Our Views: Mineola offers model to combat empty stores

The Island Now

The re-election of trustees Paul Pereira and Paul Cusato in the Village of Mineola was more than voters’ endorsement of four residential projects that the Village Board has approved since 2008. 

It was also an endorsement of an approach to development that began more than a decade ago when the Village Board reached out to the community and began a planning process that resulted in a Master Plan to redevelop Mineola’s downtown business district — an approach that other villages and the Town of North Hempstead would be wise to follow.

The two challengers to Pereira and Cusato — ironically both former mayors who played important roles in the development of the Master Plan — engaged in a substantive debate about the size of four projects projected to produce 1,075 apartments, and their impact on traffic, parking and water sewer services.

Both Larry Werther and John Colbert also raised legitimate questions about tax breaks given to developers by the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency. We share their concerns about IDAs giving tax breaks for projects that don’t produce the jobs called for in state IDA legislation and a flaw in the IDA legislation that prevents school districts from counting the developments that receive the tax breaks in property assessments even after the tax breaks have ended.

But those are issues for the state and county to address, or as their habit, not. 

The village trustees had to deal with the law as it is and we believe they responded wisely, negotiating millions of dollars in contributions from developers that allowed the village to fund needed capital improvements at no cost to taxpayers.

The village trustees also addressed concerns about traffic and parking during a number of public hearings on the projects that brought out large crowds on both sides of the issue. The board listened to the concerns of residents, but backed by various studies on the projects were able to make a strong case for approving the four projects — two on Old Country Road on the south side of the LIRR rail road tracks that divide downtown Mineola and two north of the railroad tracks.

These developments offer a good test for the urban-transit model of residential development touted as a means of attracting young professionals to Long Island.

With one downtown apartment complex open and another nearing completion, the results thus far have been good. 

The one building that has opened — the 275-unit Modera at 140 Old Country Road — has reported strong demand and a spate of businesses have opened or filed for permits to open on Mineola Boulevard in the heart of the downtown business district.

In almost each instance, the business owners have cited the opening of the Modera and the other projects in the works for choosing to locate in Mineola.

Mayor Scott Strauss said the Village Board would take a “little breather” after approving Mineola’s fourth commuter apartment complex to further assess the impact on developments that were many years in the making, but have seemed to come together all at once. 

But the Village Board has not curtailed its efforts to help improve business in the downtown district, approving a parking study of the downtown business district and unveiling an innovative program to help local businesses upgrade their storefronts through a grant obtained by the village. The program, which has been strongly supported by the Mineola Chamber of Commerce, will help local businesses address an area where national chain stores have often had a strong advantage over local retailers — curb appeal.

These initiatives reflect a commitment on the part of Mineola’s village trustees to work with local businesses and those seeking to open local businesses to find solutions that balance the needs of the businesses with those of residents. Even though circumstances differ from community to community, the Village of Mineola’s initiatives are another example that the other villages on the North Shore as well as the Town of North Hempstead would do well to follow.

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