Farmingdale's downtown plan
Farmingdale Village Mayor George Starkie and Deputy Mayor Patricia Christiansen take a walk down Main Street (March 28, 2011). Farmingdale is planning a series of Main Street revitalization projects to transform the downtown. Credit: Kevin P Coughlin
The Village of Farmingdale is brushing off some old ideas with its plan to renew 60 acres of its shopping district, allowing new housing to be built above its downtown stores.
It's about time.
Mayor George Starkie says the mixed-use plan would increase density, creating 300 units of new housing, about 10 percent of it designated as affordable. A proposed zoning change would encourage property owners to build larger stores, with apartments above. Starkie says this was standard practice in the 1900s when the village was developed.
A pending federal trial charging the village with discrimination, however, is casting a shadow over this plan. The case was brought by renters, mostly Hispanic, who lived in a troubled low-income apartment complex on Secatogue Avenue. Lawyers for the tenants say the village orchestrated the sale of the complex to remove tenants who wouldn't be able afford rents in a new upscale complex.
While this dispute will be settled at trial, it's encouraging that Farmingdale officials are proposing a mix of new housing, setting aside some apartments for people who cannot afford market rents.
Creating housing above stores is not a new idea, nor is the gentrification of old stock that has gotten shabby. That's how downtowns come back to life. Farmingdale is smartly capitalizing on a mixed-use plan to revive its shopping district comprehensively, not just piecemeal. hN
