Sea Cliff buys NYAW waterfront property for $540K in settlement

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The Village of Sea Cliff recently bought the property at 325 Prospect Ave. from New York American Water. The purchase of the 2.5 acres of waterfront property continues the efforts of the Village of Sea Cliff to preserve open space and protect historically significant structures, officials said.

“The Village of Sea Cliff is excited to announce that the purchase of this property is a legacy project that will benefit generations of residents of Sea Cliff,” Mayor Elena Villafane said. The property contains two historically significant structures and over 2 acres of scenic open space.

In 2017, Sea Cliff sued New York American Water, claiming that accounting inaccuracies inflated customers’ bills. Village officials contended that rates and fees were irrational, inequitable and contrary to law. The two parties settled the suit last week.

After concluding that the extraordinary rate increases were based on accounting inaccuracies, NYAW agreed to various measures, including accelerating filings to the state Public Service Commission, which reduced rates by about $6.4 million for all customers of the Sea Cliff Water District, implementing certain internal controls to reduce the likelihood of future inaccuracies, providing Sea Cliff District ratepayers with a $1.6 million total credit on future water bills, and selling 325 Prospect Ave. to the village at a $1 million discount and reimbursement of certain litigation legal fees, for a net purchase price of $540,000.

“After a four-year struggle, the village is victorious. Our ratepayers received significant refunds, and we now own this historic coastal resource. This acquisition will keep the land open and available to public use,” Trustee Dina Epstein said. “Sea Cliff doesn’t need more development and more cars; we need to work to preserve our open spaces and the character of our community.”

The next phase for the property will be to conduct a publicly engaged analysis to determine the village’s vision for the best public use or uses of the property. Town hall meetings will be scheduled in the fall to discuss renovation of the buildings, use of the property and funding methods that do not unduly impact taxpayers. Villafane and trustees have said a “significant portion” of the property will in some way be used for the arts.

In June, both the New York State Assembly and Senate passed a bill to establish a North Shore Water Authority and a South Nassau Water Authority that would replace New York American Water for ratepayers in the Towns of Oyster Bay and Hempstead.
If the bill becomes law, the process of overturning the remainder of

NYAW’s assets to the newly established public water authority will commence. At press time, the bill had still not been delivered to the governor for signature into law.