Planning details unveiled as three-day visioning series concludes By Anna Gustafson ROCKY POINT -- It's a Sunday afternoon in Rocky Point, and you decide it's time to relax and venture downtown. Walking down Main Street, you look over the goods at the farmer's market by CVS. Turning onto Broadway, you meander past the locals sipping espresso at the corner cafe and the Italian market and eventually make your way to the town green, where you decide to catch a flick at the community cinema. Well, you can't do this -- yet. But residents, planning officials and politicians said the recently concluded visioning process kickstarted a downtown revitalization that will turn Rocky Point into a place of bustling streets and booming businesses. Civic leaders said that though it may take several years, they believe Rocky Point will become a destination downtown that will cater to everyone from seniors who want a quiet place to read to teenagers who want to hang out with friends. "We are seeing very exciting things," Councilman Kevin McCarrick said during Wednesday night's final visioning event. "I'm very hopeful we can now pick up this ball and run with it." Wednesday marked the end to the three-part visioning series held over the past week. Hundreds of residents flocked to the sessions, which included an all-day event on Saturday and Wednesday's final presentation by members of Huntington-based Vision Long Island -- the organization with which the town signed a $50,000 to conduct the visioning -- and ADL III Architecture of Northport. Before delving into planning details for Rocky Point's downtown, executive director of Vision Long Island Eric Alexander praised Rocky Point residents for their participation in the visioning and said locals' efforts resulted in "the most positive energy we've ever gotten from a community." Pulling together the ideas voiced by residents during the sessions last Wednesday and Saturday, Mr. Alexander and Alex Latham, owner of ADL III Architecture, presented on Wednesday a downtown plan they felt best reflected the community's needs and wants. Additionally, officials from both companies drew on inspiration from Seth Harry, a retail expert who attended Saturday's session. Mr. Harry has helped with the revitalization of downtowns from Australia to Maryland. "We've created two downtown centers, one by Main Street and Broadway and one centered around McCarrick's," Mr. Latham said, explaining that those two areas are Rocky Point's hubs of activity and could best support restaurants, bookstores and other commercial venues. The area surrounding Main Street, otherwise known as Route 25A, and Broadway could include a town green, which would boast a library, a bed and breakfast, possibly a small cinema and outdoor cafes. Mr. Latham and Mr. Alexander suggested Gracie's relocate to the green area and dubbed it "Gracie's on the green." Broadway could also include mixed-use buildings with ground floor shops, such as a bookstore or restaurant, and upper-story residential condominiums. "There could be a farmer's market on Sundays in a parking lot on Main Street," Mr. Alexander said. "And there could be a flower kiosk and newsstand outside the CVS." While some residents doubted such extensive changes to the downtown were feasible, others embraced the ideas and called for everyone to rally around making the plans a reality. "Property tax relief will come from a more vibrant downtown," said resident Richard Johannesen. "We could get a housing stock that would allow us to keep our young people here." Residents agreed they want to see change. During a tour of the downtown area on Saturday, residents expressed their dismay with vacant stores dotting the area. The downtown is growing a little -- there's the new CVS -- but not as many businesses are coming into the area as locals would like. Many Rocky Pointers said they'd like to see a Trader Joe's come to the area. Like much of Long Island, Rocky Point's lack of affordable housing drives the elderly away and fails to attract the younger residents. The current zoning is restrictive and doesn't allow for residential and commercial to exist in the same building, which Mr. McCarrick has said would pave the way for more affordable housing units that could house empty-nesters and younger residents. The councilman threw his support behind the proposed plans and said he especially "liked the ideas for around our place." Mr. Latham and Mr. Alexander proposed expanding McCarrick's and making the area a hub of offices, convenience stores and markets. Now that the visioning process has wrapped up, Vision Long Island employees will submit their final report to the town planning department before December. Moving from the planning phase to seeing results will take time; Mr. Alexander said it could take up to five years to see major change. Rocky Point Civic Association President Diane Burke said she plans to keep the momentum she saw during the visioning process rolling and will go to the town's community development department to ask for funds for the revitalization. "We could get money to help with the parking strips, the sidewalks, the lighting," she said. Though Ms. Burke reiterated the revitalization will take time, she said the interest sparked by the visioning process won't die down, and she knows Rocky Pointers will continue to rally for the best downtown possible. "I'm so glad to see new faces and new energy; we're all excited about this," she said.
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