Five Towns registers its anger on overdevelopment

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Angered by what they consider to be too much proposed development in the Five Towns, roughly 500 area residents voiced their opposition to the projects and emphasized the need to improve Route 878, also known as the Nassau Expressway, at a meeting at the Lawrence Yacht & Country Club on Aug. 16.

The gathering was organized by longtime Lawrence residents Judi Bernstein and Jennifer Wallace, after a July 21 Lawrence village board meeting that featured several emotional public comments, after which Mayor Alex Edelman suggested that residents organize a meeting of their own.

“The message from the board of trustees is that the only way to stop this over-development is through civic involvement of all of the citizens who are affected,” Wallace said.

More than 320 people signed in at the door last week, where pre-printed letters to elected officials — including County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito — and informational packets — titled “Over-Development Projects in the Community, The combination of These Projects Will Crush Us!” — were handed out.

“The three key action requests I’ve shared with the village officials are that we would like them to first roll back and reverse zoning of all transit-oriented developments that will urbanize our beautiful towns,” Wallace said. “Stop the over-development. Our community is already too dense for the current infrastructure. The second item is to complete Route 878.” She added, “Our representatives need to go to Albany and fight for us to get this done to alleviate absolutely intolerable traffic that we already face.”

County Legislators Howard Kopel and Denise Ford and Town Councilwoman Melissa Miller opened the meeting, acknowledging residents’ frustration and telling them about a town public hearing Sept. 20, scheduled so that Hempstead officials can hear and possibly address residents’ concerns.

Kopel stayed for a handful of comments, while Miller and Ford left soon after they spoke. Town Supervisor Don Clavin sent two representatives who stayed until the end of the meeting, and Lawrence village officials were also in attendance.

The Sept. 20 hearing at Hempstead Town Hall will address building development zones — transit-oriented development districts, the Neighborhood Business Overlay District and the Residential Townhouse/Rowhouse Overlay District — in the Five Towns.

Town officials announced the public hearing outside Lawrence Village Hall the same day as the resident-organized meeting at the country club, which, Wallace noted, was “interesting timing.” “Quite clearly, they are starting to hear us and realize that this is an important issue to the people who vote for them,” she said.

Kopel urged residents to bring their friends to the Sept. 20 meeting. “If you don’t show up, the politicians, the governor is not going to take us seriously,” he said.

Residents were given one minute each to share their concerns.

“All of you, when you’re talking, when you’re speaking up at the meeting next month, make sure that you know what the IDA is,” Oceanside Civic Group member Aaron Meyer said, referring to the town’s Industrial Development Agency, “and how these developers claim they can’t build these projects without an IDA’s support, which is to say tax breaks at your expense. Make sure you keep that in mind, and don’t allow it to happen.”

An IDA is charged with fostering economic development in its municipality, and negotiates agreements with businesses such as payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTS, to attract and retain businesses. Both the town and Nassau County have an IDA.

“There are obviously many building projects being planned all over the Five Towns, and they’re all in different stages of planning right now,” Five Towns Civic Association member Rena Saffra said. “Each one on its own may not sound so bad, but the totality of all of them is something that must be understood and taken into consideration before [projects are] given the green light.”

Saffra highlighted the proposed development at the 110-acre Woodmere Club. Other developments include a three-story Amazon warehouse on the Nassau-Queens border; 17 approved single-family homes on property formerly owned by the Lawrence Woodmere Academy; nearly 20 acres of transit-oriented development in North Lawrence and Inwood; the approved Pearsall Project, in Cedarhurst, and Far Rockaway’s Rockaway Village Apartments, which, when finished, will comprise eight buildings and 1,693 residential units.

The list of impacts on residents’ quality of life, they say, includes overcrowding and increased traffic volume on already crowded roadways, hindering emergency responders and compromising evacuation routes. Residents at the meeting also noted the lack of infrastructure and utilities and the environmental impacts of development, such as a loss of green space that could contribute to more flooding and loss of wildlife.

“Coming to this meeting is a step in the right direction, but it isn’t enough,” Saffra said. “Each and every one of us should be actively engaging with our elected officials on a regular basis. Call them, email them, stay on top of them, remind them of why you voted for them in the first place and let them know how much you care about what happens in our community.”

Have an opinion on development in the Five Towns? Send a letter to jbessen@liherald.com.