The much-heralded Long Island Lighthouse project is in the news again, as the development's owners accused the Town of Hempstead of not moving fast enough to schedule a zoning meeting that will determine the future of the proposal, according to a story in Newsday. The town supervisor, Kate Murray, thereafter proposed a September 22 date for the session to the Town Board.
Project principals Charles Wang and Scott Rechler have proposed a Smart Growth mixed-use community on 150 acres of county-owned land, centered on their plans for an extensively refurbished Nassau Coliseum. Mr. Wang is also the owner of the New York Islanders hockey team, and has said he needs a decision on what can be built by next month, when the team's season gets underway, or he'll consider moving it away, according to the paper.
The Newsday article quotes Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi as saying, "It's great that the town has gotten the SEQRA (environmental review) process moving, but they still have to get the zoning process off the ground. If we want to get all of it done by the start of the hockey season, the town has to schedule a zoning hearing now."
In a September 1 news release, Supervisor Murray pointed out that Hempstead Town has moved its review of the Lighthouse proposal at an expedited rate. "In fact, the 2009 project review itinerary alone is impressive and unparalleled at the pace with which town reviews have been conducted," the release stated. The review process began in February 2009, when the town board adopted the environmental scope, outlining environmental issues to be addressed by developer.
The release quoted the Supervisor as saying "Hempstead Town is being diligent and working aggressively on its reviews of the Lighthouse Project. At the same time, we must be scrupulous and vigilant in our review and analyses of the proposal because the decisions we make today will affect our children and our grandchildren." She concluded, "The Lighthouse Project is the most significant development proposal for our town in many, many years. I encourage all who are interested to weigh in on this important proposal."
Read the full Newsday story at:
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/lighthouse-development-rips-hempstead-for-slow-approval-1.1381177
Read the Town of Hempstead news release at:
http://townofhempstead.org/content/home/news/lhzoning.html
