Residents, business eye Hicksville plan

As authors of a Hicksville revitalization plan previewed their findings last week, one didn't need to look far for a reminder of their mission's elusiveness.

On a table at the hamlet's Chamber of Commerce, next to fresh, brightly colored maps, sat a yellowed pamphlet: "Hicksville: A Framework for the Future." It was dated 1969.

Four decades -- and countless plans -- later, downtown stakeholders hope time and mood are finally right to reshape the disjointed, pedestrian-unfriendly Long Island Rail Road district.

"Now's a great opportunity," said Lionel Chitty, the chamber president who has shepherded the new revitalization effort with Vision Long Island and the Hicksville Community Council. "If something isn't done, this area is not going to survive."

One of the last plans, from 2004, focused mainly on beautification. While the new collaboration incorporates that, its authors said they tried to address the systemic problems from the 1960s widening of Broadway, which effectively split the downtown.

A centerpiece of the new effort is a suggestion to break the existing business district into three zones: a "Main Street" model of retail below apartments and lofts; a more residential area with few buildings taller than two stories; and a denser region with housing and offices reaching four levels.

"We're trying to address the harder questions of parking and housing," said Vision Long Island director Eric Alexander, whose organization helped design similar plans in more than a dozen communities, including Riverhead and Bay Shore. "We're trying to make the area more walkable."

The plan was drawn after nearly three years of input; it was unveiled Saturday. Now, as feedback continues, the Town of Oyster Bay will gather input from residents and then make its own assessment.

In recent years, town leaders have committed $3 million to downtown streetscape improvements, such as new sidewalks and decorative lighting. They've built an athletic center and commuter parking garage, sponsored a farmers market and now are considering a large senior housing complex to replace asphalt plants on the region's fringe.

All the while, Town Supervisor John Venditto has supported a "suburban" model that discourages density. Last week, he said the new plan is largely "excellent," save for the recommendations of a bus hub and up to 500 total downtown housing units.

"To the extent the recommendations move away from the suburban lifestyle and enter the realm of urbanization," he said, citing resident feedback he's heard, "then they are troubling."

The chamber's Chitty, however, said that "people are coming to Hicksville just to hop on a train and hop off. We're trying to capture that."

Currently, Broadway's east side, where Montana Associates real estate sits, seems an ocean away from the train station and businesses west of the Route 106/Route 107 split.

Charles Montana Jr., who runs the real estate agency, put it bluntly: "It has not been working."

The vision for downtown Hicksville

THREE FLAVORS: Break the central business district into three zones with distinct personalities; one a "main street" concept, another more residential and the third slightly denser.

LANDSCAPING: Continue streetscape work such as new trees, crosswalks and decorative lighting

VARIOUS USES:

Encourage uses such as a hotel, art galleries and apartments for young professionals