Board OKs Grossmann's Farm subdivision

The Malverne Planning Board gave Nassau County’s proposed subdivision of Grossmann’s Farm the green light on Oct. 28, putting the county a step closer to acquiring the historic property, at Ocean and Hempstead avenues, and reopening it as an organic farm.

The Grossmann family and the county have agreed to a deal that will allow the county to purchase the farm for $6.5 million and maintain it as open space. The agreement, which was approved unanimously by the county Legislature on Sept. 21, is said by all the parties involved to be the best option for the property and the village.

The county plans to partner with Nassau Land Trust, a not-for-profit organization that will develop and manage an organic farming operation at Grossmann’s.

According to county officials, the farm will include educational programs for students and a Community-Supported Agriculture system, known as a CSA, in which residents can pay in advance for weekly or biweekly shares of organic foods. Representatives of Nassau Land Trust said they are planning to hire a farmer to run Grossmann’s, and that he or she will live off-site.

The county will acquire the farm property under the terms of its 2006 Environmental Program Bond Act, a $100 million program that has helped the county preserve open space and farmland, renovate parks and protect drinking water, bays and harbors, among other environmental initiatives. The program was approved by voters in November 2006.

The county’s proposal calls for Grossmann’s to be subdivided into three parcels, one of which is slated to be given to the village. Under the deal, the village will get a 25,561-square-foot (or .587-acre) parcel of land on Arlington Road, a 10,529-square-foot (or .242-acre) parcel on Ocean Avenue will remain the Grossmann family’s property, and the county will acquire the farm itself, which is roughly five acres.

Before making a decision, planning board officials said, they considered, among other things, the impact that the county’s proposal would have on the village’s traffic, sanitation, police, fire and other services.

“Traffic around the entire farm was a big concern, so we specified in our decision that there can only be one access to the farm on Ocean Avenue, and there can be right turns only when people are leaving the farm area on Ocean Avenue because there’s no traffic light there,” explained Joseph Canzoneri, the board’s chairman and a former mayor of the village. “In considering the county’s application, we made sure that the subdivision and what would be happening at this property adheres to village code because although the county is acquiring the property, it’s still in the Village of Malverne.”

The planning board’s decision also states that the .587-acre parcel the village will get in the deal can be used only for municipal purposes. Neither residential nor commercial property can be constructed on the land.

“The parcel’s use has to be something related to the municipality, so it can’t be used for an apartment building or a store,” Canzoneri said. “The parcel can be used for things like parking, a playground or any other type of establishment that the village needs and wants to use it for.”

Several village organizations have already expressed interest in the parcel. The Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps is one of them. John Hassett, the senior chairman of the corps’ Board of Directors, requested at a public hearing on Oct. 21 that the parcel be considered as a potential site of the corps’ headquarters.

Hassett said this would enable the corps to have a place to store its supplies and park its ambulance, and would be key in its efforts to increase its membership. The corps, which serves residents of Malverne, Malverne Park and North Lynbrook, currently has 23 active members.

Malverne Mayor Patricia McDonald said that the Board of Trustees is currently focused on improving the village’s infrastructure, but she stressed that the public would be informed and included when discussions about the property’s use commence.

“The board is concentrating on improving the roads in the village, and that’s a priority at this point,” McDonald said. “However, it’s important that residents of this village know that no decision pertaining to this parcel’s use will be made without public input.”

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