EDITORIAL: No vision in the Hempstead rezoning plan

In the high-stakes poker game over what happens to the last great open space in western Long Island, the Town of Hempstead dealt a bad hand to developer Charles Wang and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano. Now the pair will try an Indian gaming table to see if they have better luck.

The town's proposed rezoning officially kills Wang's Lighthouse Project and reduces the value of the county's land for whatever project may follow. While the Lighthouse's high towers and large commercial office space were overscaled, the project presented the big idea and vision needed to create a destination spot in sprawling suburbia.

In response, Supervisor Kate Murray yesterday delivered a small, unimaginative blueprint for what can be done on the 77-acre site. One hotel is capped at nine stories, and all the other buildings can't be more than four - never mind that another nearby hotel and office building are already higher. And more housing is needed than the 500 units the town would allow. Murray's response to criticism that her zoning plan doesn't make any economic sense was, incredibly, that it wasn't her problem.

Wang's original development plan allowed him to fund renovation of the Coliseum, home to his Islanders hockey team. Now Mangano, who must find a way to publicly finance the Coliseum, is considering revenue from a casino on land it would deed to the Shinnecock Nation, which is exempt from local zoning. So instead of holding an ace, Hempstead may just have to fold. hN