By:Cindy J. Roth
County Legis. David Denenberg helps pass legislation creating the first Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee
The Nassau County Legislature passed a measure last month that created a Nassau County Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee whose job it will be to identify open, or undeveloped, properties worth preserving. Among the measure's key authors was Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick).
The committee members' first order of business is to develop criteria for identifying and prioritizing open spaces that may be of archeological, cultural, environmental or historic significance. The committee then is to make recommendations to the Nassau County Planning Commission about acquisition and protection of open spaces in the coming weeks.
The committee is to comprise nine members, all of whom must receive legislative approval. The legislature's presiding office has four appointees; the minority leader, two; the county executive, two; and the Nassau County Planning Commission, one. All appointees must have experience in or be a representative of an organization dedicated to open space, land-use planning, land conservation, habitat preservation, archeology, historic, cultural or park enhancement or municipal financing. All committee members are volunteers who will serve two- to three-year terms. They will meet monthly and report to the Planning Commission biyearly in June and December.
Denenberg said the committee was established because the Planning Commission has never had a program to preserve open spaces. In 1995, the county passed legislation that allowed for an open-space preservation program as part of a comprehensive revitalization plan for Nassau, but the program was never implemented.
"[We have] been asking for action, but now are given the resources to act," said Denenberg, who chairs the legislature's Committee on Planning, Development and the Environment. "With a committee, we can make real recommendations to the Planning Commission, and projects can happen."
The committee will hold hearings, gather records and investigate open spaces. It will then send its suggestions to the Planning Commission about potential open-space projects.
Denenberg plans to appoint John Brooks, first assistant fire chief in Seaford, to the committee. Brooks and Denenberg have been involved with several issues together the last few years. Together, they have worked to prevent the state auction of Seaford land lots and are trying to get the property transferred to the county. They have also pushed the idea and bid for the creation of a golf course in Cedar Creek Park, in addition to establishing property just for open-space preservation in that area. The men have also worked together on erecting a fence around Wantagh Park and lights in Mill Pond.
Brooks said Nassau County is getting to the point where it is overdeveloped in many areas, specifically Seaford. He said it is good to have community people making decisions about land, although every decision has to be looked at individually without a predetermined agenda.
"You've got to look at particular spaces," Brooks said. "Some things make sense to develop and others to preserve and save."
Brooks' special interest lies in financing, in particular running programs without increasing property taxes. Denenberg believes Brooks is aware of the county's open-space needs and has an agenda to preserve such spaces. The legislator said it is important to have well-rounded people with a commitment to Nassau County and the environment on the committee.
"Brooks served as a member of the Seaford Board of Education, which gives him an education background which is very important, and through the fire department he has a unique background, understanding and fundraising abilities," Denenberg said.
Howard Blankman, chairman of the Nassau County Planning Commission, supports the new committee, saying it will help to speed up the protection of open space in the county.
"There [are] only about 1,400 acres of just open space in Nassau County, and we have to find the land and be innovative to protect it," he said.
