Baldwinite says wetlands should stay closed to people

At the request of Baldwinites, Nassau County in 2006 purchased a four-acre lot of tidal wetlands at the end of Parkway Drive from a developer who was seeking to build houses there. Since then, the area has become home to ospreys, blue herrons and sea turtles.
Resident John Lowe said that is just one reason that the land should remain blocked off from the public — a locked gate prevents access now. But a bill introduced by the Nassau County Legislature’s presiding officer, Richard Nicolello, a New Hyde Park Republican, would allow people to walk through this section of wetlands and more than 300 acres of other spaces throughout the county. The county purchased the properties through the Environmental Bond Acts of 2004 and 2006, for a total of $150 million.
Nicolello’s legislation was introduced after a series of published reports showed that many of the lots bought through the bond benefited county appointees and those politically connected to former County Executive Tom Suozzi, now a member of Congress, and County Executive Ed Mangano, who faces federal corruption charges. The reports, published in Newsday, showed that promises that the lands would be opened to the public have gone unfulfilled.
Lowe said there was never a promise of public access to the Baldwin wetland — the county bought it to keep it safe from development. Previously, several attempts had been made to build on the land and most were denied, until a developer was granted a permit in 2006 to build 11 detached houses. The Town of Hempstead issued a stop-work order on the development after Lowe sought then Supervisor Kate Murray’s help.
Residents later lobbied then Legislator Joseph Scannell to include the parcel in the Environmental Bond Act. A sign just behind the gate on Parkway Drive — which is covered by weeds and overgrown trees — states that it was preserved as open space on Dec. 20, 2006.

Lowe, who lives on the other side of Parkway Drive, said the land was home to ATV riders and partying teenagers before the county bought it. Now, he said, it’s a beautiful natural landscape. “The transformation of the wildlife has been nothing short of remarkable,” he said, pointing out blue herons and ospreys that had landed on trees. Lowe also said the wetland has helped improve the water quality in the Parkway Drive canal by filtering runoff and pollutants, and during Hurricane Sandy, it helped reduce the damage to waterfront homes.
Lowe has called on the Legislature to change the bill to make properties like the Baldwin wetland exempt from public access. “There is no benefit to the public by having this opened up,” he said. “If you come in here with an ATV, all of those ospreys will be gone.”
County Legislator Debra Mulé, a Democrat from Freeport, said she agreed. “It’s something that should be preserved,” she said. “I’m sure there are others like this.”
Suozzi also said the county should not take a one-size-fits-all approach. “The general objective should be access to open space,” he said, “but there has to be a hearing on each one to look at what the community wants in that particular area and the pros and cons.”
According to several people with knowledge of the matter, the bill will be revised before the Legislature votes on it. Mulé said she was encouraged by discussion by mem-bers of the Legislature’s Public Works and Parks Committee. “From what I heard the committee members say, it gives me hope there will be that fine-tuning,” she said.
The parks committee approved Nicolello’s bill 5-0 on Sept. 12. Legislator Joshua Lafazan, an independent from Syosset who caucuses with Democrats, voted for the bill despite having concerns about adequate funding to ensure that the spaces are safe to open to the public. Democratic Legislators Arnold Drucker, of Plainview, and Siela Bynoe, of Westbury, abstained from voting because of concerns about cost and public safety.
“The crux of my political thesis here is that taxpayers funded this land,” Lafazan said. “They deserve access to this land.”
During the committee meeting, he called on Democrats and Republicans to iron out their differences on the bill in the coming weeks.
Karen Contino, a spokeswoman for County Executive Laura Curran, said in an email that a 2011 report requested by county Republicans showed that similar legislation would fail to address the individual needs of each parcel. “While the county executive always supports access to open space for all residents, the plan must also be fiscally and environmentally responsible,” Contino said.

Alyssa Seidman contributed to this story.