The Village of Roslyn Planning Board continues to discuss an ambitious waterfront development plan for the village. The board has received drafts of the plan by The Saratoga Associates, the architectural firm hired by the village, but it is still awaiting a final proposal. When it does, the Planning Board will consider it. If it recommends the proposal, then all that is needed is final approval from the board of trustees.

The steering committee for waterfront development listed top priorities for the project as: Harbor habitat restoration, downtown parking, constructing both a path between Gerry Park and Main Street and an East Side trail to the Hempstead Harbor trail, and renovation of Lumber Road sidewalks and streetscaping.

Other main goals include: improving public access to the waterfront; protecting the environment; strengthening the linkages between Roslyn Creek, the Village Center, and Roslyn Pond; preserving the village's historic scale; and character; and encouraging development that respects the village's character and environment.

The main construction features of the plan include creating a park at the end of Skillman Street, building a hand boat launch at a planned Skillman Street Park, creating public space at the head of the creek, developing a pond viewing area along the southern end of the Old Northern Boulevard parking lot, rebuilding village bulkhead at the parking lot on Lumber Road, and supporting Grist Mill renovation.

Linkages between the development and the rest of the village would be strengthened through a variety of means, including a connection between the Skillman Street Park and the head of the creek and also to the planned Forest City Daly waterfront esplanade, the development of accessible open spaces, the construction of a pedestrian bridge over Roslyn Creek, redesigning the parking lot to include a pedestrian walkway from the sidewalk to the viewing area, and connecting Roslyn Park to the village via Main Street.

The plan would also encourage east side residential development "consistent with village scale and character." Toward that end, the plan would reconsider both rowhouse development plus development that extends the pattern of existing neighborhoods, consider a mix of single and double-family housing closer to Old Northern Boulevard, while developing and adopting sustainable site design standards.

Concerning Lumber Road, the plan hopes to develop a streetscape improvement plan for Lumber Road, repairing the bulkhead on the western edge of the road, constructing a connection to the Hempstead Harbor trail, and creating both a formal street end with pedestrian access to the pedestrian bridge and a street connection to West Shore Road.

At the same time, the plan seeks to preserve Old Northern Boulevard's "scale and character." This would mean adopting design controls for streamline height, and curb cuts on Old Northern Boulevard.

It would also mean exploring shared parking opportunities by considering exchanging the corner lot at Broadway for a better shared parking facility, and exploring parking opportunities north on Lumber Road. "Lots should be attractively designed and hidden behind buildings rather than on the street," the report stated.

On the environmental front, the plan hopes for "no or minimal" dredging of Roslyn Creek. It also would discourage development in the 100-year-old flood plain, encourage naturalistic landscaping and ecological enhancement of the eastern edge, position Roslyn Creek as a marine resource area for potential grants to support ongoing restoration efforts, and finally, to support the Town of North Hempstead's Water Quality Improvement Project for Gerry Park ponds.

In all, the plan represents a combination of village and intergovernmental initiatives. Among the village initiatives suggested by the report are:

* Start park design at the end of Skillman Street

* Initiate streetscape and site design for Lumber Road, change esplanade requirement

* Review/revise Old Northern Boulevard Streetscape standards

* Initiate sustainable design standards for stormwater management.

Intergovernmental initiatives would include:

* Coordinating Skillman Street Park with Viaduct replacement

* With Gerry Park water quality improvements, coordinate the redesign of Old Northern Boulevard parking lot and Gerry Park access to Main Street

* Coordinate with Nassau County on Grist Mill renovation and waterfront public access at the head of Roslyn Creek, with private property owners included in the discussions

* Coordinate with/support habitat enhancements of Hempstead Harbor

* Connect/extend regional trail initiatives.