January 10th, 2019

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Village of Westbury Approves Maple Ave TOD Zoning

Some events are very special and the recent public hearing and vote in the Village of Westbury for the Maple Ave Transit Oriented Development zone was one of them.

After multiple years of public meetings and very thorough analysis the Board voted unanimously on a new zoning code that would allow more redevelopment around their largely industrial train station area.

This action not only allows thoughtful redevelopment taking advantage of the LIRR but brings business into the Post Ave business district that compliments their main street area.   Kudos to Mayor Peter Cavallaro and members of the Village Board for their leadership moving this zoning change forward.

“We want to have every tool at our disposal to make the best product out of that rezoning and that’s best for our village,” Mayor Cavallaro said. “One that creates more affordable housing, more housing for seniors, more housing for millennials and more housing for veterans.”

Special acknowledgement also goes to the planning team of BJH Advisors, Kevin Walsh & Laura Schaefer attorneys, GPI Engineering, VHB Engineers and BHC Architects.  Vision was also honored to be on the planning team.

“Long Islanders will always love their single-family homes, but increasingly, additional housing options are needed,” said Vision Long Island Director Eric Alexander.

It also goes to show once again that the best examples of Smart Growth and downtown renewal are in local villages.

Here is an article in the Westbury Times from a little while ago that reviews the zoning but watch for more press moving forward.

Modera Metro Mineola Holds Ribbon Cutting

Vision Board and staff were out this week at the ribbon cutting for the Modera Metro Mineola, a 192-unit apartment development from Mill Creek Residential Trust, which was built on a 2-acre site of the former Corpus Christi Elementary School on Searing Avenue.

This is the sixth building we have seen on Long Island from Mill Creek, all of which are designed with a different look and feel.  The presentation on the exterior is very traditional while some of the interior features are very modern.  The amenities are also great including a community room, bar, pool, seating areas, balconies, pet services and a very cool rooftop lounge.

One of the buildings is 70% leased already with the other coming on line soon. The bulk of the project are one bedroom units with a smaller number of two bedrooms.  There is also an affordable component to the project with a lottery that was held last month managed by the LI Housing Partnership.  The average size is 900 sf with a range from 600 to 1100 sf.

This project was approved unanimously by the Village of Mineola with more supporters than opponents at the public hearing.

Kudos to Mineola’s Mayor Scott Strauss and Board of Trustees for their leadership in planning and approving the project. Great work by the Mill Creek team including their design team from H2M and the legal team from Sahn Coschignano Ward.

Vision supported this project at the hearing where it was approved with support from local residents and business owners, and was happy to see new residents, the Mineola Chamber, and all the Village Trustees out at the opening.

The more TOD projects like this one where folks can see the tax positive substantive benefits of this form of investment only help build trust in communities across LI for new redevelopment options.

Matinecock Court Receives Funding After 40-Year Effort

Vision was happy to see the 40 year chapter for the Matinecock Court affordable housing project in Northport finally come to a close. While the project has had all of its approvals for about a decade, additional financing from Suffolk County was just approved recently in a bipartisan fashion with a 16-1 vote.  20 folks spoke at the public hearing, with 19 in favor and one opposed.

This came in spite of misinformation swarming social media that pitted folks against each other. This was not a surprise as that is what we get on such platforms.  Vision recognizes this is an extreme case, and there were certainly flaws in the process of planning this project, but it shouldn't have been this hard to get such a project off the ground.  Still, now that the process is concluded, we sincerely hope now that the project's developer has everything he needs to begin building the project.

Credit should go to to Susan Lagville from Housing Help, who stuck through this process, multiple lawsuits, court decisions and literally decades of conflict and tension.  Vision had a letter of support for the project as well, and has spoken in favor of it in past hearings.

Check out the article in LI Business News that speaks to this last part of their journey.

Greenman Pedersen Shares Results of Lindenhurst Resident Survey

Vision was heartened to see that the results of a survey of Lindenhurst residents show they regularly frequent their downtown.  It was also not surprising to see that some of the things they are looking for are more retail, family oriented activities, restaurants and walkable streets.

