Update on Belmont Park
As discussed at several prior Village Board meetings, we had invited the Islanders and the Empire State Development Corporation to come to Floral Park for a tour of the Village. Our goal for such a meeting was to give the Islanders organization and the Empire State Development Corporation a better understanding of Floral Park, our community, our proximity to Belmont Park and our concerns about development at Belmont.
On February 7th Deputy Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald, Village Administrator Gerry Bambrick, Police Commissioner Stephen McAllister and Fire Chief Michael Longobardi and I met with representatives of the Islanders organization, including team owner John Ledecky, and with Empire State Development representatives, including Holly Leicht, the ESD’s Executive Vice President for Real Estate Dev. & Public/Private Partnership. At the meeting, we discussed the Village’s concerns about development at Belmont. We also gave them an approximately hour long guided tour of the Village so that they could not only see our areas of concern (e.g., proximity to sensitive surrounding uses (schools, residences, etc.), local business districts, existing infrastructure or lack thereof) but, even more importantly, also observe first-hand the unique character of our Floral Park community that we are seeking to protect.
In sum, I believe it was a very productive meeting and I want to thank Mr. Ledecky and Ms. Leicht and other representatives from the Islanders organization and from Empire State Development for taking the time to attend and engage in this dialogue. I also believe we made it clear that with respect to any development that may occur at Belmont, the Village will carefully scrutinize any proposals from the perspective of protecting the quality of life that our residents currently enjoy. Mr. Ledecky was very receptive to the Village’s concerns and expressed his belief that addressing the Village’s concerns was not only important to the approval process but was also essential to the long term success of the Islanders making Belmont Park their home.
On a related note, I want to inform our residents that shortly after our meeting with the Islanders and Empire State Development on February 7th, I attended the first meeting of the Community Advisory Committee that has been established by the State.
Finally, it is our understanding that the State Environmental Review process will be starting in the coming weeks. I ask all residents to become informed about this project and how it may impact Floral Park. I can suggest that a good place to start is with a review of the Village’s December 8th and December 11th correspondence concerning the proposed development at Belmont Park, which is available at the Village’s website: https: http://fpvillage.org/2017/12/27/empire-state-development-board-meeting-regarding-belmont-park/
Mayor
Inc. Village of Floral Park