Oyster Bay wants to expand park

Oyster Bay will condemn about an acre of land to expand Ellsworth W. Allen Park in South Farmingdale for construction of a sports field if it can't negotiate a purchase, the town supervisor said yesterday.

Supervisor John Venditto said that unless purchases can be negotiated, "we're going to take the property."

The town board deferred a decision to allow for additional comment on the issue.

The parcels at 53 and 57 Heisser Lane are zoned for light industrial use. Town land-use consultant Michael Spinelli said one property contains a dilapidated shed where landscaping vehicles are stored and the other an occupied single-family house. Neither structure meets current zoning regulations and nothing could be built on either lot, he said.

Spinelli said failure to gain the additional land would mean the planned sports field would not fit in the park. Acquiring the two properties would expand Allen Park, which has the highest visitation of any town park, to 39 acres.

The town has 1,586 acres of parkland to serve 293,000 residents, about half of what the National Recreation Association recommends, Spinelli said, adding that Farmingdale, Plainedge and Massapequa have the least amount of parkland in the town.

Members of the Vanegas family, which owns the property with the single-family house where they live, said they would sell for the right price if they can find land to relocate their landscaping business and live affordably. "It's very hard to find property where we can park our equipment without bothering neighbors," Jorge Vanegas Jr. told the board.

Venditto said the town would help the family relocate its home and business. "We're not looking to hurt anybody," he said.

Michael Zapson, attorney for the other property owner, said his client also wanted to sell for a reasonable price. Venditto said the town was open to further negotiations.

The board also deferred a decision on rezoning some of the land already in the park. A second hearing will be held about rezoning the 16 acres initially included in the park in 1967 from light industrial to park use.