Lynbrook to be focus of LIRR-oriented study

Nassau County has selected three South Shore communities to be the focus of a federally funded study that will explore ways to promote development near Long Island Rail Road stations.

Lynbrook, Baldwin and Valley Stream were chosen last month from among 21 possible locations for the study by the Planning Division of the Nassau County Department of Public Works, after months of meetings and discussions among community leaders and county officials.

Last year the county received $350,000 of $3.5 million awarded by the New York and Connecticut Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant to conduct the study, according to DPW Commissioner Shila Shah-Gavnoudias. The funds were made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In deciding which communities would be selected for what is being called the Nassau County Infill Redevelopment Study, the first step was gauging municipalities’ desire for transit-oriented development, explained Sean Sallie, a senior county planner. As the field was narrowed to five, economic consultants estimated the financial feasibility and the probability of success for redevelopment in each community. A selection committee made up of county officials made the final choices.

Sallie said that the county would work in partnership with the selected municipalities and local civic groups to plan redevelopment strategies focused on their train stations. “What we really wanted to do is infuse some resources into these local municipalities,” he said.

When the study is completed, local leaders will have a sense of how to turn creative concepts into reality. “It’s kind of bridging the gap between vision, and an idea, and actual implementation,” Sallie said.

Just over $100,000 of the grant will be used for the study, Sallie said, adding that the rest of the money funded public outreach, workshops, station profiles and the preparation of an Existing Conditions Report detailing the findings for each of the 21 stations, which will be released in August.