Huntington Station Brownfield Opportunity Area Program (Step 2)
The NYS BOA Program, administered by the NYS Department of State, was designed to help communities initiate redevelopment and transform contaminated properties and properties perceived as contaminated into productive spaces while restoring environmental health. The revitalization efforts enabled by the BOA Program are driven by community engagement, and provide developers with the assurance required to speed reuse. The BOA Program encourages area-wide brownfield redevelopment, emphasizing the collective impact of remediating multiple sites with actual or perceived contamination. This program provides municipalities and community-based organizations with 1) resources to address local brownfields through an area-wide approach, 2) access to expert environmental and economic analyses, and 3) environmental site assessment and other implementation assistance for strategic redevelopment parcels.
Huntington Station BOA:
The Town of Huntington (TOH) was awarded a BOA Program grant to analyze the potential for redevelopment of the TOH Parking Lot in LIRR Station Sub Area #2, located on the southwest corner of Railroad Street and New York Avenue; Rotundo site; and 1000 New York Avenue. This grant enables the Town to advance economic development and environmental improvements for the study area, while maintaining and enhancing the existing positive qualities in the Huntington Station community.
In the first phase of the Huntington Station BOA process, the TOH, TOH Economic Development Corporation, and TOH Community Development Agency contracted a consulting team to carry out activities set forth in the NYS approved workplan. The consultant team, comprised of Gannett Fleming, HR&A Advisors, Inc, and Sustainable Long Island, collected site data, examined opportunities for redevelopment, and engaged the Huntington Station community to solicit feedback on the project and potential strategies for revitalization of the study area. Building upon the work accomplished in the first phase of the BOA process, the consultant team will now conduct an in-depth assessment of existing conditions and assets within the study area. The assessment will include an economic and market trends analysis to help identify reuse potential for strategic brownfield sites and determine actions for area-wide revitalization.
During the initial planning and outreach efforts of the Huntington Station BOA process, community members determined five great things about Huntington, which include: diversity, potential, transportation, quaint single family homes/community, and walkability. Community engagement will continue to be a vital element in this next phase.
Who are the consultants?
Gannett Fleming: A national leader in the brownfields industry, Gannett Fleming’s strength lies in our ability to turn brownfields challenges into innovative solutions with our approach to project planning, execution, and public involvement.
HR&A Advisors, Inc. (HR&A): HR&A is an industry-leading real estate, economic development and energy efficiency consulting firm, providing strategic advisory services for some of the most complex mixed-use, neighborhood, downtown, campus, and regional development projects across North America and abroad for over thirty years.
We at Sustainable Long Island have completed our portion of the ongoing community outreach and public participation for the Huntington Station BOA Step 2 Program. All inquiries should be directed to Gary Rozmus at Gannett Fleming at grozmus@GFNET.com.
Process:
During Step 2 of the Huntington Station BOA, the consultant team will develop planning and redevelopment programs that incorporate community input received during the process, conduct environmental site assessments and economic and financial analyses, and facilitate public participation.
The consultant team is conducting small group meetings with community stakeholders. These meetings are vitally important to the BOA process to gather public input about redevelopment opportunities for the BOA designated area. These small group meeting will be followed up with a public meeting in the fall to facilitate public input.
Past meetings have been attended by representatives of:
- Huntington Chamber of Commerce
- Huntington Station Business Improvement District
- Suffolk County Police Department Second Precinct
- NAACP-Huntington Chapter
- Greater Huntington Civic Group
- Huntington Township Housing Coalition
- Youth from Huntington Station
Future meetings are in the process of being scheduled with:
- Porter-Trejo Action Network
- Huntington Station Latin Quarter
- Hispanic Task Force
- Huntington School Board
- Youth from Huntington Station
Brownfields and their Redevelopment:
Brownfields are abandoned, often blighted properties that were at one time, useful, productive businesses in the community and often include current or former dry cleaners, warehouses, gas stations, and other industrial or commercial parcels. Redevelopment of these properties is often hindered by perceived contamination resulting from a prior use. The potential presence of a pollutant or contaminant makes redevelopment challenging, yet attainable.
Remediating and Redeveloping Brownfields will:
■ Remove potential health risks to our ground water and air quality
■ Alleviate the need to purchase and develop pristine new open space
■ Spur economic and community growth by placing properties back into active use and repurposing them for housing and /or commercial and recreational uses, and bringing people back into the community
■ Return improved properties back to the tax rolls thereby aiding the local economy
Examples of Success:
■ BOA programs for the Town of Babylon: Wyandanch - Final NYS BOA Program Step 1 and 2 Nomination Completed; Village of Freeport - Application for BOA Program Step 2 submitted to NYS; and Huntington Station - Step 1 Draft Nomination Study completed; Step 2 in progress
■ Launched the first public database of Long Island's 6,800 brownfields as identified by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the US Environmental Protection Agency
■ Hosted three regional brownfields conferences and conducted over 100 presentations to introduce the concept to people across Long Island
■ Helped craft the language and supported the passage of statewide brownfields cleanup legislation, adopted by Albany in 2003
■ Created Brownfields-to-Greenfields, a how-to redevelopment manual distributed regionally, with a second edition released in 2011
■ Received a regional EPA award for the Brownfield Busters Patch Program
■ Worked to affect the redevelopment of 107 out of 157 sites that would take over 13 years to remediate if they remain in the superfund program
■ Created a Long Island-wide Brownfield Advisory Committee, or task force, to bring urgent brownfield matters to the forefront and look for opportunities to redevelop brownfields including widely distributing the newly revised Brownfields to Greenfields manual as well as a brownfields survey to scope the current understanding of brownfields
For questions, comments, or general feedback email us at info@sustainableli.org
Huntington Station BOA Comment Form
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Huntington Station BOA Step 2 Overview
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Huntington Station BOA Step 2 Overview (Spanish)
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3/27/12 Public Meeting Notes
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5/14/12 Small Group Meeting Notes
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6/7/12 Small Group Meeting Notes
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6/21/12 Small Group Meeting Notes
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7/19/12 Small Group Meeting Notes
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7/24/12 Small Group Meeting Notes
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8/8/12 Small Group Meeting Notes
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