Providing A Variety of Transportation Choices

Bristal
Westbury
Engel Burman
2005

Although it would seem the logical place for older residences seeking to preserve their independence, Long Island downtowns seldom boast senior living facilities. Bristal at Westbury is one such rarity.

A fine example of redevelopment, the Bristal at Westbury is an Assisted Living community which combines the desire to preserve personal freedom with the ability for seniors to receive needed assistance.

The Bristal is not only located within walking distance of many daily needs, its ready access to transit facilities including the Long Island Rail Road furthers the freedom and flexibility of its residents. The Bristal is also encouraging transit use by its employees through its use of the Transitchek program. Transitchek allows employees to set aside up to $65 pre-tax dollars to get to work by transit. Employers in turn can pay up to 40% less in payroll taxes on the TransitChek benefits they provide.

This form of building on an already developed lot offering a variety of transportation options, both walking and transit, is an example of land use decisions that create quality communities. We applaud Engel Burman for creating an assisted living facility in a downtown on Long Island. It is a model of senior living in the heart of a downtown, helping seniors remain an active part of community life.

 

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Providing A Variety of Transportation Choices

Smart Growth Revitalization Initiative
Village of Westbury
2005

The village of Westbury is being honored for their efforts to mitigate auto use by creating an active, mixed use community in the downtown. Their work has gone far to increase activity on ample available bus routes and at the local LIRR station. Importantly, intentional planning is also serving to increase the daily tasks residents are able to accomplish on foot.

Since 1999, the Village has worked to beautify and improve its downtown through façade upgrades, decorative lighting, and many other details. Street kiosks, benches and a new parklike Village Square will soon add even greater enhancement to the pedestrian environment.

Significant residential development set to bring an additional 600 residents to the downtown has prompted an even greater effort to ensure that the village can handle service needs and reduce additional traffic strains. The Village re-engaged the consultants who guided the creation of their Master Plan and then went a step further, establishing a Smart Growth Committee to review growth and zoning measures, determine how best to preserve remaining open space, and to make recommendations for parking.

As part of a comprehensive capital and infrastructure improvement plan, the Board of Trustees resolved to acquire and renew several properties within the central business district for additional shopper and commuter parking. Two buildings have already been aquired. Three adjacent properties just east of Post Avenue at Scally Place will soon be added. These properties include the former Giuseppe’s Pizzeria Restaurant and buildings to the east and northeast.

The Village is also close to getting the property at the corner of Post and Maple Avenues where a gas station now stands. Village officials, business members and residents have discussed that central location for many years as a prime site for an open village square with amenities like a waterfall, kiosk, greenery and attractive paving. Such improvement will nicely compliment this four-corner hub that already has three attractive buildings including the revived Benny’s Restaurante.

Results have been extensive. Primary is the simplification and improvement of zoning to encourage the creation of mixed-use areas, providing smooth transition between residential and commercial cores, improving walkability, and enhancing the commercial base. Other results involve efforts to improve the visibility and accessibility of discrete parking facilities. Analysis to best capture the buying power of new residents has also occurred, bringing the village to encourage the establishment specific services such as additional restaurants and specialty shops. The downtown is also taking extensive measures to promote its downtown through restaurant guides, local advertising and other marketing techniques.

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Founded in 1869 by Alexander T. Stewart as one of the first planned communities in the United States, this charming community, with its tree-lined streets, gracious homes, and business district, has become one of Long Island’s most desirable municipalities in which to live and work, with property values exceeding the Long Island average.

The gateway to Garden City’s residential and business community is Franklin Avenue. This dynamic boulevard is Long Island’s headquarters for international financial service companies, leading law firms and major national retailers. These businesses, the specialty shops and fine restaurants located on both Franklin Avenue and intersecting Seventh Street, as well as the many extra municipal services available to residents and visitors, including ample free parking, a village police force, and public landscaping maintained by the village’s Department of Public Works, are what make Garden City a highly functioning downtown.

The Village of Garden City began a beautification and improvement project to this downtown in 1998. Improvements involved pedestrian amenities such as crosswalks, streetlighting, fountains and a gazebo. These amenities have helped make Garden City more walkable and attractive for shoppers, and residents.

