Residents of Valley Stream’s Mill Brook neighborhood say the construction of increasingly large homes is changing the character of their community, raising concerns about flooding, drainage, aging infrastructure and housing affordability.
A petition from the Mill Brook and Parkhurst civic associations urges the Hempstead Town Board to address the impact of large-scale residential redevelopment, and to ensure that new construction respects established neighborhood character and accounts for environmental concerns, particularly street flooding.
Beth Ward, who has lived in Millbrook since 1998, said the neighborhood was designed as a planned community with green space connecting residential blocks. The original development incorporated cul-de-sacs ending at entrances to green spaces, while a wooded area between the older and newer sections allowed schoolchildren and other pedestrians to walk between them, she said.
Ward said she is particularly concerned about the loss of permeable ground as larger homes replace more modest properties. She said the front areas of newly built homes are often completely paved, leaving little room for vegetation to absorb rainwater.
“All of the McMansions that have been built in our development have a totally paved over front area,” Ward wrote. “It cannot be called a yard, because there is no earth or anything growing.”
Ward said the removal of trees during construction further reduces the amount of vegetation in the neighborhood.
“Where is the rain or flood water to go with no roots to drink it up?” she wrote.
