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Partly Cloudy Update on Valley Stream projects
Valley Stream officials are tackling several issues including revitalization of the village’s downtown and repairing the Hendrickson Park administration building.
The Board of Trustees recently received a draft master plan from its consulting firm, Frederick P. Clark Associates. The plan will help guide the Rockaway Avenue revitalization efforts. It is likely to be adopted at the Dec. 12 board meeting, or the January meeting at the latest, Mayor Ed Fare said.
Vinny Ang, research assistant to the Board of Trustees, said the master plan is not a binding document, but rather suggestions for growth and redevelopment of the downtown shopping district. “The best way to describe it is a map with potential avenues to go in,” he said.
The master plan will recommend several changes, including revisions to the village’s code that will streamline the approval process for business owners. Ang said that any changes to the village’s code would not be approved without public input first. “Any actions we take as a result of the master plan will involve public hearings,” he said.
Ang said that expected code changes could be made public shortly after the new year. He and board assistant Barbara DeGrace went to Vision Long Island’s Smart Growth Summit in Melville on Nov. 18 to attend workshops on downtown revitalization.
The pair heard about creating “walkable” communities along mixed-using housing — apartments over businesses — and building near transportation hubs. All of this, DeGrace said, are ways that Valley Stream has been trying to improve its downtown. “It definitely validates what the village is doing,” she said. “We are following that model.”
Village Hall annex
The village is still planning to purchase, through eminent domain, the building at 195 Rockaway Ave. The two-story building, which served as Village Hall before the present facility opened in 1955, would be a law enforcement annex.
Fare said it would house the courtroom, Code Enforcement, Public Safety and Auxiliary Police. He plans to have village Treasurer John Mastromarino run the day-to-day operations of the building.
