Port North prepares to purchase five acres for park

Luke Torrance
Port Washington North (Photo by Luke Torrance)

Port Washington North is in the final stages of purchasing five acres along Channel Drive to be used for a park.

During the village Board of Trustees meeting last Wednesday, approval was given for Mayor Bob Weitzner to sign a contract for the transfer of land once all other parties have signed off on it.

I really don’t think anything will hang it up,” Weitzner said. “As long as the language is in there, we’re really hopeful that I would be able to sign it and have a closing within 60 to 90 days.”

The cost of purchasing the land, which sits just north of the old Thompson Industries building, is $2.3 million. Of that total $1.5 million is being paid by a developer as part of a land swap: the developer will receive seven acres off Valley Road to develop condos and in turn, the developer will cover most of the cost for the five-acre park and pay the village about $6.5 million, Weitzner said.

Of that $6.5 million, $800,000 would go to covering the remaining cost for purchasing the five acres.

The land is mostly an open field with trees around the edges to separate the property from the adjacent Mill Pond Acres condos. There is a parking lot immediately to the north of the field that was included in the purchase.

As for what the park will look like — or be used for — Weitzner said that was up to the community.

“We have ideas and will coordinate that with our own residents, get an idea of what they need,” he said. “That is what we did with the Bay Walk: we had numerous planning meetings and got feedback on what was best for the community.”

The trustees also approved allowing the Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation Annual Ride for Research Bike Tour to pass through the village.

The board tabled two issues until the May meeting. The first concerned amending land uses in Economic B District, which runs along Channel Drive. The proposed law would allow nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The second was an issue concerning two small lots that village Clerk Palma Torrisi said were practically too small to build on and for which the owners did not want to pay taxes.

Weitzner said the village considered liquidating the properties but tabled the issue because the village had more important things to focus on.

“I don’t like to have too many projects going on at once. It takes our eye off the ball,” he said. “We’ll deal with these eventually.”

Share this Article