Please be advised that the letter you published from Councilman O'Connor in your last issue represents only his personal view. The town has already approved the revised site plan for the Harbor Ridge Estates because the proposed revision was a "minor" modification within the meaning of the town code.

"Minor" modifications are those which will not add additional structures, or cause a material change to the site. Such modifications are within the discretion of the Town's Building and Planning Commissioners to approve, and they have done so. In my opinion, they are clearly within their authority to do so.

The original site plan for Harbor Ridge allowed 150 units to be built as townhouses, duplexes and free-standing units. In addition, 125 units were to be included in a "mid-rise" building, containing apartment-style units. The proposed site plan specifically contemplated that the developer would have the option to build 25 fewer free-standing units, and instead to put the 25 units as apartments in the mid-rise building.

The revised site plan is based on that option. The developer wishes to build 25 fewer free-standing units, and instead put the 25 units as apartments in the mid-rise building. It should be noted that there will be no change in the external structure of the building, since the original design allowed for the added units. As a result, there will now be fewer structures on the Harbor Ridge property and significantly increased amount of permanent open space.

Because there will be no additional structures, and because the increased open space and decreased population density are clearly not material changes to the original site plan and were in fact contemplated as options in the original site plan, I believe that the revised site plan was indeed a "minor" modification of the original. As such, it was within the authority of the Building and Planning Commissioners to approve.

The revision to the site plan is a change which ought to be welcomed by anyone who favors more open space and decreased density in the Harbor Ridge community. Since further public hearings were not required, no purpose would have been served by hearings other than to delay the opening of Harbor Ridge, which in turn would have delayed the enormous special district tax-revenue windfall that Harbor Ridge represents to the taxpayers of Port Washington.