Oyster Bay to acquire Plainview soccer park and consider other amenities

Oyster Bay is moving to acquire a 60-acre park property in Plainview from a private developer that could be upgraded with new athletic fields.

The site, Peter C. Collins Soccer Park on Old Country Road, is next to Country Pointe Plainview, a 750-unit mixed-use development. The developer, Beechwood Organization of Jericho, had agreed to deed part of its property to the town for recreational use, Newsday has reported.

The town hired an engineering firm to update a master plan for the property. Oyster Bay plans to seek ideas from the community for the overall park plan. The town will pay the firm, IMEG Consultants Corp., $64,300 to create the schematics, according to town board documents.

Earlier plans called for adding cricket and baseball fields, Newsday has reported. Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said the town is now considering adding a baseball field, pickleball courts, a playground and a walking loop, while refurbishing the existing soccer fields.

“It will be another exciting addition to recreational opportunities in the town,” Saladino said in a phone interview. “It provides a home for Plainview baseball and continues for Plainview soccer to have their home here.”

Saladino said the town plans to take control of the soccer park by the end of the year.

Leaders of local youth sports leagues said they are excited about the potential for upgrades.

Brian Wood, president of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Soccer Club, said the park is the only home location for more than 30 travel teams.

"Naturally, our primary concern is simply making sure that, when the redevelopment is complete, our community does not have a net loss of soccer fields," Wood said in an email. "With the number of children we serve and this being our only home for travel soccer, maintaining adequate soccer field capacity is extremely important, not only for our current program, but for the next generation of children in POB."

Kevin Fox, president of Plainview Little League, said he's excited to see plans that could help the league of about 600 players.

A new field at the park could become a home for the Little League, which has played at Plainview-Old Bethpage Community Park on Washington Avenue, Fox said.

"It would be a great thing for the Plainview community to have new fields, new facilities," Fox said.

Upgrades are needed at the soccer park, said Todd Cirella, director of field and maintenance for the Syosset Soccer Club, which sometimes uses the park for games.

He said he remembers going to the soccer park when he was younger and being excited to play on a meticulously manicured field.

After the recent development on the adjacent property, which took over some of the park area, he said the fields and facilities are “in desperate need of repair.”

“I went up there not too long ago and even in the driveway and the pavement is beat up,” Cirella said.

The Oyster Bay Town Board approved the Country Pointe development in 2015, following years of debate. Proposals to build on the land had drawn criticism, with some concerned about the potential to increase density and traffic congestion in a busy part of the hamlet. 

The town is also set to acquire Stillwell Woods in Syosset from Nassau County, where there are baseball fields and a preserve, pending state approvals.