The final hurdle in the sale and development of 65 acres in Plainview was cleared earlier this week, after year-long negotiations between the Town of Oyster Bay, the developer and town residents resulted in the town board's approval of several resolutions allowing the land sale and construction to proceed.

In the face of public opposition, the Holiday Organization, the Westbury-based development firm interested in purchasing and developing the town-owned land along the north service road on the Long Island Expressway, agreed to drastically downsize its development plans of the site.

The original agreement between the town and Holiday was made in 1997 and would have included the purchase of 65 acres and the construction of a 538-unit upscale residential community. The residential community would have included 160 two-story garden condominiums, 92 waterfront villa condominiums, 120 three-story luxury condominiums in five separate buildings of 24 condominiums per building, and 166 detached single family homes. In addition to the residencies, a retail strip mall would also be constructed.

Voicing environmental and quality of life concerns, a letter-writing campaign was undertaken by the Concerned Citizens of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Community in late 1998 and early 1999 to discourage the town from selling and developing the land, which is designated by the state as a special groundwater protection area. In addition to the development's impact on the environment, the residents were also concerned about the lack of senior citizen housing, the negative impact the development's high population density would have on the community, and the blight the three-story condominiums would be on the community.

"My concern was for the impact on the school district, the impact on the local community, and my primary concern was the impact the development would have on the underground water aquifer system," said Carol Meschkow, a founding member of the Concerned Citizens of Plainview-Old Bethpage Community. "It was critical that we maintain this [recharging station] because this really services all of Nassau County and this particular site was the only one that was publicly owned and that we had any control over."

Heeding the concerns of residents the town government went back into discussions with Holiday Organization to consider downsizing the project. The new agreement includes the sale of 56 acres to Holiday for $16 million as opposed to the 65 acres for $24 million previously agreed upon. A total of 370 units will be constructed, and the developer has eliminated the three-story mid-rise condominiums and the retail strip mall from the site plan. The developer has also agreed to guarantee 33 percent of initial sales to senior citizens. In addition, the town will preserve the remaining nine acres.

The land sale, which was entered into at the end of Lew Yevoli's administration in 1997, had become a priority for the town government over the past year, as it struggled to fill a budget gap of approximately $24 million. The reduced scope of the development, and the subsequent lower sale price attached to it, left the town in a position to find another $8 million to balance the books. The town had engaged New York State in talks about the possible sale of town land in the South Shore Estuary to bridge the gap. According to Supervisor Venditto, the town created a bond issue to purchase the remaining nine acres and to preserve it.

"Some people call it [bond issue] a legal fiction, some call it hokus pokus, but the real consideration for preserving that land in my mind was to protect the environment and also to make the town whole because my feeling was that because we in the town did the right thing we should not be left holding the bag for $8 million," he said.

The bond filled a gap in the budget which Venditto stated was caused by a tax cut in the early 1990's. He stated that a four percent tax increase in 1999 and 2000 (roughly $28 per year) coupled with the land sale in Plainview and the bond have helped put the town back on track financially.

The senior citizen stipulation in the agreement made between the town and the developer has received some criticism from area residents. They cite that the type of housing being made available is not congruent with the needs of the community and the agreement will not guarantee the housing after the first purchases.

"I think that when people read that senior citizen housing was approved in Plainview, the general public is going to assume that this is the S-2 Golden H Housing that is reserved for seniors in perpetuity which is definitely not the case," said Bonnie Eisler, Councilwoman-elect. "I think when market forces will come to bear on these homes, initially what is being offered for $300,000 is going to skyrocket to $500,000 and these are going to become what they were really designed to be, luxury condominiums for the community."

Venditto concedes that the senior citizen stipulation described in this agreement will probably not address the greater need for affordable housing for seniors throughout the town, and especially in villages such as Plainview and Massapequa.

"It does address the senior housing issue in the sense that it appeals to that segment who can afford those type of units, but I do not want to mislead anyone because generally speaking when we talk about senior housing we are talking about the more commonly understood affordable S-2 units," said Venditto. "This does not address that concern and never was meant to."

He further stated that the town has been diligently trying to find prospective sites in Plainview, which has an extreme need for affordable senior housing, to attract S-2 developers, but their efforts have proved fruitless.

Carol Meschkow termed the evolution of the land sale and the proposed residential development as a successful compromise.

"There are 34+ acres of natural woodland of which they are keeping nine. I would have liked them to keep more, but this sale was motivated on a one-shot cash revenue infusion, to a very perplexing dilemma [budget gap]."

In a press release, the Concerned Citizens of Plainview and Old-Bethpage Community stated, "This compromise was well thought out and has resolved a complex dilemma resulting in placing the Town of Oyster Bay's fiscal house in order without compromising our quality of life."