Thanks to everyone who attended the 2009 Smart Growth Awards!

Vision Long Island hosted the 2009 Smart Growth Awards on Friday, June 19th from 11:30am-2:00pm at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, NY. The Awards celebrate the people, projects, and policies advancing Smart Growth on Long Island. Large attendance, fantastic honorees, a great MC in Adrienne Esposito, and a guest appearance by U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer all came together to make the event a huge success. 600 Long Islander business, community, government, educational, and environmental leaders attended the 8th annual Awards.

crowd

The event kicked off with a presentation with Vision’s Executive Director, Eric Alexander, who reviewed the organization’s milestones over the past year. Notable progress includes the recent Long Island Lobby Day, April’s Green Business & Infrastructure Summit, the work of the Long Island Smart Growth Working Group and partner organization Empire State Future, regional planning efforts such as Brookhaven 2030 and Long Island 2035, and community work in places such as Gordon Heights, Islandia, and many others. Master of Ceremonies Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, presided over the rest of the event.

schumer United States Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer made a big entrance for the luncheon’s keynote speech. After telling a few funny stories, New York’s senior senator dove into the importance of Smart Growth. Growth is inevitable, he explained, so we must grow in an intelligent, sustainable way. Schumer finished with three programs that Washington is looking at that will affect us in Long Island: the transportation bill reauthorization, sewer funding, and the Community Development Block Grant Program, focusing on downtowns and municipalities.

adrienne This year’s eleven honorees represent the great progress that has been made toward achieving Smart Growth solutions for Long Island communities. In the face of economic challenges, the honorees have defied expectations by bringing real results to Long Island. The six projects honored this year are either approved, in construction, or built; the two plans have the full support of the local municipality; and the three organizations/individuals have a long record of accomplishment with concrete deliverables. Vision Long Island intentionally chose honorees that did not just have a vision, but have realized these plans in real time. These eleven honorees were chosen out of nearly fifty submissions received this year.

Each of the winners were featured in video interviews. The honorees included:

Stakeholder Participation: Lori Baldassare for the Mount Sinai Heritage Center. Lori Baldassare helped lead the charge to build the Mount Sinai Heritage Center, a successful new community center and park located at the site of a planned Home Depot. She demonstrated an exceptional use of stakeholder participation in the planning of the community facility and grounds in order to build something truly beneficial for the community.

Revitalizing Communities: Trammell Crow Residential for the Alexan @ West Hempstead. The Alexan @ West Hempstead will be a much-needed rental housing building, located at the site of the Courtesy Hotel—which the community has long considered a drug and crime-ridden blight. Alexan is strategically located adjacent to the West Hempstead LIRR station. It will serve as a central piece of revitalization plans for the area.

Preserving Open Space: Lisa Ott of the North Shore Land Alliance. Lisa Ott is being honored for her efforts to pass environmental bond resolutions in multiple municipalities in Nassau and Suffolk. She has done exceptional work with open space bonds in Nassau County and the Town of Huntington, helping to develop the bonds and later helping to allocate the funds. Ms. Ott has helped both counties preserve over 600 acres of land.

Mix of Uses: TRITEC for New Village in Patchogue. TRITEC’s redevelopment plan in the heart of downtown Patchogue will include office, retail, mixed-income housing, public space, and a hotel. The 4.87-acre site will help revitalize an area that has been depressed for many years, using Smart Growth principles to enliven the neighborhood.

Encouraging Walkability: Kingdom Family Holdings for the Marquis at Mineola. The Marquis at Mineola is a multifamily residential project in downtown Mineola. The project incorporates progressive design elements combined with a strategic location in downtown Mineola to encourage walking. The project’s features align with the Village of Mineola’s Master Plan, which emphasizes pedestrian facilities.

Providing a Range of Housing Types: Nassau-Suffolk Coalition for the Homeless. The Nassau-Suffolk Coalition for the Homeless will be honored for their work in helping Long Island’s homeless find sufficient housing and support services. The group is a strong voice for an underrepresented demographic. Over the past 15 years, they have helped Long Island receive $91 million in federal HUD money for housing and services.

Creating a Sense of Place: Hon. Steve Flotteron and Hon. Phil Nolan of the Town of Islip for the Bay Shore Marina. Councilman Steve Flotteron and Supervisor Phil Nolan were strong voices for the reconstruction of the Bay Shore Marina. The revitalization of the 21-acre Marina has transformed a struggling section of the community into a thriving public space. Through exceptional local leadership, the community helped to create a place that works for everyone.

Compact Design: The Dennis Organizationfor Hawthorne Court. Hawthorne Court is a nearly-completed multifamily housing project in Valley Stream. The project provides walkable access to the Valley Stream train station, downtown shops and businesses, and more. Compact building design is an alternative to sprawl development, so that buildings are created with maximum resource efficiency and open space preservation.

