Lighthouse faceoff

The Hempstead town council and members of the public shined the spotlight on New York Islanders owner Charles Wang and his development team on Tuesday at a marathon hearing to determine the proper zoning for the vast project Wang is proposing for the Nassau Coliseum site.

The town council did not reach a decision on the Lighthouse project at the conclusion of an often heated and emotional meeting that lasted nearly 12 hours and included lunch and dinner breaks.

While the majority of the large crowd at Hofstra University’s John Cranford Adams Playhouse expressed support for the privately funded, $4 billion project, which would refurbish the Coliseum and develop the 150 acres that surround it, there was a vocal contingent of opponents, most of them from neighboring Garden City.

Some criticized the height of some of the proposed buildings, which include two 36-story towers. Opponents addressed what they believed would be negative impacts not only on aesthetics, but on local business, traffic and the environment.

But one young East Meadow resident pleaded with the town board to focus on the Lighthouse’s potential positive influence on the future of Nassau County. “On one hand, there is a tall building and a view from a house three miles away,” said Nicholas Carbone, a Hofstra University sophomore. “On the other hand, there is the future of young Long Islanders. Don’t let that handful of people that are opposed to the progress destroy the future of young Long Islanders.”

The zoning hearing was one of the final steps in the approval process for the project, over which the Town of Hempstead has environmental and zoning authority. An environmental public hearing was held on Aug. 4, at which town officials and residents addressed a state-mandated draft environmental report. A final report, known as the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement, a 4,000-page document, was submitted by the developers to the town at the start of Tuesday’s hearing.