The survey was conducted by Greenman-Pedersen Inc (GPI), who presented the findings at a recent public meeting.  The company had previously been hired by the village to conduct walking surverys and gather feedback on what improvements residents would like to see in their downtowns.  They will also be developing a master plan for the Village.

“People want niche stores, they want something unique to go to,” said Frank Wefering of GPI.  He also recommended that the Village look more into mixed-use and transit-oriented development, specifically at the recently-closed Waldbaum’s grocery store site.  GPI also recommends increasing density in the area surrounding the train station.

Draft recommendations will be presented to the public later this month as GPI continues to prepare the information for public review.  Check out the story on the survey at Newsday.

Village of Farmingdale Recognized for Culinary Accomplishments

It was awesome to see the Village of Farmingdale recognized for the varying food and drink options that have resulted from their revitalization process. This trend has been happening in downtowns across Long Island and Vision was happy to see many Main Streets move in this direction.

The Farmingdale Village Downtown area was recently designated as the “Culinary Quarter” to commemorate the many years of food excellence and diversity that the Village offers.

The now Farmingdale Culinary Quarter is the home to celebrity chef restaurants, ethnic cuisine, pastries, coffee shops, speakeasies, and a brewery.  Signs are being installed in the Village to make this official!

Check out the story in the Farmingdale Observer.

PSEG Provides Grant for Farmingdale Restaurant

PSEG Long Island has provided a $25,000 grant for Farmingdale Restaurant Whiskey Down as part of its Main Street Revitalization Program.

The restaurant opened just this past summer at 252 Main Street in downtown Farmingdale in a space that had sat vacant for about a year.  The owners would go on to beautify the space outside the restaurant by creating an outdoor seating area as well as a walkway.  They also installed energy efficient day/night lighting as well.

“We offer a variety of grants and energy efficiency rebates for small and medium business owners to help them save money while revitalizing downtowns and reviving vacant spaces,” said PSEG Long Island Manager of Economic Development John Keating.

The program is offered by PSEG as financial incentive for local businesses to take on projects meant to increase energy efficiency.  Businesses that move into locations that were previously unoccupied receive priority, which creates a faster lane for economic stability and growth in municipalities.

Kudos to PSEG-LI for their Main Street program that has been helping a number of downtowns across Long Island.

You can read more in Long Island Business News.

PSEG Long Island Provides Grant for 100 Year Old Appliance Store

Plesser’s, one of America’s oldest appliance store, recently celebrated their official grand re-opening, thanks in part to an $18,750 grant from PSEG Long Island’s Main Street Revitalization Program.

The appliance store, located at 6 East Main Street in downtown Babylon Village, was originally founded in 1919 by Sam Plesser.  It is currently owned by Marc and Al Howard, who are 3rd-generation appliance men.  The store carries on the tradition of old-fashioned service and customer satisfaction.

The grant was used to fund a renovation of the building that included a façade improvement, remodeling of the showroom, installation of energy efficient lighting, and an HVAC system. 

“PSEG Long Island is proud to support our local communities,” said John Keating, manager of economic development for PSEG Long Island. “We know small businesses like Plesser’s are the backbone of the community, helping the local economy thrive. The PSEG Long Island Main Street Revitalization Program helps small business owners stay vital in an ever changing market. It is a win-win for all.”

You can read more about PSEG’s downtown revitalization here, and visit Plesser’s website here.

Huntington Launches New App to Help Simplify Parking in Downtown

The Town of Huntington has launched a new app aimed at helping downtown visitors to simplify their parking experience in the downtown.

The Passport Parking App will now allow patrons to pay for metered parking on their phone instead of having to travel back to a meter when they are running low on time.  The app had already been in use at the LIRR station and received a soft launch earlier in the year while the Town worked the bugs out of the system.

“We did a quiet launch to work out any issues with the deployment before promoting it to the public and it appears that the app has been very well-received – it’s very easy to use,” said Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci. “We’re already seeing people use the app in Huntington village, where our team is completing signage installation but the app is already active.”

