New East Rockaway plan centers around Long Island Rail Road

East Rockaway Mayor Ed Sieban announced that the village board has scheduled a community meeting to present their proposal to transform the industrial district in the village, and to listen to the residents’ thoughts and ideas on the concept.
The Industrial District of the Village of East Rockaway is located along Ocean Avenue and Atlantic Avenue on both sides of Mill River near the Long Island Rail station. This district is suffering from deterioration, obsolesce and under utilization.
“Recently the W.M. Berg Co., the largest single employer in the village, closed its facilities and transferred all of its operations to Wisconsin,” said Sieban. “This has left several large properties and buildings vacant in the district.” Vacant properties result in lost tax revenue for the village and the East Rockaway School District, said Sieban, causing the tax burden to be shifted from these industrial properties to the homeowners.
“Our concern for the present state of the industrial district properties prompted the board to act and review the future of the properties,” said Deputy Mayor Richard Meagher. “The industrial district permits a wide range of uses, many of which would have a detrimental effect on our community. East Rockaway’s location away from major highways makes this district unattractive to industrial businesses. If the industrial district was fully utilized to its potential under present zoning, an increased number of trucks would need to travel our roadways and enter our residential neighborhoods.”

A new plan: TOD
To stem the continual decline of the district and to find the highest and best use for these properties, the village has conducted a comprehensive planning study. The study, developed by Saccardi and Shiff, recommended that the village look at a resource that has been at the forefront of the development and history of the Village of East Rockaway — the railroad.