Amityville hopes interactive website a preview to new master plan

Amityville is about to take a digital step forward in its quest for a master plan.

Officials will host an interactive presentation Saturday of a new website that lays out dozens of ideas and goals to shape the village’s future.

The site was created by Sean Ansanelli, who was hired in June for $4,000 to be a consultant for what Mayor Dennis Siry has said he hopes will become a comprehensive master plan. Ansanelli, who lives in Manhattan but grew up in Amityville, called the current website a “first draft” of the plan.

“It’s a good start to get things rolling,” Siry said.

Ansanelli, who serves on the village’s downtown revitalization committee, spoke with village officials and merchants, as well as planners in other communities, and used the 135 responses to a survey to create the website’s content, which includes more than three dozen goals and ideas under eight categories:

• Culture & recreation;
• Ecology & sustainability;
• Economy & livelihood;
• Governance & civil society;
• Health, safety & well-being;
• Infrastructure, transportation & technology;
• Knowledge & learning, and;
• Public space & housing.

The most popular interests of residents so far are improving the downtown, ensuring a balanced and sustainable public budget and supporting local businesses.

Siry said that while village officials already knew the importance of some of the goals to residents, the website “gives us a better understanding … we can now explore different options that people are interested in.”

Attendees of the presentation will be able to see not only how the website works but will be able to comment on concepts as well as present their own ideas, which will be incorporated in real time onto the website, Ansanelli said.

The website will remain active for months after Saturday's presentation so officials can get as much feedback as possible.

“It’s a work in progress,” Siry said. “If in three months 10,000 people are saying they want certain things, then we’ll make those a priority and in five months if nobody is clicking on something, then we’ll take it down,” he said.

Ansanelli said continued interaction is “crucial” to the process.

“We wanted to create something that people can continue to feel ownership over and continue to contribute to and see what’s going on so that it’s not just a one-off engagement,” he said.

The website is https://www.makeithappen.city/amityville, and individuals need to create an account to participate. The presentation is at 11 a.m. at the Amityville Fire Department, 55 W. Oak St.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.