Manorhaven Mayor Jim Avena said he had taken the concerns of residents about Cameron Engineering’s waterfront analysis into consideration and the village will not allow building on the marinas.
“The message was definitely heard,” he said during Thursday’s Board of Trustees work session. “We will not be building on the marinas. Pure and simple. I make that vow here and the board agrees 100 percent.”
He had previously said he would look into the matter after a public hearing on the waterfront analysis on March 3.
On Thursday, Avena said the village will continue to consider the other suggestions made in the analysis and hold public meetings, even though many residents voiced their disdain for the document.
He said that even if the village did want to change the code, impact studies would have to be completed and additional public hearings would have to be held.
“Let’s assume we do agree on something,” he said. “Before anything happens, those studies have to be made … all the concerns raised by various people … would have to run through this process.”
There will be future chances for public comment, including the next village Board of Trustees meeting on March 22, but the board will have to make a decision on the code at some point in the next few months. A waterfront building moratorium, which has been in place since April 2016, will expire at the end of June.
“The moratorium is perfectly legal … but it can’t stay in place forever,” village Attorney Steven Leventhal said. “At some point, property owners have a right to make use of their properties.”
Avena mentioned that alternate side street parking might be eliminated next winter and would only be implemented in the case of a snow emergency. The alternate street parking period, which originally lasted from Dec. 15 to March 15, was trimmed down this year to begin on Jan. 15.
He said the change would be discussed further at future meetings.
The mayor also said that the village had budgeted $20,000 for improvements to the dog park in the Manorhaven Preserve. He said he spoke with county Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton about extending the Bay Walk from Port Washington North into Manorhaven.
The board approved the Lauri Strauss Bike event, an annual bike tour to raise money for leukemia research, on May 20. A new fence was also approved to be constructed along a village property line at 51 and 55 Sintsink Drive West.
The trustees also approved a pair of resolutions. One was to submit an application for a grant to help with the final stage of construction at Morgan’s Dock.
The second was to appoint eight people to oversee the village election on June 19. That group will include Michele Ferguson, Yvonne Calabrese, Lauren Cristofano, Avery Ferguson, Fred Hehn, Mamie Kerr, Ted Knopp and Paula Quinn, most of whom had served as election inspectors in Manorhaven before.
