Two environmental groups have joined East Hills environmental activist Richard Brummel in objecting to RXR Realty’s plans to build a 244-unit condominium complex on 17 acres of woodland in North Hills.
“We’re urging them to cancel this project. Half of this forest was destroyed and half remains. We’re asking them to change their mindset,” Brummel said,.
Representatives of the Long Island chapter of the Sierra Club and Long Island Orchestrating for Nature joined Brummel in a press conference last Friday afternoon on the edge of what they described as an “old-growth” forest between the Long Island Expressway and the Northern State Parkway east of New Hyde Park Road where the condos would be located.
RXR plans to build the condos on 17 acres of property between Powerhouse Road and New Hyde Park Road, which would be managed by Ritz Carlton
“An acreage this size in Nassau County is a very rare thing. You can think of it as a jewel and it needs to be protected,” said Mark Kinnucan, president of the Long Island chapter of the Sierra Club.
Kinnucan said “sensible development” of high-density housing is normally planned in proximity to a train station, an element he said the RXR development lacks.
Brummel said the forest was originally an 80-acre “Oak-Tulip-type” forest that has been reduced to 30 or 40 acres by development over the past decade.
John DiLeonardo, president of Long Island Orchestrating for Nature, said further destruction of the forest would be “a long-term detriment to the Long Island community.”
DiLeonardo said since a 2005 environmental impact study was conducted on the RXR project, an animal living in the forest – the eastern box turtle – has been identified as a species of special concern in New York and listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
“They’re reinventing this whole environment,” Brummel said. “It’s not a sensitive ecological development.”
He said the forest is also inhabited by raccoons, possum, and snakes.
“They have a little oasis here that’s going to be denied them,” Brummel said.
Brummel also issued a press release at the press conference citing the Green Party of Nassau County’s support for preserving the woodland.
“We hope the forest can be saved as open space – there is far too little of open space in Nassau County and we should do everything possible to preserve it,” Jim Brown, chair of the county Green Party said in a statement on behalf of the party’s executive committee.
The press conference took place just days before a hearing scheduled on Oct. 23 by the Village of North Hills on the project with RXR representatives expected to present an amended plan for the condo complex. Among the issues to be resolved are the number of units to be sold by RXR, operating as Midtown North Hills LLC, and the number of units it will initially lease, according to Village of North Hills Mayor Marvin Natiss.
Natiss said North Hills went through a series of public hearings and an approval process when the RXR project was initially approved several years ago.
“I respect environmentalists and I respect their opinions. This was subject to public hearings and this was all approved,” Natiss said.
Natiss questioned the timing of Brummel’s objections.
“I went through it with public hearings several years ago and everything was finalized and they have a right to build,” Natiss said. “For him to come along five years later, that doesn’t make him right. He doesn’t even have his facts straight.”
“This project was fully approved following an extensive environmental review process, which included numerous public hearings,” said Frank Haftel, RXR project manager. “The current amendment seeks to make some refinements to the plans as we prepare for the start of construction – all while staying within the envelope of the originally approved plans.”
A July hearing on RXR’s amended plan was postponed as talks about the project continued between Natiss and RXR executives. Natiss said a September hearing was postponed to give RXR executives more time to prepare their presentation.
RXR Realty made a payment of $21 million to the village for what Natiss called an “incentive” zoning plan when the North Hills board first approved the condo project in mid-November of 2006.
Natiss has said he now would like to see “a very limited number of units for rental.” He originally said he opposed any rental units being included in the plan, but said he was “trying to be more flexible.”
Natiss has said he also modified his position on whether to approve tax breaks provided by the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency for the project. He had previously said he was adamantly opposed to RXR application for $4.6 million in property tax reductions from the IDA, saying that a residential development should not receive such tax benefits.
Existing annual property taxes on the 16.3 acre property, which sits adjacent to the Long Island Expressway in North Hills, are $415,170, according to the application.
