The Oyster Bay Main Street Design Committee, co-chaired by architect Ellen Roché and landscape architect David Lamb, has been busy with projects this summer. Most visible are the improvements to two municipal parking fields at Townsend Square and West Main Street, with both lots near completion. Pedestrian walkways, landscape gardening and new street lighting have made the parking lots popular with businesses and visitors alike who readily utilize the newly created spaces. Both projects have been a collaborative effort with the Oyster Bay Civic Association, Marie Knight president; the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce, John Specce, past president representing the chamber and Island Properties, LLC, Abraham Poznanski, president.

"Townsend Square's renovation is 90 percent complete with new head-in spaces along Church Street next to the Community Center's bluestone plaza and accessibility ramp. Trees have been planted to provide shade for years to come and the hit of the design is the addition of decorative street lighting with a nautical navy blue flair," said Bill Sheeline, president of Main Street and chair of the Parking Committee. The West Main lot across from Verrelli's Market has become a garden spot in the village as Island Properties, LLC has created a charming walkway linking Audrey Avenue to Raynham Hall's Victorian garden. IP's landscape architect Nelson Sterner previously worked for the New York Botanical Garden. His years of expertise are evident in a colorful design of flowering perennials with violet colored verbena surrounding Ginkgo trees. David Lamb collaborated on this scheme, designed to please the senses.

Parking projects have been made possible by the leadership of Supervisor John Venditto, Town of Oyster Bay; Judy Jacobs, Presiding Officer of the Nassau County Legislature and Senator Carl Marcellino of New York State. Two additional grants from New York State will be used to extend the new street lighting visible in Townsend Square from East Main Street to the intersection of Audrey Avenue and Shore Road. The lighting is manufactured by Sentry Electric of Freeport, LI.

The new Façade Improvement Program for commercial businesses located in the eligible community development census tracts (streets north of Summit Street) in downtown Oyster Bay began in early summer. Main Street formed a design review board and hired a consultant to reach out to landlords and tenants in the area. To date, 14 businesses are interested in the two active façade projects and three active signage projects as the program begins. Matching grants are available up to maximum of $25,000 for façade work. Signage is reimbursable up to 50 percent of the cost. Interested parties may contact Main Street at 922-6982.