While most hearings presented in front of the Town of Oyster Bay Board bring some opposition, Tuesday's meeting was different. The agenda included three separate hearings, one of which was adjourned, all related to the new Aquifer Protection Overlay District (APO) and the new Recreation District (REC) located within the Town of Oyster Bay's Special Ground Protection Area (SGPA). Although there were many speakers, all were in favor of passing the new local laws.

David Portman, the planning and zoning consultant for the town, said that the SGPA consists of 26,480 acres in the Town of Oyster Bay, with 5,500 acres being under the town's control. Incorporated villages and the City of Glen Cove govern the remaining acres. Portman said that the APO would only affect the 5,500 +/- acres that the town controls and would not change the underlying zoning, but rather modify zoning in the SGPA.

"In August of 2003, the town board, at my request, approved a moratorium on the issuance of building permits in the Town's SGPA," said Town of Oyster Bay Councilman Joe Muscarella, who had requested the moratorium. "The purpose of the moratorium was to give the Town time to prepare and adopt an Aquifer Protection Overlay District (APO). The legislation for the APO is now ready."

The proposed APO District, which includes parts of East Norwich, Glen Head, Jericho, Locust Valley, Oyster Bay hamlet, Plainview, Syosset, Westbury and Woodbury, would set special standards and procedures regulating the use and development in those specific areas.

Town Supervisor John Venditto indicated that the APO legislation would address a myriad of issues impacting the SGPA. "Under the APO, all uses which are allowed in the underlying zoning district, with the exception of the storage, handling, use or production of hazardous waste, petroleum products and regulated substances, will continue to be permitted. In addition, there will be limits established for maximum lot coverage by impervious surfaces and maximum permitted disturbance of areas of natural vegetation. Applications within the APO District will have to include a Site Disturbance Plan delineating all existing and proposed structures and impervious surfaces, all areas of existing and proposed vegetation, all areas where pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers or other such chemicals are proposed to be allowed, all areas of proposed disturbance to existing natural vegetation, and a statement specifying the purpose and need for any such disturbance of natural vegetation. Also, every application will have to include a Stormwater Management Plan and any other additional information or plans as may be required by the Department of Planning and Development in order to mitigate, to the maximum extent reasonably feasible, any possible degradation or contamination of the groundwater supply as a result of stormwater runoff."

Venditto added that with the APO, the town is not looking to prevent development in the SGPA, but to establish procedures for environmentally appropriate development and land use practices. "The APO will simply give the Town Board one more tool to protect our groundwater supplies and ensure adequate quality and quantity of drinking water, now and in the future, for residents and businesses in the Town of Oyster Bay," he said.

"The protection of our underground aquifer, which serves as the town's only source of drinking water, has always been a high priority for the Town of Oyster Bay," Muscarella stated. "The purpose of the APO District will be to provide additional regulations for properties located within the SGPA as designated by the Nassau County Public Health Ordinance (Article X) and by the New York State Environmental Conservation Law (Article 55). These regulations will serve to restrict development in the SGPA and offer further protection for the aquifer."

The REC District, which was also the subject of a hearing on Tuesday, is designed to preserve existing recreational open spaces. Under the REC District, permitted principal uses would include public parks and municipal uses by the town, as well as by the county, state or federal government or a special district with town board approval. Permitted uses with a special use permit would include country clubs and private membership clubs.

"The purpose of the REC District is to help assure the preservation and continuation of existing recreational/open space uses so as to protect the quality and quantity of groundwater recharge into the sole source aquifers which provide drinking water for town residents," said Venditto. "The REC District will also prevent or reduce flooding through the preservation of wetlands and drainageways and by the minimization of impervious surface coverage. Additionally, the REC District will protect visually and environmentally important natural features of the land such as trees, wetlands, streams and habitat for rare or endangered species of plants and animals."

Venditto went on to say that in a report entitled Zoning for the Protection of Groundwater in the Special Groundwater Protection Area prepared by the Town's zoning consultant, recommendations were made to rezone certain properties to provide further protection for the groundwater. He indicated that under the second proposed local law, the Nassau Country Club and an adjacent parcel owned by the Town of Oyster Bay in Locust Valley, the Glen Head Country Club, Goat Hill Park and the Pine Hollow Country Club in East Norwich, the Town of Oyster Bay Golf Course in Woodbury, Town-owned property on the easterly side of Split Rock Road in Syosset, Stillwell Woods County Park in Syosset, Trail View State Park (the former Bethpage State Parkway right-of-way) from the boundary of the Village of Laurel Hollow to the northerly boundary of Northern State Parkway, Manetto Hill County Park in Plainview, a Town-owned park on the northern boundary of the Hamlet on Olde Oyster Bay in Plainview, the Meadowbrook Country Club in Jericho and a Town-owned park on the northern edge of the 81-acre Underhill parcel in Jericho would be all be rezoned REC (Recreation District). In addition, residential properties north of Dogwood Lane in Locust Valley, Berry Hill Elementary School property in Syosset and property occupied by the State University of New York at Old Westbury would be rezoned to lesser density residential.

"This movement is looked upon in the civic and environmental world as a great thing," said Joe Lorintz, president and founder of the United Civic Associations of North Oyster Bay, a coalition of civic and homeowner associations. "The town board should be proud of this great accomplishment. My children and grandchildren will be protected because of this. I am very proud to be a resident of the Town of Oyster Bay today."

The third hearing dealt with re-zoning 12 properties in the Town of Oyster Bay. According to Mr. Forchelli, the attorney representing the landowners including the four country clubs that this new law would affect, some owners have no objections and others are unhappy. The board adjourned the hearing until July 27 at 10 a.m. and suggested that conversations should take place between all parties to reach a consensus before the new hearing date.

The decision of the board was reserved and the record will be left open for 30 days giving those who were unable to attend Tuesday's meeting a chance to comment. Please send all comments to the Town of Oyster Bay, 54 Audrey Avenue, Oyster Bay, NY 11771.