Guest Column

A comprehensive plan for Long Beach — why we need it

Posted

A comprehensive plan can be an extremely useful tool for planning the future growth of a local community. Most importantly, it can be used to address the constant change and evolution of our community, Long Beach – the best place to live on Long Island!

We all thoroughly enjoy our gorgeous barrier island lifestyle and, as a community, it’s up to us to take action to ensure that our children and grandchildren will still be able to enjoy Long Beach in the future.

The goals of Long Beach’s Comprehensive Plan — funded by state grants — are rebuilding and sustainability. Largely based on community input, the plan calls for increasing environmental resiliency, creating a more sustainable year-round economy, providing diverse and affordable housing and developing more recreational areas. It also focuses on alleviating the tax burden with redevelopment that will create jobs, and making the Park Avenue downtown transit-oriented.

I was recently privileged to attend and graduate from the Land Use Leadership Alliance training program provided by Pace University School of Law and Touro Law School, along with senior staff from the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of State, and the city’s Department of Economic Development and Planning.

I have been shown both the updated and projected flood plans based on the current rate of rising sea levels, and the reality of the situation is terrifying. We must take decisive action to protect and preserve the barrier beach community we all cherish.

Through the introduction of the new comprehensive plan for Long Beach, for the very first time in nearly 30 years, our city is going to update its zoning code, bringing us in line with other prestigious coastal communities such as New York City, San Francisco and the Hamptons, allowing for new developments to be designed and constructed to protect against — and minimize — the impact of potential future natural disasters on low-lying, coastal areas, as well other environmental issues likely to be caused by climate change.

Additionally, incredible new and exciting projects designed to greatly expand economic growth within the city are proposed to come to life. Examples include a performing and cultural arts center in the downtown area, a new promenade and a marina on the bay front servicing water taxis, spider bridges to make getting around the neighborhoods easier, and green spaces down by the boardwalk. Another significant goal of these projects is to keep Long Beach families in Long Beach.

Thanks to our Economic Development and Planning Department, City Manager Jack Schnirman and the City Council, Long Beach has been able to secure grant funding to help fund the Comprehensive Plan, and zoning code updates, saving us several hundred thousand dollars.

Now is the time to come together, plan together and work together as a community to protect our city from potential storm systems and other natural threats that we may have to face in the future.

Everyone is invited to attend the final public hearing on the plan, scheduled for Oct. 6 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Magnolia Center.
For more information, please visit www.LongBeachListens.com.

Leah Tozer is a licensed broker and partner at Engel & Volkers in Long Beach.