Homes slated for oil storage property

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Susan Faza, who was the president of the Island Park Civic Association during the discussion stage, and who lives directly across the street form the site, says that she is “extremely pleased” with the plan.

“We went to see the beautiful units [built by Avalon] in Rockville Centre,” Faza told the Herald this week. “I would much rather see those beautiful housing units than a large pile of dirt and a toxic site.”

Glenn Ingoglia, an attorney and the president of the Island Park chamber of commerce, agreed that the development would be good for the town.

“Added housing would provide a boost for the business community here,” he said.

There is a catch that must be addressed, however, before the planned community can move forward.

The Town of Hempstead has a restrictive covenant on rentals for the property that must be changed before Avalon can construct eight rental buildings.

Posillico, however, did not seem overly concerned with the problem.

“We believe that the town will lift the covenant, he said. “We sure hope so, because there is a limited window of opportunity. We plan to take advantage of the Brownfields clean-up legislation, but that expires in 2015. If the town has not moved [to lift the covenant] then the entire deal might be in jeopardy.”

Officials at Avalon seem assured that the town will lift the covenant and that construction can be completed by October of 2015.

Posillico said that the site cleanup will soon begin and that it will begin building its condos in three buildings on the southwest portion of the site that juts out into the water as soon as the infrastructure is in place and the rental buildings are leased.

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