Sea Cliff considers taking the long view as it mulls moratorium, future zoning, development

Sea Cliff officials are considering a six-month moratorium on subdividing properties as the village thinks about a comprehensive overhaul of its zoning code.

The convergence of the pandemic driving real estate prices higher even as local businesses have suffered, new sewer lines opening up development possibilities and the village’s purchase of the former New York American Water buildings have spurred a need for new long-term planning, Mayor Elena Villafane said.

"There’s so much going on in Sea Cliff right now, and there’s so many developments that really, we as a board and the village as a whole, need to kind of take a step back," Villafane said.

The village zoning code’s last comprehensive overhaul was in 1979, though it’s been amended many times.

"There's been no 10,000-yard view of the code in its totality," Villafane said.

A hearing on the proposed moratorium has been continued over several meetings, and last month it was continued again to February.

The moratorium was not in response to any particular development, Villafane said. The village enacted a temporary moratorium on subdivision in 2017, but subsequent changes to the code didn’t deal with the business district or the new sewer lines that were built since then, she said.

The nonprofit environmental organization Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor supports the moratorium, citing increased "development pressure" in the communities around the harbor.

"It is crucial for Sea Cliff and neighboring municipalities to carefully plan for any future development that will have an impact on Hempstead Harbor," Michelle Lapinel McAllister, environmental monitor for the organization, said in a statement. "A moratorium will provide time for careful planning that will prevent further degradation of the shoreline, prevent adverse impacts to Hempstead Harbor’s water quality, protect drinking water … and ensure a healthy quality of life for village residents and neighboring communities."

Mitchell Pally, chief executive of the Long Island Builders Institute, a trade organization, said moratoriums exacerbate the lack of housing.

"Any moratorium artificially limits the amount of housing to be built on Long Island and does not provide our residents with the housing options necessary," Pally said. "One would hope that a community would appreciate the fact that new people are moving into their community [and] new housing opportunities are benefiting their community."

Villafane said the moratorium isn’t intended to bar all future development and that new codes are being developed to benefit the greater village. "All I'm asking people to do is wait," she said.

"People pride themselves on Sea Cliff being a very eclectic, environmentally sensitive community that honors its past with all of these wonderful Victorian homes," Villafane said.

The village’s long-term planning committee is working on recommendations for the board to consider in a new zoning code. Their work is expected to be done in the summer, the mayor said.

Also in the works for the village is coming up with a plan for the former New York American Water buildings purchased last year. One possible use is as a community center, but no decisions have been made yet, Villafane said.