Rocky Point to come together at 'charette' to decide parcel's fate By AMBROSE CLANCY ROCKY POINT--Democracy will be in action in the hamlet June 3-7 without one ballot being cast. The community will have an opportunity on those dates to take part in deciding the fate of the 33-acre parcel behind McDonald's on Route 25A. Known as the Fairfield property, the parcel has been a flashpoint of contention for at least three years between the Civic Association and the owners. At the May 11 meeting of the Rocky Point Civic Association it was announced that on those June dates a "charette" will be held at the Joseph Edgar School. A charette is a process in which all parties interested in a piece of property gather for intensive meetings. The word comes from an old architectural usage, and is essentially a design project where plans are drawn up as the meeting progresses. Everyone is involved. Landowners, business people, environmentalists, and residents meet to decide what their community should look like. The parcel is zoned for single-family homes on half-acre lots, which would mean about 60 houses, something the Civic Association in the past has opposed. Richard Johanessen, chairman of the Civic Association's land use committee, said Tuesday that the history of the property has been tragic. "A former owner pillaged and raped the land by sand mining, and it became a real sore point with the community," Mr. Johanessen said. When the owner had finished sand mining he proposed a zone change to construct multi-family housing, which the Civic Association opposed. "Fairfield bought the parcel and they proposed a planned retirement community, which ran into another outpouring of opposition," Mr. Johanessen noted. But Fairfield was finally prepared to listen. Recently, Gary Broxmeyer, a Fairfield partner, admitted that "originally we got off on the wrong foot with the Civic Association. But since then we've worked hard to come up with a plan that's acceptable to everyone." Vision Long Island will organize the charette, Eric Alexander, executive director of VLI, said Tuesday. Mr. Alexander's group is a nonprofit organization that works with communities to implement "smart growth" techniques in development. "We'd prefer to call it a visioning process," Mr. Alexander said, noting it was less confusing than the French word. He said every option would be on the table. "We anticipate everything from single-family homes to community uses such as a teen or community center," Mr. Alexander said. "We have to come up with a consensus plan for the property." Focus groups of the Civic Association giving a concise history of the property and members of the school board weighing in on tax implications will be part of the charette, Mr. Alexander said. Friday June 3 a "power point presentation" with residents' feedback is scheduled. Saturday the process will kick off with a walking tour of the site, followed by technical briefings, design workshops and group presentations. "By Tuesday night we hope to have an acceptable plan at our final presentation," Mr. Alexander said. A planned retirement community might be in the cards for the property, Mr. Johanessen said. "I've noticed a sea change in the community," he added. Personally he's changed his mind about a PRC, originally opposing the idea because of a feeling that neighborhoods should be integrated by all ages of people. "But we've lost so many of our seniors the past few years to other communities," he said. Longtime Rocky Point resident Peter Maddalena seemed to agree. "The charette is a good thing because one way or another the land will be developed and we should build something serviceable," Mr. Maddalena said Wednesday. An assisted living facility along with a PRC would be acceptable, he added. "We just don't want something that looks monstrous there."
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