Next week's issue of the Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot will be filled with information about the Town of Oyster Bay hearing on the Hamlet Plan that will take place on Jan. 22. We and everyone else has been talking about the plan, and we hope many of you will have been there and that we can quote what you said, extensively.

This can be a great moment for Oyster Bay. It should be, as they say, Úquot;A defining moment.Úquot; After all, we will be planning the future of Oyster Bay. As we go to press on Jan. 18, we can't wait until that hearing.

On our minds is the information we have been hearing about the proposed development of the Lizza property. The property,on Mill River Road, begins opposite Harbour Lane and runs down to Lexington Ave., excluding the corner parcel. The Mill Pond boarders the property on the other side. The proposed plan to rezone the property to an S-2 Golden Age Zone to accommodate a senior apartment complex with 66 units, according to attorney Wayne Edwards, will not have an uphill grade, in spite of the fact that the property looks as it does today, wooded and hilly. Five buildings would line Mill River Rd.

They plan to level the hill, and he tells us, put in extensive landscaping.

To us, that doesn't bode well for this historic town and the environmentally sensitive Mill Pond area. Hopefully the hamlet plan guidelines for a better Oyster Bay will be strong enough to see that what remains of the town isn't sliced and diced into pieces. The Lizza property sounds like a perfect candidate for a Land Trust or a conservation easement of some type. The town has environmental bond money available and this of all things looks perfect for saving for the greater good of the residents of the town.

We expect a great deal from the Hamlet Plan. I hope we get it.

- DFK