Plandome Heights gets OK to sell part of parkland to resident

Gov. David A. Paterson has signed into law legislation allowing the Village of Plandome Heights to sell a small portion of its parkland to a resident.

Mayor Diana Merenda said Friday that the village needed permission from the state to separate 3,500 square feet from 74,653 square feet of parkland to be sold to a neighbor who had sued, challenging the village's ownership of the unused land.

That resident, who lives next to the land, had made the small portion part of his backyard because, he claimed, the village did nothing with it, explained village attorney Christopher Prior.

The land will be sold at fair market value for $40,000. The sale was part of a settlement to the lawsuit, Prior said, but needed approval from the state because it involves parkland.

The parkland, known as the Plandome Heights Preserve, is where Bay Driveway, Bayview Circle and Waterside Lane meet.

Village officials sought assistance from state Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) and Assemb. Michelle Schimel (D-Great Neck), sponsors of the bill.

"It's a good bill. It's going to help the village end an expensive lawsuit that had been ongoing," Schimel said Friday. She noted that the village will use the sale proceeds to develop more parkland for the village.

"The state analyzed this very closely," Prior said. "It appeared to us we had a win-win."

Aside from eliminating the expense of defending the lawsuit, the law will allow the village to do away with a neglected piece of land that was prone to trespassers, Merenda said.