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Mostly Cloudy East Rockaway trustee not on board with plan
Lenahan now opposed to proposed rezoning
East Rockaway village board member Francis Lenahan has had a change of heart about the proposed rezoning of the industrial district.
In a written statement that he read at Monday night’s regular village board meeting at Village Hall, Lenahan said that the mayor and the board were right to bring the idea to the people, but, after speaking to many residents, trusted family members and friends, it’s apparently clear that the majority don’t want this to happen in East Rockaway.
“I have a major stake in what happens in this village in the future ... everyone seems to agree that something needs to be done and I concur,” said Lenahan. He said that the area under consideration in not conducive for a project that supports the building of four-story buildings with the likelihood of multiple rental properties. “Therefore, I am adamantly opposed to this proposal as it was originally presented.”
East Rockaway Mayor Ed Sieban and the village board have held two public meetings in the last two months to get the public’s input on the proposed TOD plan for the village’s Industrial district, which is located along Ocean Avenue and Atlantic Avenue on both sides of Mill River near the Long Island Rail station.
The study, commissioned by the board, recommended that the village create a new Transit Orientated Development District (TOD) around the Long Island Rail Road station.
According to the plan, The district could have fashionable apartment buildings, shops and cafes — all with a nautical theme. The residents’ fear, however, is that low-income, or Section 8 housing would come in, and that East Rockaway not be the same village that they chose to live in and raise their families. At the time, Lenahan agreed with Sieban and the board that “The TOD would rid the village of the deleterious uses that could occur in the industrial district.”
But at Monday’s meeting, Lenahan pointed out that East Rockaway is unique in that it already has three business districts — Main Street, Atlantic Avenue and Centre Avenue — but that they are not operating to their maximum potential. “The development of these areas should be included in the big picture, as well,” he said.
