Richard Guardino

Richard Guardino Transcription:

Yes Um think it would be a big plus for, I think its actually the village of Hempstead Tax Base. And they had an ambitious program. I spoke to the mayor recently. Unfortunately he did not have the votes to get it through the village board but he feels that hes going to back at it come forward with another proposal, and perhaps spend a little bit more time in advance building a proposal for the community but Hempstead village is uniquely positioned in that it has fantastic transportation hub. The railroad line from there to New York City is approximately 40 minutes. It is a relatively short commute. It also has a bus terminal so that if you’re thinking in terms of transit oriented development its one of the few places on long island where there’s significant transit infrastructure.

I can’t say I know all the details of the plan. I think it was an ambitious plan in that the density and the numbers of buildings were numbers that the community has seen before in a suburban setting and I think people were concerned about that. I think that if you build a plan that is somewhat different from something that’s been going on. One of the recommendations or suggestions I would make is to try to build it in phases so you’re building up support and it doesn’t become overwhelming. What we’ve seen on the Island is that small projects on the island involving increased density has been successful. When they get to a certain magnitude there’s a certain amount of the fear of the unknown that involved so my suggestion for people that are going forward with these kinds of projects is to try to build it in phases and try and build up support for it in that fashion.

Your correct in that it is a huge plan for this area, Especially Nassau County. There are some significant developments going on or some proposals for developments going on out in Suffolk County. Ironically there’s also a significant proposal right down the road for the light house project. Which is also a 2 billion dollar project. To answer your question I would go back to what I was saying earlier. I think sometimes it easier to bring these proposals forward when you do them in phases. If you come in with a tremendous amount of density which includes very tall buildings that people in suburbia are not used to seeing you’ll get a lot of nymbiism.in their backyard. There very concerned about what the impacts will be. On the other hand I think it can be done. There are office towers just down the road here that were built just about 30 years ago. We actually have towers right here at Hofstra University. We have 14 story towers for our dormitory. So I think they can be done. I think you just have to build up support in the community. Not overwhelm people with a lot at once

It will never be the retail; hub that it once was. Going back to that time period both Jamaica and the village of Hempstead were retail centers but retailing’s completely changed since then we went through a phase where suburban malls were being built all over the place. Now retailing is changing again with the advent of the internet, and internet shopping…ya know they talk about bricks and mortar versuss retailing and internet retailing. Retailing has changed significantly from the time when Hempstead Village was the Hub. It will not be….It will not go back to what it once was. Its not to say its can’t be a very successful suburban center. I would be different I would include a component for housing, I would include retailing, It would include office space. It would include a mixed development, and I think those kinds of developments can be built successfully in suburbia and particularly when you have a transit hub that Hempstead village has.

That was a very controversial aspect of the project. And um that aspect of the project was something g in particular that the mayor was concerned about because not only do we have a lot of low income housing in this area but we also have a tremendous amount of property that is off the tax roll. There are lots of not for profits or churches in the village of Hempstead that are not generating real property taxes so his concern was I have to get rateables so called rateables on my property tax roll. I have to get properties that will get tax revenue for my village budget. And he feels and I think he makes a good point that the village of Hempstead has done more than its fair share. So that when groups come in and say that 50 percent of the housing your putting up should be affordable housing well say wait a minute we already have a high percentage, yes there can be affordable housing component. But I need housing and I need rateables that will be able to generate revenue. Lets look to surrounding communities that have little or no affordable housing and let them do there share as well and I think he makes a good point