Below, please find a summary of our TOD conference in September. We apologize for the delay in reporting on this important event. Better late than never! Thanks to all who attended.

Long Island leaders gather in Hicksville to discuss future of transit-oriented development

On Wednesday, September 15th, 300 Long Islanders gathered at Antun’s in Hicksville for Long Island's first “Planning for Transit-Oriented Development” conference. Attendees included elected officials, developers, advocacy groups, business leaders, civic associations and many others. The event was organized by Vision Long Island, the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, the LIRR Commuter Council, the Long Island Section of the American Planning Association and Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

Featured speakers included MTA/LIRR President Helena Williams, NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Joe Galante and John Stouffer from the Comptroller's Office, Town of Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone, Place Making Group/Parsons Brickerhoff’s G.B. Arrington, NJ TRANSIT’s Vivian Baker, One Region Fund’s John McNally, Village of Mineola Mayor Jack Martins, Hicksville Chamber of Commerce President Lionel Chitty, VHB’s Bob Eschbacher, Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s Ryan Lynch, LIRR’s Elisa Picca and NYS Senator Craig Johnson. Introductory speakers and moderators included APA-LI’s David Berg, PCAC’s Dr. Jan Wells and Vision Long Island’s Eric Alexander.

Elected officials in attendance included NYS Senator Craig Johnson, Town of Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone, Town of Hempstead Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby, Village of Mineola Mayor Jack Martins, Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender, Village of Plandome Manor Mayor Barbara Donno and representatives from the towns of Brookhaven, East Hampton, Huntington, Islip, Oyster Bay, and Southampton.

MTA/LIRR President Helena Williams asserted that she wants to fight for TOD while partnering with local stakeholders. She mentioned some featured projects in Bay Shore, Wyandanch, Ronkonkoma, and Mineola and stressed the need to build more density in transit hubs. Williams called the MTA’s proposed cuts to LI Bus and the recent fare increases and service reductions to the LIRR and LI Bus “the hardest thing” she has ever had to do infa public office. The MTA continues to move forward with efficiency measures and administrative cuts in order to move TOD and public transportation forward on Long Island, rather than backwards.

NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli was unable to attend at the last minute, but sent in a personalized video for the conference where he espoused the benefits of Smart Growth and TOD: sprawl actually increases local taxes and we need to support mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented places and redevelop areas we already have near mass transit. This can lead to more open space, less congestion and lower taxes.

DiNapoli was represented by two members of his senior staff, Joe Galante and John Stouffer. Galante said that the idea of a “smarter suburbia” makes sense for Long Island. Stouffer talked about the sustainability and alternative energy focus of DiNapoli’s office and mentioned a recent report their office released on how to make the NYS budget more sustainable. Stouffer also mentioned the NYS Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act, which DiNapoli helped initiate many years ago.

Town of Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone used two of his town’s featured projects as prime examples of how TOD can work on Long Island. The first, Wyandanch Rising, will take an economically distressed area and redevelop it around the train station. After a visioning process, New Urbanist-designed plans and large investments in infrastructure, Wyandanch is becoming a comprehensively revitalized center. The second project, the Route 110 redevelopment, looks at an high-traffic area with a disconnected community plagued by sprawl. Bellone hopes to reopen the Republic Airport train station, bring in bus-rapid transit and create transit options for the 125,000 jobs located along the 110 corridor. When asked how to prevent “NIMBYism” while still involving the community, Bellone responded that the community was integral in creating the vision and that the Town has been steadfast in adhering to the plan.

Place Making Group/Parsons Brickerhoff’s G.B. Arrington, a TOD icon in the U.S., began with a colorful presentation on some of the intricacies of creating a TOD project, noting that TOD is not about transit, but building livable communities and aligning them with a community’s vision, which includes transit. Arrington discussed his six principles of TOD: medium to higher density, mix of uses, compact and pedestrian oriented, active defined center, limited and managed parking and public leadership. He noted that TOD zoning is illegal in most places today and left the audience with his “5 Act Morality Play.” First there is a vision, then optimism surrounding redevelopment, followed by opposition and then compromise. The final step is “the lesson.” Through compromising, a developer will either leave or minimize the benefits so much that you end up with business-as-usual sprawl. We must be steadfast in breaking that cycle.

Vivian Baker represents the NJ TRANSIT Village program for NJ TRANSIT, which can serve as a model for Long Island. The program includes education and public outreach, as well as some technical assistance. Baker explained how the program helps individual communities but also takes a regional approach by considering how other communities along the rail corridor are affected by one community’s revitalization. Questions revolved around Access to the Region’s Core (ARC)—New Jersey’s equivalent of East Side Access which will build a second tunnel under the Hudson River. NJ TRANSIT is working with communities to adapt to the forthcoming changes that ARC will bring.

