Mixed reaction to mixed-use project

There was mixed reaction from residents who learned about a proposed plan for the areas surrounding the Lawrence and Inwood railroad stations on the Far Rockaway Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, targeting Doughty Boulevard in Inwood and Lawrence Avenue in North Lawrence.

Eliminating the industrial areas that are adjacent to the LIRR stations and building more housing, including multiple buildings that could be as high as five stories, is the aim of the initiative. Officials presenting the Transit Oriented District plan view it as improving portions of those communities.

Town of Hempstead Councilman Bruce Blakeman who represents the Third District said he has been considering the idea for the past three and a half years and that this something that is high on his priority list and now its coming to fruition. No cost is yet associated with all the work, officials said.

“The areas surrounding the train stations are filled with vacant stores and industrial land use,” Blakeman said at the Feb. 26 meeting at Lawrence High School. “I want to create a vibrant new community while also retaining the character of both Inwood and North Lawrence.”

“To create vibrant walkable hamlet centers, each with a distinctive sense of place, around the Inwood and Lawrence LIRR train stations with mixed-use development and housing choices in a sustainable approach to improve the quality of life for the Inwood and North Lawrence residents and the surrounding communities,” it was stated in the presentation.

The town plans to achieve its vision by attracting and retaining younger and senior populations by bringing in retail businesses that cater to both demographic groups. “If we don’t give the young people what they want, then they’ll leave,” Blakeman said. “If we don’t give them what they want, our community will die.”

Kevin McAndrew of the Woodbury-based Cameron Engineering & Associates presented a PowerPoint outlining the details of the plan. Residences will be built and McAndrew said that 20 percent of the housing will be classified as workforce residences preferably for military veterans and volunteer firefighters and other first responders who live in Inwood or North Lawrence.

Former Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department Chief David Campbell commended Blakeman’s plan for including firefighters in the workforce housing. “The fact you’re planning to dedicate a certain amount of affordable housing to firefighters is huge,” Campbell said.

Questions from residents ranged from if there will be more police patrolling the areas and if the traffic flow will be improved. McAndrew said that the initiative includes an infrastructure fund. “For each building unit that is approved, there will be $10,000 set aside for traffic mitigation and street beautifications,” he said.

One Inwood resident wasn’t happy about the fact that the initiative included the potential buildings five stories tall. “I don’t like the neighborhood looking like Far Rockaway or Jamaica. Why do the buildings have to be that high?” said the man who declined to be identified. Blakeman responded to him: “If we don’t give developers a return on their investment, then they’re not going to want to build here.”

A timetable to get the project under way is yet to be set, officials said. McAndrew noted that the initial step is to go through the New York State’s Environmental Quality Review process known as SEQRA that mandates all state and local government agencies to consider environmental impacts equally with social and economic factors during the decision-making. Agencies must assess the environmental significance of all actions they have discretion to approve, fund or directly undertake.