The app now covers all metered parking at the Huntington LIRR station and in Huntington Village.  The Town has placed decals on parking meters as well as on the numbered poles marking metered spaces, with zones for the app broken down by street.  The decals will be visible from the street, allowing patrons to pay for their parking before leaving their vehicles.

The App can be downloaded from the App Store or the Google Play Store.  Parking in metered spots remains free for vehicles displaying valid disability parking permits and license plates.
You can read more on the new app here.

Natural Gas Moratorium Lifted – Deal Reached to Address Short Term Supply Issues

The lifting of the moratorium on natural gas is wonderful news for small business owners seeking to open or expand, affordable housing and mixed use downtown projects that were approved, new industrial redevelopment and offices looking to provide jobs.

In the interim we are hearing that National Grid will bring back customers in the order in which their service request was received.

The $36 million referenced in the agreement will go to a series of programs There is a $7 million fund for customers that were harmed by the moratorium process. There is a funded program for energy efficiency to reduce the demand for gas. There is also a short term demand response program that has larger customers switch back to oil on the coldest days.

Clearly there is no definitive judgement long term on a natural gas pipeline vs increased oil and propane production. There is also no clear alternative from the renewable energy industry on cost effective options to service these needs yet. What the end to this moratorium does is provide time to properly plan a truly regional issue. Hope we take advantage of this reprieve.

In the long term the lack of natural gas supply needs to be addressed as the temporary fix of CNG trucks moving through local communities should not be sustained. Hopefully this painful process will serve as a call to regional interests and local communities to sort out investment in sustainable energy solutions so we don’t have to retreat to oil and propane.

Special thanks to members of the Vision Board, community partners, LI Main Street Alliance and members of the Smart Growth movement across Long Island who wrote hundreds of letters seeking to move through this crisis.

Check out the story in LI Business News here.

Clean Energy Task Force Discusses Climate Leadership and Community Protection

Vision Board and staff were out recently at a meeting of the Clean Energy Leadership Task Force, held at the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College in Farmingdale.

This Task Force brings together Long Island municipalities with state and federal governments, power authorities, utilities, and environmental leaders to advance clean and renewable energy solutions and initiatives at the local level.

Neal Lewis, Executive Director of Sustainability Institute at Molloy College, opened the meeting and welcomed over 80 attendees, including NYS Senator John Brooks, former Assemblyman George Hockbrueckner, and Deputy Director of the Long Island region of State Parks Brian Foley.  Keynote speakers were NYS Assemblyman Steve Englebright and Executive Director of Renewable Energy Long Island Gordian Raacke.  

Discussion focused on the newly enacted “Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.”  This bill, according to Assemblyman Englebright, is one of the world’s most ambitious climate plans and requires New York to get 70 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, with a shift entirely to carbon-free power a decade later.

Both speakers emphasized the need for local action, from educating the public, to focusing on decarbonization of carbon rich communities.  They noted that without community buy-in projects will stall.  The goal, at the end of the day, is for government and community to work together to bring about renewal of jobs, along with important clean energy solutions, for our biggest problem - climate change.

Marilyn Dare, Senior Project Manager at Energy Codes at New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, presented a powerpoint on the topic, titled “NYStretch Energy Code: A Tool for Meeting Your Community’s Climate Goals.” The message was clear that buildings built above and beyond the minimum code requirements of the 2020 Energy Conservation Construction Code make meaningful strides in mitigating climate change.

Vision’s Director Eric Alexander updated the crowd on their alternative energy roundtable, Complete Streets work, and the then-upcoming Smart Growth Summit. Representatives from Tara Bono from Empower Solar, the Nassau Comptroller’s office, and from Suffolk County, also provided reports.

Kudos to Neal Lewis and his team for putting together a very productive and informative session.

Nassau Legislature Approves C-PACE Funding

Vision Board and staff were out at the Nassau Legislature today in recent weeks to thank them for their bipartisan efforts this year.  Most recently, this includes the passage of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program financing.

