The Northport Village Council is that much closer to narrowing down options for the potential use of a vacant village- owned parcel off 7th Street.
The two land use proposals the village manager will continue exploring in the months ahead are: option one, to preserve the land in its current natural state, or option two, to use the portion for development at the discretion of the village while the rest remains in its natural state.
A lengthy public hearing was held on March 7 regarding the village’s 7th Street property, giving the public another opportunity to speak out about their concerns of the current proposed land use options on the table.
After hearing two citizen presentations in favor and against development of the property from Joanne Geha Swanson and Kristi Fischer, as well as public comment from over 10 people, the council did unanimously come to a consensus towards the end of the meeting to direct Village Council Manager Jim Dyer to explore the ramifications and what steps would need to be taken to implement either proposal one or two made by the planning commission.
“What my job is to do is to say ‘okay now that you said this is the direction you want to go, here are some suggestions and recommendations on how you can accomplish that goal,’ and that’s what I was directed to do over the next 60 days or so to come up with a solution that will implement the vision that the council has now expressed…” Dyer said. “Now that we know this is the direction they want us to take, based upon the information that we have, what are our options and how do we make those come to be.”
Located at the former Northport Public Works site on the corner of East 7th Street and North Shore Drive, the 5.96 acres of land has generated a number of documents and reports on the site which were used during the review process. The documents include pages and pages of environmental studies, wetland delineation reports, surveys and deeds, geotechnical reports, legal opinions/ interpretations on uses, and committee reports summarizing information gathered.
Four proposed uses for the village-owned parcel were presented by Northport Planning Commission members about a year ago, however, the council and committees have been discussing possible future uses for this parcel since 2017, including proposing the former plan of Maude Court in 2021.
The planning commission has been researching and collecting public input since the Maude Court plan fell through, and three of the four proposals members presented were finalized in December. Much of the public comment from locals that live in the area are against development of the property, and do not want the wetlands disrupted or built on. And while many would rather see the land preserved in its natural state as a green space, there are also those that would like to see it serve as a place for possible affordable housing projects.
With consideration of everything discussed at the public hearing, a recommendation from the village manager regarding the property could come as early as May.
