Hicksville Brownfield Opportunity Area Programs
Northwest Hicksville BOA Community Survey
The Town of Oyster Bay invites you to provide input on developing a vision to guide redevelopment in the future in Northwest Hicksville as part of the Town’s BOA Step I project.
The goals of the survey are to:
- Develop a vision for future redevelopment for Northwest Hicksville
- Identify desirable and viable businesses and uses in Northwest Hicksville
- Generate ideas for potential redevelopment and improvements throughout Northwest Hicksville
Survey results will be tabulated and analyzed and will be used in developing the community vision. Your input as a resident, property owner, business owner or concerned citizen is very important in understanding the community needs and you can remain anonymous if you'd like.
Click here to take this survey and help create a vision for the future!
Northwest Hicksville BOA Step I
The Town of Oyster Bay received a BOA grant from the New York State Department of State (NYSDOS) in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) which focused on the northwestern area of Hicksville. The funding was made available under the NYS Superfund/Brownfield Law of 2003.
The Northwest Hicksville BOA Step 1 Program is currently in the Step I Pre-Nomination Study. The steering committee kickoff meeting was held on June 20, 2012. The Pre-Nomination Study provides a basic and preliminary analysis of the area affected by potential brownfield sites. This Step I process consists of the following components:
- Identifying and describe a manageable study area
- Initiating community outreach and participation process
- Completing a preliminary inventory and analysis of the study area that identifies compelling opportunities for revitalization
- Creating a common vision that describes the area’s potential for revitalization and realistic goals and objectives that will serve as a framework to guide the revitalization
On Thursday January 17th The Town of Oyster Bay and the Northwest Hicksville Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) Steering Committee co-hosted a Public Open House workshop facilitated by the project’s team of consultants, consisting of H2M, Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, and Sustainable Long Island.
The workshop was designed to get input from Northwest Hicksville residents, businesses and other stakeholders on ideas for potential revitalization of underutilized, vacant, and other potential brownfield sites. Attendees included representatives of the project team, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC); members of the Steering Committee including the Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County, the Hicksville Chamber of Commerce, the Northwest Civic Association, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), Nassau County Police Department, and the Hicksville Water District; as well as Northwest Hicksville residents and business owners, among others.
During the workshop, Amy Engel, Executive Director of SLI and Bonnie Franson, Department Manager of Land Use/Environmental Planning at H2M, gave a brief presentation on the New York State BOA program as well as the Northwest (NW) Hicksville BOA project, which is currently in the first phase – the Step I Pre-Nomination Study.
The project team guided participants through a series of interactive activities to identify qualities and characteristics they value in a community and how they would like NW Hicksville to look and feel in 10-15 years. Participants then broke into groups representing portions of the study area (sub-areas) to examine more closely what assets, opportunities, and potential for revitalization exist within these sub-areas. Groups discussed overall concepts for each sub-area as well as how to achieve those concepts, such as through land use, changes to roadways & pedestrian areas, housing, space for recreation & activities, beautification, and more.
Below is a sample of some of the ideas shared by the various groups:
- Beautifying or improving facades and storefronts
- New space or opportunities for recreation and activities, especially for young people
- New types of buildings and uses to attract people, such as high tech businesses, educational facilities, collaborative live/work space for creative businesses (such as art studios)
- Making West John Street more walkable
- Redesigning the area around LIRR station to better accommodate buses & make safer for people using multiple modes of transportation
Next Steps
The project team is compiling and analyzing all the input and preliminary ideas generated, which will be used to help create a draft vision, goals, and objectives for the NW study area as required by the BOA program. The vision, goals and objectives will be reviewed and refined throughout the process including by the project team, Steering Committee, and community. The project team will present the input gathered to the Steering Committee as it works to incorporate preliminary ideas into the draft Pre-Nomination Study which will be submitted to NYS as part of the BOA process.
Please stay tuned for future updates about this project, including another future community workshop.
Southeast Hicksville BOA Step II
The Town of Oyster Bay received a BOA grant from the New York State Department of State (NYSDOS) in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) which focused on the southeastern area of Hicksville. The funding was made available under the NYS Superfund/Brownfield Law of 2003. The Town worked with an engineering firm to prepare the BOA Step I Study, which was accepted by the NYSDOS in November 2008.
An application for a BOA Step II Nomination grant was prepared shortly after the Step I was complete and the contract with the NYSDOS was finalized in mid 2011. Once finalized, the Town issued an RFP and retained a consultant team for the Step II BOA in the fall of 2011.
During the Step I process, steering committee meetings were held, during which members provided insight into community issues and concerns. One public open house meeting was held where the community had the opportunity to learn more about the BOA program and the sites identified by the project team during their inventory, while providing valuable input about the needs for the area which eventually was incorporated into a vision statement.
The Vision Statement developed during Step I is provided below:
“Hicksville should be considered the “Gateway” or “Heart of Oyster Bay." Hicksville should be envisioned as such not only for its centralized geographical location in the Town, but also for all that it does and could offer to the Town, including a good quality of life, attractive neighborhoods, thriving businesses, and a variety of services to meet both the needs of the community and of the Town.”
The general goals of the Step I BOA included providing a transportation network that assures the safety of vehicles and pedestrians and improving, quality of life, economic conditions, and environmental quality. Specific development goals centered on encouraging young families to settle in Hicksville, making it easier for seniors to stay in the area and ensuring the availability of thriving businesses to provide goods and services. The community also wished to attract businesses that will thrive here, and expressed a desire to create a town center or village atmosphere. There will be an opportunity to refine this statement during Step II process to reflect current conditions and new goals.
Currently, the Town of Oyster Bay has retained a consulting team (Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, H2M, and Sustainable Long Island) to prepare the BOA Step II Nomination Study for Southeast Hicksville. During the Step II phase, the consultant team will :
■ Work with the community to refine the goals for redevelopment of underutilized properties
■ Conduct a market study to quantify the need for housing types and commercial uses
■ Conduct analysis of site conditions to understand degree of environmental constraints
■ Develop planning and redevelopment recommendations consistent with the community goals
■ Facilitate public participation (including maintaining a website page to share information)
This information will be integrated into a Draft BOA Nomination Study, and submitted to the steering committee, the Town of Oyster Bay, and NYS Department of State for review before completion of the Final BOA Nomination Study. When this report is submitted, the NYS Department of State will issue a recommendation on whether to proceed to the next step of the BOA Program.
The steering committee kickoff meeting was held June 26, 2012 and through the public participation process, the Southeast Hicksville BOA consultant team will provide professional insights and analyses about the project area and hear input from the Southeast Hicksville community to embrace the community vision for recommended planning and redevelopment scenarios.
Sustainable Long Island will conduct small group meetings with community stakeholders. The focus of these meetings will be to provide information about the BOA Program, the Southeast Hicksville BOA, and to gather community input regarding the potential redevelopment opportunities within the BOA. These meetings will help us to engage a wide range of community members who represent the many different perspectives found within Southeast Hicksville.
If you have a suggestion about the types of groups who should participate in the small group meetings or are interested in taking part, please contact Sustainable Long Island at info@sustainableli.org