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The Signature Place Apartments project has incorporated a variety of Smart Growth components into its construction. The apartment complex takes advantage of compact building design. Two buildings sit on the 7.1 acre site. The site contains 349 apartments, landscaped courtyards, underground parking, outdoor pool, and indoor amenity with health club. These apartments create a variety of housing opportunities for a wide spectrum of individuals. The complex contains a mix of one bedroom and two bedroom apartments. It is anticipated that these apartments will attract a range of individuals including young, single professionals, newly formed households of young married couples, lifestyle change middle age individuals and couples, and older empty nesters who prefer the non-maintenance lifestyle.

In accordance with Smart Growth principles, Signature Place Apartment complex is an exceptional example of a walkable neighborhood. The apartments are situated within a short walking distance of a large supermarket, downtown shopping area, restaurants, movie theaters, and Long Island Rail Road station. A variety of transportation choices are also available to residents. The apartments are within walking distance of a Long Island Rail Road Station. A shuttle bus to the railroad will also be provided during peak hours. The site itself contains courtyards and recreational facilities that foster a community atmosphere. The attractive architecture, landscaping, and amenities also foster a distinctive, attractive community with a strong sense of place.

The construction of these apartments has also served to preserve open space. The redevelopment of previously vacant industrial sites, such as this site, lessens development pressure on Long Island’s already dwindling open space. The project developers volunteered to redevelop a brownfield through the Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) in order to reinvest in the community. This project is a prime example of strengthening existing communities and achieving more balanced regional development.

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A plan by Time Equities and the Village of Freeport to create transit oriented development in the heart of a Central Business District.is scheduled to begin construction in 2004. Located on Sunrise Highway, it will provide direct, sheltered access to the adjacent LIRR/MTA Long Island Bus transportation hub.

The project includes restoration of the six-story 1928 flatiron Meadowbrook Bank Building, with added new facilities and high speed data lines for modern functionality. It will be complimented by an adjoining new structure, developed by Time Equities, Inc. and designed by the nationally renowned architects Fox & Fowle in association with Meltzer/Mandl Architects. The new structure will combine over 23,000 square feet of new retail at street level with 225 luxury apartments and amenities including health club and pool, business center, underground parking and covered access to the Long Island Rail Road platform.

Freeport Plaza West is considered by many to be a flagship project that will define 21st century development for many older suburban business districts. It embraces many Smart Growth principles, including a mix of retail, office and residential uses, and restoration of an historic landmark. The plans themselves build on the ideas of residents as they strive to correct past mistakes while celebrating and promoting their unique cultural and ethnic diversity. Freeport views it as a spark that will jumpstart revitalization of an entire region deeply impacted by fiscal crisis in the mid-90’s.

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The Incorporated Village of Rockville Centre is involved in an ongoing and extensive revision of its zoning code. An integral part of this ambitious effort is a series of amendments embracing principles of Smart Growth, including mixing uses, investing in existing centers, providing for alternative forms of transportation, and walkability.

Most notable among these amendments is recent legislation to permit multi-family housing in the Urban Renewal, Commercial, Light Manufacturing, and Business A Districts. Rockville Centre is a vibrant site on the weekends, offering innumerable fine restaurants, quality shopping, two movie theaters, and many professional services. The districts are centrally located, allowing an easy walk to the Long Island Rail Road and extensive bus services.

The new zoning regulations providing for housing in the business districts will further enhance the area and provide numerous benefits. The economic base will be strengthened by encouraging people to shop and obtain personal services within walking distance of their home, and not driving to the mall. Transportation options will further reduce overdependence on cars, mitigating traffic congestion in the active downtown center, reducing air and water pollution and promoting physical activity. In addition, development of multi-family housing will help address a growing need for rental units. This is particularly important for young people who wish to return to the Village where they grew up, as well as for senior citizens who no longer wish to maintain their private houses but want to remain in the communities they know as home.

Prior to permitting multi-family housing in these business districts, the Village reviewed its entire zoning code. In 2001, it adopted protective measures including a detailed comprehensive site plan and exterior design review process that will be conducted by the Village’s Planning Board. These amendments set a foundation for quality development by ensuring that all planning, environmental and aesthetic issues would be thoroughly reviewed.

The legislation is protective of the existing community and provides ample opportunity for participation in public hearings. Applicable to any development in excess of 10,000 square feet, it is adequate to capture any multi-family housing that may be proposed. It requires approval of the environmental impact of a development on existing village infrastructure and communities, as well as a review of the appearance of any new buildings. Height limitations are set at the lesser of 48 feet or four stories, protecting the Village from excessive heights that obscure the skyline and overly dense development. The site plan and exterior design review criteria include pedestrian and bicycle safety, as well as vehicle safety in its objectives.

