With the redevelopment of the western waterfront in Oyster Bay hamlet well under way, the Town of Oyster Bay is now applying for a grant to fund an Eastern Waterfront Revitalization Study. Town Supervisor John Venditto said the plan will be called the "Eastern Waterfront Community Visioning & Revitalization Plan" and if the grant is received it would begin in Jan. 2005 and be completed by June 30, 2006. The name reflects the concept as stated in the grant proposal: "The Town of Oyster Bay, in collaboration with a steering committee composed of stakeholders in the Oyster Bay Hamlet community propose to develop an economically sustainable, environmentally sound revitalization plan for the Eastern Waterfront area of the Hamlet. The proposed project will employ intensive community participation in order to obtain a consensus vision for the revitalization study area. The majority of the land area composing the Eastern Waterfront contains mostly privately owned parcels, is under development pressure, and is the last remaining waterfront area on the Town's north shore without a formal plan in place."

The town, in their grant proposal made clear the importance of creating a plan. It said over the last 10 years Island Properties, Inc., a development company, began purchasing properties in the Hamlet and now owns about 70 consisting of commercial sites and single-family homes. Many of the properties are located in the eastern waterfront area adjacent to South Street. Island Properties has also purchased the Commander Oil site whose business and storage tanks border the harbor. The future development of these parcels poses a substantial potential to significantly alter the character of the Oyster Bay community. The grant application said, "Earlier this last month, Island Properties unveiled its plans for a mixed-use intensive development in Plainview consisting of upscale rental units, shops and a Hyatt Regency Hotel. This raised many concerns about Island Properties intentions in the Oyster Bay Hamlet community. Certainly these development pressures are real and the community is concerned that redevelopment applications will be submitted without adequate opportunity for community groups, residents, businesses, services providers and elected officials to identify the relevant issues, opportunities and goals concerning the Eastern Waterfront area.

"The Oyster Bay Hamlet Plan called for various recommendations for downtown improvements and integrating the waterfront with the community. The plan touched upon the Eastern Waterfront as well as recommended that the Town amend the zoning code to include a Waterfront-1 District that would allow the existing and commercial uses for the Western Waterfront and a Waterfront -2 District for the Eastern Waterfront which would permit water related uses, smaller scale appropriate uses as well as public areas.

"The proposed Eastern Waterfront plan should carry out the above recommendations a step further and plan for the implementation of these changes in detail. At present the primary goal of the proposed project is the development of a practical plan with specific zoning recommendations to guide the redevelopment of the Eastern Waterfront area in order to achieve an appropriate balance between protection of environmental resources and preservation of community character on the one hand and sensible, sustainable economic growth on the other hand," said the grant application.

The grant suggests the proposed plan will evaluate such items as: access to the waterfront; the suitability of the Eastern Waterfront for large yachts; the implementation of the White's Creek Watershed Mitigation Plan; designating certain sites as having Brownfields potential. They declared that any new development in the Eastern Waterfront area complies with the Long Island Sound Comprehensive Management Plan and the Oyster Bay-Cold Spring Harbor Resource Management Plan.

Supervisor Venditto said that the western waterfront is quickly becoming a showcase for what can be done to redevelop and revitalize a waterfront area. While that work is still ongoing, it is time to study Oyster Bay hamlet's eastern waterfront area. "It is the last remaining waterfront area on the town's north shore without a formal development/redevelopment plan in place. The focus of the plan will be on the private properties located in the vicinity of the eastern waterfront, some of which are under development pressure, and opportunities for enhancing environmental protection, economic prosperity and community well-being.

"If the town is successful in obtaining the grant, which is being made available through the NYS DOS under the EPF, the town will hire a consultant, and, in cooperation with a steering committee that would be formally appointed, produce a plan containing a concrete set of revitalization strategies and recommendations for the eastern waterfront. The total cost of the project would be no greater than $80,000, with 50 percent of the cost being covered by the grant and the remaining 50 percent by the town," he concluded.

The proposal states that a Steering Committee will be formed and that they will be the primary decision-making body. The town plans to work with its own personnel and those groups that took part in the Quality Communities grant proposal that went on to become the core group for the Oyster Bay Hamlet Plan. The concept is to come up with three alternate plans for the study area. Those alternatives will be presented to the public for review and comment, from which a final plan will be devised. The town said they had used this method successfully in developing the Western Waterfront Conceptual Land-Use Plan, the Oyster Bay Hamlet Plan and the Glenwood Landing Redevelopment & Revitalization Plan, the Hicksville Hamlet Plan and the Syosset Hamlet Plan.

Mr. Venditto said, "The Western Waterfront Plan and the Oyster Bay Hamlet Plan are already addressing many key issues in the community and serving as blueprints for the future of the hamlet. An eastern waterfront study would further aid the town in ensuring that the hamlet's waterfront areas are protected and that any development is done in a sensible manner that addresses environmental protection, encouragement of suitable water-related uses, enhancement of visual resources, promotion of livable neighborhoods, and community and economic revitalization."

Friends of the Bay Executive Director Louise Harrison said, "The grant document is well written and includes letters of support from FOB and IP and Flowers, Oyster Bay Marine Center, as well as the petition signed by 100 people in one day, Bay Day June 6. The grant proposal was unanimously voted on by the town board and money is already encumbered for the matching grant.

"I never thought a grant application could be such a beautiful thing. We've been working with the town toward this since last summer and we were in discussions on the same issue with Island Properties and the Department of State in Albany a year before that. We have been proceeding slowly making sure all parties concerned could express themselves about moving the town to ask for a grant and we've been working closely with the town supervisor's office and the office of Intergovernmental Affairs all spring. On every level the town has been attentive, professional, and very helpful and I just couldn't be happier with the resulting application," she said. "The proposal makes an excellent case for doing this plan."