John McNally of One Region Fund and the Rauch Foundation explained that 1 out of 5 households spend over 50% of their income on housing. There are very few rental units, which impacts young Long Islanders. After 2000, 22% of 22-34 year olds left the Island and 70% of those still here are very likely to leave LI in the next 5 years. Meanwhile there has been little to no growth in private sector jobs and salaries have decreased. We need to build for this demographic, which means TOD and infill development, rather than building on what little open space is left.

Mineola Mayor Jack Martins stated that more and more communities on LI see that in order to move forward, they need to focus on TOD. People are all too ready to identify the brain drain on LI, the lack of affordable housing, traffic, poor air quality and environmental concerns, but there is a lack of coordinated solutions to all these issues. By targeting dense development in downtowns, we will be able to preserve the atmosphere of single family homes in other areas, which many people want, and address many other issues simultaneously. Some examples of communities doing good work are The Town of Babylon, Glen Cove, Patchogue and Mineola. Martins also discussed the 285 unit rental housing project in downtown Mineola which is currently under review.

Bob Eschbacher of VHB discussed the planning process for the Ronkonkoma Hub. The ingredients for success for any TOD project are proper planning, community involvement, and government officials and planners willing to make a commitment and take on a leadership role. These three things came together well in Brookhaven. After revising the zoning, the project will include increased residential, retail, office, a health club, restaurants, new parking and public plaza areas. This project is expected to move forward very soon.

Lionel Chitty of the Hicksville Chamber of Commerce talked about some of the revitalization work going on in his community. Hicksville has been trying to revitalizate their downtown since as early as 1961, so the community is very excited about new efforts. Part of TOD, he explained, is simple placemaking projects, and community input is key. There are currently so many parking lots which provide redevelopment opportunities. Traffic calming will be important aspect of the revitalization, as he likened the community's streets to a game of Frogger. The lesson is to educate and reach out to the community and to keep an open mind.

Ryan Lynch of Tri-State Transportation Campaign explained his choice to leave Long Island in order to live in a TOD where he can bike and walk: it was more than just LI’s lack of affordable housing. He then discussed bus-rapid transit (or BRT: permanent, dedicated travel lanes for special buses), as a realistic option for north-south connections on Long Island. BRT is also a TOD driver, and will lead to enormous economic opportunity. It provides certainty for developers, and is a good “bang for your buck” that Long Island should consider.

Elisa Picca, Chief Planning Officer for the LIRR, said that the LIRR is tasked with providing reliable service, giving the promise of better service in the future, working with communities and being open to progress with them. Aside from the recent fire, the LIRR is a very reliable service that “puts the T in TOD,” she said. To get at better service, we can look at East Side Access, a $7.3 billion project that will bring the LIRR to Grand Central Station. This is a project of regional connectivity that would save up to 20 minutes of commuter time in each direction. To work with communities, there are small things the LIRR can do to support revitalization projects, including the Hicksville Farmers Market, Wyandanch projects, Mineola projects, and more.

Finally, NYS Senator Craig Johnson discussed his advocacy for statewide Smart Growth bills, including the Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act and the Complete Streets bill. Johnson was enthused that New York State will finally address sprawl. The Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Act, which the Governor recently signed into law, will create a great partnership between the state and local municipalities. There is still opportunity to pass the Complete Streets bill, which would address dangerous roads throughout the State.

During the final Q&A period, many people asked about the MTA’s budgetary crisis and cuts, and how that will impact future development. Some debate arose about the stalled Third Track project. A developer inquired about private investment opportunities and encouraged communication between the private sector and the MTA/public sector.

The speakers re-emphasized the importance of community input, education and local planning, but encouraged keeping a regional view in mind. The event provided numerous resources for implementing TOD, as well as excellent networking opportunities.

We extend a special thanks to event sponsors VHB and AECOM.

A copy of G. B. Arrington's presentation is available here. A copy of Vivian Baker's presentation is also available online here.

(left- NYS Sen. Craig Johnson; right- Mineola Mayor Jack Martins and LIRR's Elisa Picca)

(left- Town of Brookhaven's Paul Rogalle and VHBs Bob Eschbacher; right - PCAC's Dr. Jan Wells, AECOM's Deborah Howes and PCAC's Ellyn Shannon)

(left - Office of NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's Joe Gallante; right - Northwest Gardens Civic Association's Joel Burse)

For more information about Vision Long Island, visit visionlongisland.org or contact us at:
24 Woodbine Ave. Suite One Northport, NY 11768.
Phone: (631) 261-0242. Fax: (631) 754-4452.
Email: info@visionlongisland.org