This program, also known as Energize NY Finance, will allow property owners to finance the cost of clean energy upgrades to their commercial or non-profit properties with no out-of-pocket expenses.  Payments for this financing will be less than ongoing savings on energy bills, making it easier than ever to create energy-efficient infrastructure.  Eligible local governments in NYS will need to opt into the program.

The funding will cover 100% of the cost of a clean energy projects with terms that can be customized to the expected life of the improvement.  Financing automatically transfers to the new owner if the property is ever sold.  The financing structure is available through the Energy Improvement Corporations for projects that are looking to install permanent improvements that reduce energy costs in existing buildings. 

Kudos to Sustainability Institute at Molloy's Neal Lewis for his persistent efforts to move this forward in both Counties and to Nassau Presiding Officer Rich Nicolello for making this happen in 2019.

Suffolk County Alliance of Chambers Hosts 4th Quarter Meeting

Vision Board and staff were out in support and speaking with the Suffolk County Alliance of Chambers for their 4th Quarter meeting.  The meeting was hosted by the Westhampton Business Alliance leader Reeni Brill at the Gabreski Airport in Suffolk County.

Town of Southampton Supervisor Jay Schneiderman opened with an update on various past development projects and the passage of the Town’s Accessory Apartment Law for Affordable Housing.  He was followed by John Macri from La Ferla Group, who covered the Chamber’s program for health insurance coverage for small businesses with 3-10 employees.

Ray Dipresso from People’s United Bank also spoke, talking about his bank’s support of Main Streets with their varying lending programs.  Judge Allen Smith talked on the impact of the upcoming Bail reform passed by NYS that will go into effect on January 1st. Little has been discussed on this policy.  There was also a concern about recent comments made from NYS Attorney Generals Office about removing local Town and Village courts.

Riverhead Councilwoman Jodi Giglio presented details of local public safety and downtown management issues that the pending bail reform could create. These changes impact small businesses, school districts and overall quality of life.

Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy spoke to many concerns about Suffolk County’s budget.  He updated the group on delays in tax information being sent out to residents this year.  He also talked about some improprieties with some contract agencies and not for profits while vowing to be a fiscal watchdog for Suffolk County.

Small business owner Christine Guardino from World of Pink, and Pink Tie member, spoke of the need to help women with breast cancer as her company manufactures bras for breast cancer survivors.  Vision’s Director Eric Alexander provided an Albany update from the LI Lobby Coalition and the LI Main Street Alliance.  He also covered the range of promotional activities associated with Small Business Saturday.

Congratulations to Suffolk Chambers Co-Chairs Gina Coletti and Bob Fonti for holding an informative and productive meeting.

Small Business Saturday Comes Up Big for Local Main Streets

Small Business Saturday was this past December, and was a great day to shop at local independent stores in our downtowns. In 15 years of participating in these efforts we are happy to see the most activity this year.
Tracking over 70 Long Island Main Street’s there are now well over 4,000 small businesses participating in Small Business Saturday.

We all know that money that is spent on brick and mortar stores, particularly in downtown Main Streets, stays in the community, helps pay local taxes and keeps jobs and resources in your neighborhood.

For those shopping for the holidays these businesses include a range of gift ideas from clothes, jewelry, furniture, beauty supplies, gifts, toys, hobbies, wine, beer, tea, cigars, art galleries, gift certificates for restaurants, theatre and music venues, spa's and other services.

On the corporate level American Express continues to advertise this message of shopping at small businesses with this annual Small Business Saturday campaign.

PSEG-LI to their credit has an new ad campaign going out to all of their residential and commercial customers.

The Nassau IDA has funded a promotional campaign to shop locally that has ads out right around the holidays.

The Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce & the Suffolk County Chambers of Commerce have gotten out messages to their members. Vision LI & LI Main Street Alliance members got out messages to their 25,000 folks who care about downtowns and local communities.

