Over 1,300 people have signed a Change.org petition against a proposed apartment and marina development in Port Washington, with the count more than doubling in the week that the site’s developers further detailed their plans in a series of public meetings.
The estimated $120 million development is being shepherded by Southern Land Co., which filed a petition to rezone a 7.17-acre parcel at 145 West Shore Road, currently housing the construction supply wholesaler Bay Aggregates, from “Residence-AAA” to “Multiple Residence” to enable the construction of a seven-level, 176-unit residential building with a 29-slip public marina on Hempstead Harbor, not far from North Hempstead Beach Park.
The petition opposing the development was launched by the Beacon Hill Residents Association several weeks ago and has collected 1,311 signatures. Reasons cited in the petition include overpopulation, traffic congestion, stress on school, water and sewer district and police and fire departments, and the environmental health of Hempstead Harbor and Manhasset Bay.
Last week, Southern Land held four information sessions for interested members of the public, with two apiece held Wednesday and Thursday.
At the second meeting, former Nassau County Legislator and former New York state Sen. Craig Johnson, representing Long Point Advisors, addressed the meeting’s 60 participants.
“This [is an] exciting project that I think is really going to provide a wonderful opportunity for the Port Washington community as a whole,” Johnson said.
He added that Southern Land was “prepared to spend anywhere between $5 to $12 million to clean up an area of Hempstead Harbor that so desperately needs it.”
“To call it a blight on our community, it’s an understatement,” Johnson said. “There is some real major environmental contamination that’s on this site, and Southern Land is committed to cleaning it up beyond the bare minimum in order to get the project done.”
He also said that Southern Land intends to “open up real public space” by building a public pier, marina and promenade to connect with a trail at the north end of North Hempstead Beach Park.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran was also on the call, and commended Southern Land for approaching the project “the right way.”
“There really is a need for more housing in Nassau County,” Curran said. “Whether it’s in our downtowns or on our waterfront, there is a need for different kinds of housing at different price points. And I just want to commend Southern Land for going through this process and doing extensive community outreach.”
Southern Land Vice President Dustin Downey said the apartments were targeted toward older adults with “empty nests” and toward “elder millennials” who are single or newly married. A quarter of the units will also become “workforce housing units” for those making under $60,000 a year.
Addressing traffic on West Shore Road, a frequent concern brought up in both the petition and in questions at the meeting, Downey added that the company was working on traffic studies.
“We’ll do what we can to offset our traffic impacts,” Downey said. “Whether it’s you know, speed cameras, or returning streetlights, or even helping with the street lighting, or other end down towards Roslyn, whatever we need to do. We’ll do our best to work it out.”
Those with comments or questions relating to the draft scope of the project are advised to send them to planning@northhempsteadny.gov, with March 23 as the last day that comments or questions will be accepted. The public is also invited to offer suggestions as to what should be studied in the project’s environmental impact study.
The public scoping session will be held by the Town of North Hempstead on Tuesday, March 23, at 6 p.m. over Zoom.
