Opposition included FDNY, S.I. Boro. Pres., Council member and Community Board. On August 14, 2007, BSA granted a special permit to Gregory Montalbano, allowing proconstruction to move forward for a two-story, 5,565-square-foot orthopedics doctors’ office at 82 Lamberts Lane in Staten Island. The site’s residential zoning limited medical offices to 1,500 sq.ft. absent BSA approval. The two-story facility would employ eight people and operate on weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Montalbano would demolish the 1,378-squarefoot single-family home currently on the site.

During a series of four BSA public hearings between February and July 2007, the FDNY, Borough President James Molinaro, and Council Member James Oddo all recommended disapproval, claiming that the doctors’ office would have an adverse effect on traffic. The FDNY asked for a full traffic study, claiming that the office could slow emergency response times. But Montalbano estimated the amount of traffic that the office’s patients would generate to be well below City levels triggering further environmental studies. (read more…)