Mineola’s visual transformation will continue as the Village Board approved a grant assistance program to revitalize the downtown sections of Mineola with new building and storefront designs.
“This is an absolutely exciting time,” Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss said. “We’re looking at changing the face of the village in a positive way. It’s been a long time coming, certainly.”
The project will partner with Plainview-based company Vision Accomplished Inc. which has worked on similar projects in Westbury and Farmingdale.
Vision Accomplished President Tom Savino presented the Village Board with a compressive plan to “standardize store fronts and remove the visual noise, so drivers, consumers and customers can see what’s available,” he said.
The plan calls for new signage, lighting and awnings for the exterior of storefronts to coincide with each other and an overall agreed-upon aesthetic for the village.
Savino said he promised “delivery of a harmonious, peaceful downtown center.”
“I think that this is a great idea,” Trustee Dennis Walsh said. “I’m looking forward to getting started. It’s part of the downtown beautification. We’ve begun the process of revitalizing our downtown and this fits perfectly in the scheme.”
The grant assistance program would follow Savino’s own project process he developed to avoid excess external work that would utilize increase fee requirements. The project will utilize a federal commercial rehabilitation grant that was allocated to Mineola through the Nassau County Department of Community Development.
With Savino’s plan, the village will award a cost subsidy up to 75 percent to eligible building owners or tenants and waive permit fees, while business owners pay the remaining 25 percent and any additional cost for any work done outside the light, sign and awning proposal, he said.
Each building and storefront would have its own visual rendering of the design at no cost to the business or building owner, so the outcome can be presented to the owners to better gauge interest in the redesign plan.
Trustee Paul Pereira said he thought the project did not seem to have much downside for business owners, and is a change the board has been discussing for some time.
“At the very least they could entertain the idea and get a rendering, then it’s up to them to decide.” He said.” “Obviously I think that this is a great idea. I know as long as I’ve been on the Village Board we’ve been discussing it.”
This project would be the next step in the village’s revitalization Master Plan, enacted in 2004.
More recent developments have included the approval of four commuter apartment buildings and add-ons to the Winthrop-University Hospital.
