Friday, January 17, 2025
The Long Beach City Council passed a resolution at Tuesday’s meeting granting authority to a soon-to-be-appointed planning board to review and approve plans for property subdivisions in the city.
“I got to tell you, when you go outside of Long Beach and tell people that there’s no planning board here, they’re shocked,” City Manager Dan Creighton said. “People are shocked, even developers are shocked that we don’t have a planning board. I really believe it’s necessary to have a planning board, and we’re nearly there, and this is basically step one to start giving them the authority that they deserve and that they need, and follow up from here after we get approval from the Nassau County Planning Commission.”
Subdivision plats are maps that detail how land is divided into sections such as lots or blocks. Plats may also include streets, highways and other infrastructure. Once members of the planning board are appointed, they will be responsible for ensuring that both new and existing subdivisions comply with zoning laws, safety standards and environmental regulations.
The board will also review older plats filed before its establishment, where property may be undeveloped or only partially developed. In those cases, the board will determine whether updates are needed to meet current planning standards and safety guidelines.
“The planning board will have authority to basically say, ‘Does that fit into the character? Is it the appropriate development use for that parcel? Is it what we want for our community?’” Creighton explained. “And it’s a necessary process that we do not currently have.”
The board has not yet been created and its size has not been determined, but the city is actively working on its establishment. Granting it the authority to review and approve or reject subdivision plans is intended to streamline the approval process. By doing so, the city aims to improve efficiency and reduce delays of real estate projects, providing developers with a more predictable approval system and ensuring that decisions are made consistently and transparently.
The planning board will also determine whether new development is supported by necessary infrastructure, including transportation systems, utilities and public services. Long Beach has experienced significant growth in recent years in both its housing and commercial sectors, and as the city continues to expand, new developments must align with the capacity of the existing infrastructure to prevent unnecessary strain on it. The board’s oversight will help ensure that development does not outpace the city’s ability to provide essential services.
The process for establishing the board will include at least two public hearings, and City Council resolutions defining the process by which board members will be appointed. The hearings will give residents a number of opportunities to share their opinions on the panel’s formation and operations.
“The fear is that if we don’t do it right, and we rush too fast, we’ll have a lot of what’s called Article 78 lawsuits against the city, which we’ve seen,” Creighton explained, referring to legal actions intended to challenge an action, or inaction, by an agency of a local government or New York state. “What happens with stuff like that if it works against us? And we want to make sure this legislation is done in a way that it’s — I wouldn’t say Article 78-proof, but it’s as close as possible.”
In essence, by consolidating the subdivision approval process under one agency, the city aims to improve efficiency and reduce delays, and in turn create a more predictable and effective approach to managing Long Beach’s growth.
