TNH Board to Vote on Rezone for GWL Waterfront Apartment Condos

Tuesday, August 22—The North Hempstead Town Council unanimously accepted its findings in connection with a previously accepted Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) submitted by Glen Harbor Partners for a proposal to build a 60-unit waterfront condominium apartment building south of the Glenwood Landing (GWL) Power Station and set a vote on whether to rezone the property to accommodate the project for September 13.

Acceptance of the findings cleared the way for the rezoning hearing to change the use of the parcel from industrial to multi-family residential that immediately followed the findings vote. A standing-room-only crowd of people from the Town of North Hempstead (TNH) and Town of Oyster Bay (TOB) sections of GWL, Glen Head, Roslyn Harbor, Sea Cliff, and Glen Cove packed the hearing room.

Public sentiment was overwhelmingly opposed to the project. A statement from one speaker that residents would be willing to pay to reclaim the property as open space drew applause from the audience, as well as cries of “tax us” and “float a bond.” Another speaker asked if TNH had considered attempting to secure funding to clean up the site from the persons responsible for the contamination. The town board responded that litigation in such matters is very costly and time consuming.

TNH Supervisor Jon Kaiman said that he had recently had a discussion with Glen Cove Mayor Ralph Suozzi that called into question the feasibility of a sewer hook up to the Glen Cove sewage treatment plant. TNH has said that the project proposed by Glen Harbor Partners cannot be built without such a hookup. An engineer from TOB presented a document outlining numerous TOB concerns with regard to the EIS and the TNH findings statement. A supplement to the EIS may be required to deal with some of these and other issues.

Meanwhile, TNH Councilman Fred Pollack has written to TOB Supervisor John Venditto to determine if there would be any interest in exploring the possibility of forming a special inter-municipal park district to reclaim the property and bring all of it into the public domain as open space.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• If you live in GWL on the TNH side of the line, contact Sumpervisor Jon Kaiman (869-7700 / kaimanj@northhempstead.com) and Councilman Tom Dwyer (869-7696 / dwyert@northhempstead.com) to express your views about the Glen Harbor proposal, whether you have already done so or not. Be sure you let the them know you are a TNH resident and if you favor investigating the possibility of forming an inter-municipal park district. The address for North Hempstead Town Hall is 220 Plandome Road, Manhasset 11030.

• If you live in GWL on the TOB side of the line or in Glen Head, contact Suprvisor John Venditto (624-6350) to let him know if you would like to explore the possibility of forming an inter-municipal park district. The address for Oyster Bay Town Hall is 54 Audrey Avenue, Oyster Bay 11771.