Oyster Bay hearing on park rezoning plan
The Oyster Bay Town Board has scheduled public hearings March 27 on the expansion and rezoning of 38-acre Ellsworth W. Allen Town Park at Heisser Lane and Motor Avenue.
One hearing is to consider condemnation of two parcels, both around 0.4 acres, to expand the park and determine the need for additional parkland. The second hearing concerns rezoning part of the land already included in the park.
“Acquiring these two parcels, which are located at the northwest corner of the park, just makes sense in terms of long-range planning for the park,” Town Supervisor John Venditto said.
The parcels are 53 and 57 Heisser Lane and are zoned for light industrial use. When the town acquired about 16 acres to create the park in 1967, the property was zoned light industrial.
Two additions, totaling almost 22 acres, from the former Liberty Industrial Finishing site on Motor Avenue more than five years ago were rezoned last year for recreational use. But the zoning of the original parcel was never changed. The town attorney has recommended that the 16 acres be rezoned to conform to the property’s use as a park, Venditto said.
The hearings will be at 10 a.m. in Town Hall East, 54 Audrey Ave.
A decade of environmental cleanup at the Liberty Industrial property, a Superfund site, is nearly complete.
Town officials have said the expanded park could include five new turf playing fields, a 250,000-square-foot community center and a swimming pool.
Photo: Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto
'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.
'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.
