For some residents of Port Washington North, the 7.45 acres of green space abutting the village’s eastern border is many things: A provider of clean air. A home to wildlife.
A beautiful landscape. But to others, the village-owned land represents something completely different: An opportunity to develop housing. In April, the village's planning board recommended that the municipality's mayor and board of trustees approve the application of a private developer New Oasis Development LLC to turn the site into a senior living complex of 44 townhomes and a clubhouse.
The minimum age requirement would be 55, other than five homes that wouldn't be age-restricted on the first sale. The village agreed to sell the land to the developer, but the sale is awaiting approval of the developer's site plan from the mayor and village trustees, according to village clerk Palma Torrisi. She said the village would receive a total of $6.
54 million upon the completion of the sale and the purchase of each individual townhome. Some of the project's opponents reacted with litigation, suing Mayor Robert Weitzner, village trustees and planning board members in State Supreme Court in Nassau County. Records show the court received the complaint on May 31, a day after a public hearing on the site plan that became so contentious, trustees tabled their vote on the site plan.
The lawsuit, filed by 25 residents, says the village is violating their rights to “clean air and water, and a healthful environment,�.
