LI planning commission heralds proposals
The Long Island Regional Planning Council, seeking to break down resistance to ideas it says will benefit the region, is taking its message to the people.
Some of those ideas - including one to create more multifamily housing in downtown transit hubs - have drawn opposition from community groups.
Council chairman John D. Cameron Jr. said Tuesday he and Executive Director Michael White plan to meet with school boards in Huntington to discuss the council's Long Island 2035 Sustainability Plan proposals.
"We're using the opportunity to educate them," Cameron said, noting that the council's education working group includes school superintendents, and teacher's union and school board representatives.
The council's planned foray into Huntington follows Huntington School Board opposition last year to AvalonBay Communities' proposed 490-unit housing development.
The board also recently recommended against a plan to build 46 units of senior housing. Both projects were rejected by the town, citing population-density concerns.
Stressing the need for such projects, council leaders and the education working group plan to meet with all of the town's school boards. No date has been scheduled.
At Tuesday's council meeting in Hauppauge, White said he has already met with Leadership Huntington, a civic education group, and plans to join the Energeia Partnership's speakers bureau.
Further public outreach efforts may include creating an interactive website and speaking to a cross-section of groups Islandwide.
The 2035 plan offers 39 recommendations for addressing the region's challenges. Wednesday, the council settled on 12 priorities, topped by strengthening the region's economy by more aggressively creating business opportunities.
The council praised Accelerate Long Island, a partnership between academia and business aimed at creating more high-tech jobs.
Other sustainability themes adopted by the council call for maintaining and expanding public infrastructure, improving educational opportunities while providing taxpayer relief, and providing "affordable, equitable and diverse housing options throughout the region."
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
