CCAF Holds Town Hall Forum

Around one dozen community members discussed land development, taxes and other local issues in a forum hosted by the Concerned Citizens Association of Farmingdale Thursday night.

After CCAF president Chuck Gosline opened the meeting and told attendees that the from the May 19 meeting went unanswered, the board opened the floor to residents.

"What brings you all coming back here?" said CCAF vice president Tina Diamond.

Attendees ranged from high school students to seniors who went on to discuss the , development at the , bringing to Long Island, patronage and .

Village of Farmingdale Master Plan

Local business owner Frank LiCausi expressed his concerns about the part of the village master plan that calls for the rezoning of Main Street, which will change the code to allow apartments to be built over stores.

"I see it as a parking issue," he said.

Other residents like Rich Gosline and Eva Pearson, who is running for Nassau County legislature against incumbent Joseph Belesi, were agreeable to having additional apartments in the village, but said that the growth needs to be controlled.

Ralph Ekstrand, a village trustee and , explained that the number of apartments the village can hold was determined by an and that developers are required to provide 1.5 parking spots per bedroom. He added that many stores on Main Street won't be able to add apartments.

"Some buildings on Main Street weren't built for this, so they aren't structurally sound to add an extra story," he said, adding that some apartments already exist in the village because of a code that was changed.

The village board is not in favor of spot zoning certain buildings for apartments, so the board is holding a public hearing on Oct. 3 to change to code to allow for mixed use. Ekstrand encouraged residents to attend the public hearing.

The Liberty Site

students Sean Mohan, Brett Davies and Chris Brandimarte weighed in on the now cleaned up EPA Superfund site sitting empty on Motor Avenue.

The students said they were in favor of keeping a suburban feel, not wanting to "see Farmingdale turning into the city," but that it was important to them that the site was not just ball fields.

CCAF president Gosline explained said that the YMCA may be interested in helping the Town of Oyster Bay build an intergenerational community center there.

"The YMCA has a strong interest in Farmingdale," Gosline said. "There are seven YMCAs on Long Island and six are in Suffolk, so they would like to be in Nassau County and on the south shore."

Gosline also explained that the community meeting the town had planned on hosting regarding the future of the site has been postponed from the fall to the spring as the town continues to research costs of various uses. Town officials confirmed this.

Taxes and Other Business

Community members and the CCAF board also discussed "the double edged sword" - how high taxes are hurting Farmingdale businesses and residents alike and how it's the pension system and other unfunded mandates that are out of local board control that drive up both school and village taxes.

From the meeting, the CCAF board plans to draft another letter to legislators on the high cost of taxes, with a focus on reducing or eliminating unfunded mandates, a revision of the current pension system into 401K style system and changing other funding formulas.

Board members Gosline, Diamond and Phil Badome also nominated two high school students to the CCAF board, which is "a non-profit, non-partisan neighborhood civic organization dedicated to representing the ordinary citizens and homeowners of Farmingdale who wish to maintain and enhance the quality of life in their community."

To join the group or for more information contact Gosline at charles.gosline@ngc.com