Rockville Centre’s encouragement of mixed-use; its well-thought process by which to achieve it; and the clarity and predictability the new codes provide to the civic, business and development communities are important steps toward achieving Smart Growth on Long Island.

Freeport is pursuing a visionary and aggressive program to rebuild its Central Business District and thereby jumpstart revitalization of the entire region after the mid-90’s fiscal crisis. The program builds from the ideas of Freeport residents themselves, incorporates lessons learned from unsuccessful earlier attempts to redesign Main Street, and reinforces the community’s goal to celebrate and promote Freeport’s ethnic and cultural diversity as a unique asset.

The current downtown revitalization program began in 1999 with the Community Development Agency developing a new combined grant/loan program using CDBG funds to make substantial and permanent improvements to building exteriors. Under this program, building owners are responsible for 50% of construction costs, which can be financed with loans provided by Citibank through the Community Development Corporation of Long Island (CDCLI). Success of the first program projects led CDCLI to secure additional grant assistance from the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, enabling the program to offer loans at below prime rates.

Response to the program has been dramatic. More than 60 owners have applied. Already, seven buildings and 23 businesses have been completed. An additional project already awarded will address two more businesses. These first projects alone have generated significant private investment with almost $500,000 in construction grants being matched by building owners.

Another facade rehabilitation effort involved incentive grants for the removal and disposal of exterior pull-down security gates. A municipal law passed in January 1998 mandated the removal of outside gates by January of this year. The incentive grant program assisted close to 70 owners in removing over 120 gates as part of a total commitment to revitalize downtown and all of our commercial areas.

New downtown development is focusing on mixed use projects. Main Street Mews, will soon break ground providing new construction of 16 units of professional live/work space over 5,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The Plaza West development, now in design phase, will combine restoration of the six-story 1928 flatiron bank building with new construction of 225 luxury apartment units over 23,000 square feet of retail located on Sunrise Highway directly adjacent to the LIRR/MTA Long Island Bus transportation hub.

The Town of Hempstead has developed mixed income rental apartments at the former Roosevelt Raceway site in Westbury. Hempstead is the only town in Nassau County to have advanced such an initiative and the project will be among the largest of its type on Long Island. It is being executed in accordance with the Town’s building zone ordinance, has been endorsed by the Long Island Housing Partnership and the Long Island Campaign for Affordable Rental Housing.

Transportation alternatives and other means of reducing reliance on automobiles are addressed in the Archstone and Roosevelt Raceway redevelopment. The host of features and amenities included at the site will reduce the amount of recreational travel for residents. Adjacent shopping, retail, entertainment and office destinations create real options for convenient business and leisure activities. What’s more, proximity to local bus routes and the Westbury train station presents commuting alternatives that could be further developed. Additionally, Nassau Community College is a veritable neighbor to the community, providing yet another benefit to the residents of this upcoming residential site.

The 396-unit Archstone development will include affordable and market rate homes, all of which will be identical in construction quality, appliances and amenities. These identical features look to removing the stigma that has been associated with some more traditional affordable “housing projects.” A full 80 units (20%) will be allocated as affordable. The affordable units will be evenly divided between senior citizens and broad market rental.

Market rate unit rental prices are anticipated to range between $2,000 and $2,500, while affordable units will rent at rates prescribed by HUD and the New York State Housing Finance Agency (these rates are approximately $740 for one bedroom, $885 for two bedrooms and $1,025 for a three-bedroom unit). This apartment community will provide one, two and three-bedroom units as affordable and market rate units create opportunities for a variety of household types from single workers to families.

The Archstone development will be an integral component of a planned community, which was approved by the Town Board. The plan for the 173-acre site includes retail, entertainment, hotel, office buildings and housing segments.

Hempstead Town has developed three of four phases in accordance with the plan. This project is also unique in that it is a mixed income rental development. Many similar projects on Long Island have focused solely on “purchase” units. These homes will meet the needs of young residents who are not yet ready to purchase a home.

Creating housing opportunities so that young people can build careers on Long Island and establishing homes that allow our senior citizens to remain on Long Island are critical to maintaining our region’s vitality.