The Nassau Chamber, Nassau IDA and Lynbrook Chamber at Trainland in Lynbrook. The Lynbrook Chamber, Island Park Chamber, Great Neck Chamber, Oceanside Chamber, Elmont Chamber, and LI Hispanic Chamber participated with Nassau County Executive Laura Curran & Lynbrook Mayor Alan Beach. The County introduced a “Small Business Scavenger Hunt” that is underway today.

An earlier shop locally event featured the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce and Merrick Chamber in downtown Merrick at the Queen of Hearts shop with Nassau Legislator Steven Rhoads.

The Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce and Oyster Bay Civic Association held a press event at Sorrelle Boutique with Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino.

In the Village of Westbury the Westbury BID starts the use of local BID dollars on Small Business Saturday that provide discounts in local shops.

Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony D’Esposito and Town of Babylon Councilman Anthony Manetta and Village of Port Jefferson officials have been out promoting Small Business Saturday as well.
Some groups had events this season:

In Port Washington “Port Holiday Magic” includes a visit with Santa and is organized by the Greater Port Washington BID, the Port Washington Chamber of Commerce and Residents Forward.

In Sayville the Greater Sayville Chamber of Commerce hosted events including ice skating, a carousel and holiday parade among others.

The Village of Babylon held a Small Business Saturday raffle. Local Babylon businesses organized this campaign and if you spend $50 or more downtown you get a raffle ticket for prizes including gift baskets.
In Patchogue the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce had free pictures with Santa at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts.

The Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce held an earlier “Shop Locally” press event and then had a parade including music and a tree lighting ceremony. Participating officials in these events include(d) the Town of Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci, members of the Town Board, NYS Senator Jim Gaughran, NYS Assemblyman Steve Stern, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Suffolk Legislator Doc Spencer.
This issue did not just pop up this year. In the last decade and a half there has been a lot of focus on both supporting small businesses and shopping locally in our downtown business districts.

In 2005 the Nassau Council of Chambers, Vision Long Island and the Farmingdale Chamber of Commerce made news with an inaugural “Shop Downtown for the Holidays” press event and campaign.

Every year since then the Nassau Council of Chambers picked up the baton and held their annual “Shop Downtown” holiday press conference focused on shopping locally in varying Main Streets across Nassau. Vision supported these events as well. The Nassau Chambers won a LI Smart Growth Award for their persistent good work on this issue.

The Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce to their credit organized a branded "Shop Locally" Campaign. They won a Long Island Smart Growth Award for this work as well.

Other independent “shop locally” events have been held through the years in Huntington, Northport, Riverhead, Port Jefferson, Patchogue, Babylon, Bayshore, Sayville, Garden City, Port Washington, Farmingdale, Merrick, Oyster Bay, Rockville Centre, among many others

You can read more at the litimes.org.

New York Approves more than $100 Million for Long Island Water Improvement

Vision was happy to see over $100 million in resources from NYS go to local water districts on Long Island.
The new regulations to remove harmful chemicals from drinking water was signed into law by the Governor this year. The good news is instead of making it an unfunded mandate NYS stepped up to provide funding to local governments.

Specifically, the regulations will allow for water districts to apply for waivers of up to three years in order to meet drinking water standards for 1,4-dioxane.  This chemical is a likely carcinogen used at industrial sites and found in trace amounts in cosmetics and household products.  The waiver can also apply to perfluorooctane sulfonate [PFOS], found in firefighting foams, and perfluorooctanoic acid [PFOA], found in nonstick and stain-resistant products.

Grants are currently being provided for treatment at 37 Long Island wells during that time, all of which currently exceed proposed drinking water standards for the chemical.  That money will cover up to 60% of costs for water treatment in 23 districts across Long Island.  Grants had previously been capped at $3 million per district.

This initiative was a priority of the LI Lobby Coalition and a win for the public, the environment and local water districts.  You can read more on this development in Newsday.

Governor Cuomo Announces over $761 Million in Economic and Community Development

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced recently that more than $761 million statewide in economic and community development funding has been awarded through Round IX of the Regional Economic Development Council initiative.

