Manorhaven Mayor Jim Avena said Thursday that the village board plans to extend the waterfront development moratorium in June.
The moratorium, which was passed in June and then extended in January, has halted development on the village’s waterfront as the board and an appointed advisory committee have discussed plans for the land.
Avena told residents about the extension at Thursday’s Board of Trustee meeting, saying although there have been rumors that the moratorium would not be extended, the board will vote on it at June’s meeting.
In March, residents at a public hearing urged the village’s Waterfront Advisory Committee to seek to continue the waterfront moratorium, maintain the current zoning and allow access to the waterfront.
When the moratorium was extended in January, it first had to be approved by the Nassau County Planning Commission, but it is unclear if the village needs the same approval again.
Efforts to reach Donald Badaczewski, the chairman of the Waterfront Advisory Committee, were unavailing.
The Manorhaven Action Committee, one of the most outspoken civic groups on the preservation of the waterfront, also submitted a list of ideas and things for the board to look into at the hearing, including zoning, the nature preserve, global warming, the village’s marinas, the old Bill’s Harbor Inn property and more.
With the village preparing to extend the moratorium for six months, the biggest question the village faces is what will the owner of the Thypin Steel property, the 11-acre property on Manhasset Isle that was approved for a 96-unit residential development in 2003, do to speed up its development.
In December, Michael Sahn, the lawyer representing the owner, Richard Thypin, told the Board of Trustees that the waterfront moratorium, which is halting Thypin’s development, did not meet legal standards, saying “there is no basis for a moratorium.”
Sahn said Thypin was not threatening legal action in December.
Manorhaven village Attorney Steve Leventhal at the time rejected Sahn’s argument.
Sahn did not respond to a request for comment on whether Thypin would take legal action against the village.
During the March public hearing, Sahn said a comprehensive environmental study was conducted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the development will meet safety regulations.
“We will be receiving the all clear for the development soon,” he said. “And there is a provision for public access along the waterfront in the plans.”
Sahn also told the advisory committee that Thypin would meet with anyone who wanted to discuss the plans and would be open to input about revisions that would benefit everyone.
