Vision Long Island unveils 'Planned Locally' badge to tout developers who seek community input

A Long Island planning organization has created a badge that will mark development projects as “planned locally” to recognize developers who seek out community input early in the process.

Vision Long Island, a Northport-based downtown planning organization, will offer the badge to projects that work with civic organizations, chambers of commerce and municipal governments before they seek regulatory approval.

Eric Alexander, executive director of Vision Long Island, said the badge would be given to developers who work with local governments “in a collaborative manner, not in a top-down steamroller manner where you’re sending in a team of lawyers ready for the lawsuit.”

Vision Long Island announced the initiative earlier this month at its Smart Growth Awards at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, where it celebrated development projects that are enhancing downtown areas, including through housing and infrastructure projects.

The nonprofit won't charge for the stamps and plans to ask other stakeholders for their opinions of projects before giving them out, Alexander said. 

He said he hopes the badge will help build trust in communities as they consider new development.

Its debut follows a contentious budget debate this year in which Gov. Kathy Hochul failed to win support for her plan to build 800,000 housing units statewide in the next 10 years. The plan included housing targets for municipalities and, if they failed to achieve those goals, developers would have been able to appeal local zoning decisions to a state board to get their projects approved.

Long Island lawmakers criticized the budget proposal because it shifted power away from local governments in making decisions about their communities.  

Supporters of Hochul’s plan noted that the state’s override would only come into play if municipalities didn’t approve enough new housing.

Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin, a staunch opponent of Hochul’s plan, voiced support for the “planned locally” initiative at the awards ceremony earlier this month.

“We can solve the crisis facing our region, but we should do it locally,” he said.

Steven Dubb, principal at The Beechwood Organization in Jericho, said the stamp could be a useful tool but there will still be certain opponents of development who will be unmoved by it.

“On Long Island you get very strong NIMBYism, so that may not be enough to overcome people’s concerns, but it might help, and I don’t see it hurting,” Dubb said Wednesday.

Beechwood has built houses, townhomes, condos and apartments all over Long Island, including those under the Country Pointe brand. It tries to connect with community, business and religious groups to get their input before asking for zoning changes, Dubb said. While it was seeking support for its County Pointe Plainview community, which includes 750 condos and retail, the developer set up a table outside a local ShopRite to answer questions.    

“There’s a long list of projects that have not happened because developers have not gone through the process that way and have instead said, ‘This is my plan, and I’m going to sell you on it at the public hearing,’” Dubb said. “ … Long Island is not a place that works well."

Among the honorees at Vision Long Island’s Smart Growth Awards were Georgica Green and the City of Glen Cove for 55 affordable apartments at 100 and 200 Dickson St.; the Town of Hempstead and Park Grove Development for the planned Baldwin Commons, which will add 33 affordable apartments; Concern Housing’s proposal for 60 units of affordable housing for veterans in Southampton; Steel Equities and the Town of Islip for The Belmont at Eastview and its 364 units across 13 buildings on the former site of the Central Islip Psychiatric Center; and Alpine Residential’s plan for 99 Newbridge, which would add 189 units in Hicksville.

Riverhead and Mineola also received awards for their planning policies and Westhampton Beach was recognized for creating walkability.

By Jonathan LaMantia

jonathan.lamantia@newsday.com@jonlamantia

Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.