$87 million in funds was appropriated to Long Island with $46 million in directed grants to projects.  Of that $46 million, over $9 million was secured for 13 downtown projects or community enhancing infrastructure projects.

Projects in Nassau included a Port Washington TV and film production studio, a Lynbrook walking and bikeway access, funding for the historic Grist Mill in Roslyn and funds for sewer connections from Long Beach to Bay Park. In addition studies were funded for parking in Glen Cove, a Master Plan in New Hyde Park and to address blighted areas in New Cassel.  In Suffolk, funding was secured for a TOD housing project in upper Port Jefferson, waterfront connections in downtown Riverhead and downtown Greenport.

There was also funding for studies that included Huntington Station sewers, Mastic Beach, Southampton sewers, Port Jeff Station blight, and Greenport.  The first phase of the Empire State Trial extension also received funding.

Many of these projects were supported by Vision, our community partners, or the broader Smart Growth movement.

We were happy to see our downtowns get funding and always important to try to get our fair share of resources from Albany.

Check out the news release with a direct link to the full project list here.

Blank Slate Media Hosts Transportation Forum

Vision was out with over 60 community residents and business leaders at Blank Slate Media’s Transportation forum, hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Manhasset.

LIRR President Phil Eng spoke at the meeting about the performance of the system and upcoming projects as part of their modernization initiative.  The LIRR served 89.8 million riders last year and is projected at 91.3 million riders a year.  Down the road they envision servicing 100 million riders a year. They are currently operating at over 90% on time.

In the last Capital Plan the 2nd Track was completed and 3rd Track project is underway.  In addition, 35 stations were upgraded and 14 switches were replaced.  The upcoming Capital Plan includes $5.7 billion for the LIRR.  The plan includes additional station upgrades, system expansion and study on electrification and north/south connection.

Mr. Eng also expressed his support for TOD and smart growth land use policies as a companion to the railroads growth. 

MTA Chair Pat Foye spoke about the overall Capital Budget and new funding mechanisms including the pending congestion pricing tolls.  MTA reforms are coming that include the combination of corporate functions into a centralized administration.  They have been able to get $1.6 billion in administrative costs out of the system moving forward, and $2 billion of costs out of the system in other areas over ten years.  Additionally, every project above before 25 million is now design-build which helps reduce costs.

The upcoming Capital Plan is $51.7 billion, which is the largest in its history, and a 2,700 reduction in the workforce will help reduce costs as well.  The congestion pricing tolls are projected to bring in $15 billion of revenue to the Capital Plan. A tax on Manhattan real estate and other fees will balance the new revenue needed.

Speakers took questions from the audience which included subjects ranging from the new Elmont Station with a need for a public forum where LIRR will answer questions; A need for local jobs and contractors for MTA/LIRR work; Trust building of the MTA’s operation in general; What makes this night’s presentation different than other nights (including an admission from MTA Chair Pat Foye that “the MTA has had its share of failures and fiascos through the years”; Quality of life concerns in Penn Station such as ventilation, air conditioning and improves rest rooms; How do you save costs with a unionized workforce; Electrification in Oyster Bay, Greenport, Montauk; Purchasing of new diesel trains; Coordination with NICE bus for more suburban service.  Pat Foye also noted that the MTA will not be taking Nassau bus system back, but didn’t agree with original decision of Nassau County to separate from the MTA. 

A robust dialogue ensued on each of these questions.  Kudos to Steve Blank for coordinating an informative session.

It was also great to see Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman-elect Mariann Dalimonte, Nassau Legislator Delia Deriggi Whitton, former Floral Park Mayor Tom Tweedy, Queens Chamber of Commerce Corey Bearak and NY Atlantic Rail’s James Bonner.

Business Trends of Past Decade Breathing New Life into LI Downtowns

Newsday recently released an overview of business trends on Long Island over the past decade that includes the impact of technology, the gig economy, struggling retail, the minimum wage increase, a changing health care market, increased student debt, the impacts of Superstorm Sandy, the need for affordable housing, and the growth of transit oriented development in our downtowns.

