Vacant commercial properties along Main Street in Port Washington on Monday.

Vacant commercial properties along Main Street in Port Washington on Monday. Credit: Jeff Bachner

Some Port Washington homeowners are concerned that proposed changes to the Town of North Hempstead’s zoning code — the subject of a public hearing Tuesday — could lead to increased development and the privatization of the peninsula’s waterfront along Main Street.

The hearing will be held by the town to consider changes to the code for its waterfront business district, which spans about 10 acres along Main Street from Sunset Park to Dolphin Green and includes the privately owned Inspiration Wharf.

The code, as it reads now, calls for mixed-use buildings consisting of “retail, office, hotel/boatel and/or restaurant space on the lowest floor and residential units on the upper floor.”

The new legislation would change permitted uses to “mixed-use building(s) or development,” remove some requirements and add "public or private marina" as a possible use.

The latter is a point of contention for Shahnaz Autz, president of the local Mitchell Farms Neighborhood Association.

“If you leave it open-ended, you have completely lost control,” Autz said in an interview. “This is what we’re asking. What is the benefit to the community that you considered before your changing this code?”

Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said in a statement that Inspiration Wharf was the impetus for the proposed change. “The restrictions on the waterfront business district have been the topic of debate for years and as a result, there’s been no real progress at Inspiration Wharf. The Town took steps in the right direction in 2020, but we need some minor revisions to make it workable.”

The code was last amended in October 2020 after a two-years-plus moratorium on development in the district. A steering committee consisting of residents and local business owners had helped devise the code alongside Councilmember Mariann Dalimonte, who represents Port Washington.

Autz, who was part of the steering committee, said she wasn’t made aware of the latest proposed changes until after the town board passed a resolution Jan. 8 setting the date for Tuesday’s public hearing. It is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Town Hall.

A petition signed by at least 650 people called for a delay to the public hearing, as well as a meeting between community leaders, DeSena and Nancy Shahverdi, the town’s commissioner of planning.

Autz echoed that request during public comment ahead of the Feb. 4 town board meeting.

"There's very little time for us to understand what this change really means for the Port Washington waterfront on the ground and in actual planning," Autz said during the meeting.

DeSena said that Dalimonte had responded to Autz's concerns over email.

"We will be able to give additional answers to your questions," DeSena said, in reference to Tuesday's public hearing.

"With all due respect, we asked the specific questions and we haven't really gotten the answers that would be clear to us," Autz said.

Dalimonte declined a request for comment.

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