Providing Transportation Options - The Town of Brookhaven and VHB for the Ronkonkoma Hub. The Ronkonkoma Hub is a redevelopment plan for the land around the Ronkonkoma LIRR station. The project will change zoning to allow for transit-oriented development and a variety of transportation options, including shuttle buses, train, taxis, walking, biking, and more.

Green Building & Energy Efficiency: The Village of Amityville for Village Hall. The Village of Amityville is receiving an award for their brand new Village Hall building, which was built with green standards. The building reduces energy consumption, minimizes environmental impact, and improves the long term health of Village employees. Amityville has shown a strong commitment to reducing the Village’s energy costs, saving taxpayer money, and improving the environment.

Providing Certainty: Glen Cove Mayor Ralph Suozzi for the Glen Cove Master Plan. Mayor Ralph Suozzi has made development decisions fair and predictable for the City of Glen Cove through its recently-adopted Master Plan. This plan successfully involves the community and lays the groundwork for multiple redevelopment projects from the waterfront to the downtown.

Sponsors included:

Lead Sponsor

verizon

Gold Sponsors

gold

Read the full story in Smart Growth News.

Condo Plan for Mineola Transit Hub

mineola rendering On Wednesday night, the Mineola Village Board heard plans to replace a five story office building near the Mineola train station with a nine story, 257 unit condominium building. The proposed development would be less than a five-minute walk from both the train station and Main Street, further enhancing the area's walkability.

This project is the third proposal under the village’s Development Incentive Bonus Law, which allows projects within the village’s overlay district to appear before the Village Board rather than the Board of Zoning Appeals. In exchange for public benefits as determined by the village, the developer can gain additional stories for their project. This project will provide 397 parking spaces for residents in four underground levels below the building as well as a tax benefit of approximately $2 million. The additional residents so close to Main Street will also help support local businesses in the area, enhancing the local economy.

Vision Long Island Executive Director Eric Alexander spoke at the hearing, saying it was exciting to see such a “tax positive” proposal for the community. Residents of Garden City also attended the hearing expressing concern for the impact the building will have on the apartments across Old Country Road to the south. Mineola residents however, felt that “this is a very good project for the village of Mineola.”

"Snapshot" Shows Transportation Projects Sought.

"Where should our federal government focus its transportation dollars?" asked USA TODAY's Snapshot feature. On May 12th, the front page of the national paper used poll data from Transportation for America and the National Association of Realtors to show how Americans answered that question. With a 3.1% error margin, 56% want more attention paid to trains or light rail; 27% want roads; 21% want buses; 15% want bike paths, and 14% want sidewalks (multiple responses were allowed). With the federal transportation bill reauthorization only months away, let's hope the federal government sees the sharp difference: twice as many people want trains as opposed to roads!

MTA Deal Passes Senate

mta After one of the most politically drawn-out issues of the past year, the NY State Senate finally passed an MTA rescue plan this Wednesday, less than a month before doomsday fare hikes and service cuts are scheduled to go into effect. The details are, of course, somewhat different than the recommendations of the Ravitch Commission that was backed by Governor Paterson.

Transit riders will still see a 10% fare increase (Ravitch's plan called for an 8% increase), including $2.25 for a MetroCard ride, but it looks like service cuts will be largely avoided. Details are still being released on fare and service changes. Other components of the rescue plan include a 0.34% mobility tax in the 12 MTA counties, a 50 cent surcharge on taxi rides in NYC, and increases in vehicle-registration fees, license fees, and the auto-rental tax. The mobility tax, expected to raise $1.53 billion a year, will have a set aside of $400 million a year to cover the first two years of the MTA's 2010-2014 capital program. Notably missing from the equation are tolls on the East River bridges, which were politically unpopular. Tolls were supported by many transit riders as an equitable way to share the burden of commuting costs. Unfortunately, it seems almost a certainty that this plan will require more fare increases in the not-too-distant future.

GOVERNOR VISITS LONG ISLAND; ANNOUNCES ARRA FUNDING

On Monday, Governor Paterson made a visit to a DOT maintenance yard along Route 110 in Melville to announce new stimulus funds for Long Island. Standing alongside US Senator Chuck Schumer, US Representative Steve Israel, and local officials, Paterson announced an infusion of at least $154 million into Long Island infrastructure projects. The "ARRA" (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) funds will be used for highway and road repairs, bridgework, and other long-term improvements to the region's infrastructure. The projects will create an estimated 3,715 jobs on Long Island. In addition, NYSDOT will be awarding $230 million in highway and bridge contracts, and Long Island will receive approximately $32 million in Consolidated Highway Improvement Program funding, which is being restored to the State budget with the stimulus funds. This means that, in total, Long Island will receive over $400 million in highway and bridge funding in 2009-2010.