Nearly 10,000 units of transit oriented development were built over the past decade with many more units approved and awaiting construction in nearly 40 downtowns. There are also over 10,000 units going through the planning stages.

The new developments “have brought life back to dozens of our aging downtowns, helped small businesses, offered housing choices, enhanced walkability and increased public events and festivals, bringing back a true sense of place,” said Vision Long Island Director Eric Alexander.

The impact of this redevelopment has helped small businesses, provided housing options, increased walkability and brought more events and a sense of place to our local communities.

You can read more at Newsday.

Process Matters

So much airtime in public life is given to the extremes on either end of the spectrum – in the case of local land use – those who want to build projects by any means necessary and those who oppose them at all costs. The vast majority of folks are in between and usually base their decision on the quality of development, the scale of the project and its impacts. Most importantly they want to know these new neighbors and ultimately weigh the change on their quality of life.

In any relationship if you try to decide something without working with your partner you have a very low chance of success. It’s called process and it can be painful, long and at times costly, but without it you lose a reasonable chance of achieving your set goal.

While that seems so simple at times the process of working with folks has gone awry. Amazon in Long Island City was the best example and recent apartments proposed in East Farmingdale, Huntington and New Hyde Park all have had opposition out of the gate because little to no effort was made to connect with the local community.

We can exhume the corpse of these or other projects through the years and understand what set them off course: An overemphasis on regionalism vs. local needs; top down messaging vs. developing real relationships; dismissiveness and arrogance when facing community criticism; poorly conducted meetings or even no meetings. Calling folks names like NIMBY or worse never helps.

One or more of the above can result in residents saying things that are hurtful, slanderous and untruthful and all this conflict swirls around social media outlets to the delight of unaccountable attention seekers and others who never want a problem solved.

Thankfully we can and are changing course…

Like in that “Seinfeld” episode where George Costanza did the exact opposite of what he normally did and ended up with a gorgeous girlfriend and a great job we oftentimes need to do the opposite of our instincts in the local planning process.

Some of the steps that help include: getting to know your neighbors; explaining the benefits of a project; if there aren’t direct benefits in your project listen to what communities needs are and enlist yourself and others in helping get them solved. Also be careful who represents you – work with consultants who have a track record and aptitude in connecting with people.

This year’s Long Island Smart Growth Awards winners exemplify these changes underway and needed. We have honored projects, organizations and policies advancing affordable housing, mixed-use development, infrastructure investment in our rail and sewer systems, corporate philanthropy for main streets, educators guiding young people to work in their community, village officials that provide mutual support for their downtowns, developers that work with residents and a reporter focused on real news.

There is a long track record from the smart growth movement working with the public over 20 years on master plans, visionings, hamlet plans and corridor studies. These efforts resulted in 87 of 102 hearings for downtown or mixed-use development in the last seven years being approved with more local supporters than opponents.

We know investing in public process works as TOD and downtown projects have risen up from a place with nascent support 20 years ago to majority support in 40 of Long Island’s 100 business districts.

That didn’t happen because the elite had a big idea and ruled by fiat. It happened because community leaders themselves got active, informed and worked with developers, their municipal officials and local businesses on revitalization efforts.

Let’s keep working together and continue to achieve real results for our local communities. Most importantly, let’s support the local people who are investing in the process of change.

This op-ed originally appeared in Long Island Business News here.

Governor Cuomo Signs Legislation to Connect Trails Across NY

Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation that will direct the State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation to develop a coordinated plan for linking existing trails with potential trail corridors.  This will establish a statewide, interconnects multi-use trail plan that will build upon the existing Empire State Trail.

The aim is to help create healthier communities across the state and to boost local economies while increasing access to New York’s recreation opportunities.  The legislation was spearheaded by Assemblymember Patricia Fahy and Senator Anna Kaplan.  Senator Kaplan is from the Long Island delegation, representing parts of northwestern Nassau County.