffic patterns.

At the next BOT meeting, one scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 18, board members hope to review more detailed architectural drawings of the B.I.T.I. plan, to see how the buildings themselves will look. Tulio Bertoli, a principal planner for B.I.T.I. and two BOT members, Nolan Myerson and Craig Westergaard, are currently in consultation over the architectural design of the proposal.

At recent meetings, B.I.T.I. officials have claimed that it was possible to construct up to 160 units on the site in downtown Roslyn. According to William Cohn, a principal for B.I.T.I., reducing that number down to 80 represented a "substantial cut" on the part of his firm.

Meanwhile, BOT members have continued to reiterate their support for the proposal. Members of both the Roslyn Landmark Society and the Roslyn Preservation Society have issued joint letters expressing their concerns over the proposal and calling for an updated Master Plan, one that could be "consistent with applicable law," while "[focusing] on preserving and enhancing the historic district and [keeping] pace with....the various environmental changes to the area."

B.I.T.I. officials have also expressed their unhappiness with calls for a building moratorium by both the village's Historic District Board and Planning. Such officials have suggested that B.I.T.I. could take matters to Federal District Court if progress on the proposal was not forthcoming. For their part, BOT officials have expressed their own hope for progress on the row house plan.