Governor Paterson said, “New York’s outstanding Congressional Delegation recognized the immediate need for this funding and fought tirelessly until it was secured. This money will not only put our residents back to work, it will create safer roads, stronger infrastructure and a cleaner environment for generations of future residents." Senator Chuck Schumer said, “today’s announcement is proof positive that the recovery act money has already started to come through to New York to put New Yorkers back to work and get this economy back on track.” Congressman Tim Bishop, who is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said, “by investing today in our roads and highways, we are creating jobs, improving public safety, and building a modern infrastructure that will benefit our communities for years to come. Recovery projects such as these will help Long Island’s economy get back on track.”

First approved projects using these funds include:
- $49.1 million of ARRA funding for a $55.9 million project for completely renovating 3.5 miles of New York Route 112 in Brookhaven, Suffolk County to improve the safety for the approximately 20,000 motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists who use the roadway daily. The project includes new plantings and storm-water runoff systems;
- $7.7 million of ARRA funding for a $8.6 million project to resurface approximately nine miles of State roadways in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The top layer of worn, deteriorated pavement will be removed and replaced with new asphalt and fresh pavement markings. Needed drainage cleaning and repairs to improve the quality of storm-water runoff also will be provided;
- $2.0 million of ARRA funding for a $2.3 million project for much-needed concrete pavement repairs to sections of distressed, aging roadway systems throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties to improve pavement smoothness, reduce accidents and maintain pavement integrity;
- $4.9 million of ARRA funding for a $5.4 million project to clean the steel of 10 bridges in Babylon, Brookhaven and Islip in Suffolk County to eliminate corrosion and rust and to paint the structures. These preventative-maintenance repairs will maintain the bridges’ structural reliability;
- $4.3 million of ARRA funding for a $4.8 million project to upgrade approximately 900 traffic signals in Nassau and Suffolk counties by replacing existing incandescent lights with more energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs to reduce energy use and improve the environment. The project includes installing approximately 250 pedestrian countdown crossing signals at key intersections to improve pedestrian safety;
- $0.6 million for designing pavement repairs of State highways in Nassau and Suffolk counties for an estimated $21.4 million construction project next year.

A Long Island Business News article on the press conference noted, "Eric Alexander, executive director of Vision Long Island and a smart growth advocate, also thought Long Island came up short. There are a multitude of projects in the region that are critical to our economic recovery, he said. They include digging sewers that would spur commercial growth in places like Mastic and Rocky Point and, perhaps Long Island’s marquee development plan, the Lighthouse project in Hempstead." The article goes on to post Vision's list of over 250 local and regional infrastructure projects that would support the local economy, create jobs, and improve quality of life. In Newsday, Alexander says he wants to see more projects announced and looks at this as “the first wave.”

In an earlier announcement of stimulus funding, Long Island projects slated to receive assistance included the Glen Cove Ferry Terminal project (a great example of a Smart Growth project that will aid the Island's economy and support quality of life), traffic calming measures in the Town of North Hempstead, and support for sewers in Greenport and SUNY Stony Brook Southampton. These are the types of projects that Vision supports and hopes will receive assistance in the next round of stimulus funding.

Long Island To Get Over $24 million in Energy Grants

induction lighting As part of the stimulus package, Long Island will receive $24.5 million for energy efficiency projects. In a new energy efficiency block grant program by the US Department of Energy worth $3.2 billion, the funds will go to both counties, several towns, and one village, allocated primarily based on population. Smaller villages can apply before June 25th for a similar grant from a different pool of money.

Now the challenge for municipalities is to decide what to do with the funds. Unlike infrastructure projects that get stimulus funding for that specific project, the money here is less restrictive. Islip is considering using its $3 million to retrofit public buildings that are currently undergoing energy audits. Freeport may replace incandescent light bulbs with induction lights in street lamps with its $173,000. Other ideas for Long Island include home retrofits, replacing inefficient fleet vehicles, and more.

U.S. Representatives Tim Bishop and Steve Israel have been working with town and village officials for weeks to prepare them for stimulus funds. They will meet next month to help coordinate the grants coming to Long Island.

Read more and see a full list of funding by municipality at Newsday.

Vision Plan for a Green Route 347 Gains Momentum

rt 347 The DOT has done it again! With their Vision Plan for a Green Route 347...wait, green? That can't be right. Or can it? This time, we aren't posting a picture of someone banging his head on his desk in connection to the Department of Transportation. The Green Route 347 plan represents a seismic shift in the way the DOT has done business on Long Island (Region 10) and Vision Long Island is very excited to finally stand with the organization.