Town Adjourns Public Hearing on Wang Property

The Oyster Bay Town Board voted Tuesday to formally adjourn a public meeting on a plan to develop property in Plainview owned by Charles Wang.

A public hearing on the application of Plainview Properties LLC and Beechwood POB LLC was set to be held in Plainview late last month but was postponed indefinitely.

"The public hearing was adjourned because there was concern among a significant part of the community that they didn't have time to prepare," Town Supervisor John Venditto said at Tuesday's board meeting. "The one thing I don't want to hear when I'm sitting here is, "I didn't have a full and fair opportunity.'"

Officials would not give a timetable for rescheduling the meeting, which had been set for the Mattlin Middle School to accommodate an expected large turnout.

"When we do have the hearing, I suspect it will be quite lively," Venditto said. "It seems to be a community divided in many different ways."

Although several people signed up to speak about the matter at Tuesday's town board meeting in Oyster Bay, Venditto discouraged any in-depth discussions until the hearing is actually held.

Jon Greenfield, owner of a Plainview supermarket, had intended to speak about his plans should the application be accepted, but decided not to when Venditto encouraged him to wait for the hearing.

One person who did speak was Matthew Sack of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Soccer Club, which uses a field on the Wang site.

Sack said the club supports the development and complained about fliers being passed out at soccer games by the group Concerned Citizens of Plainview-Old Bethpage Community, which opposes the plan.

"They don't speak for the soccer club," Sack said. "We have met with the town and we have met with Beechwood several times. We have made great progress. The town's been more than supportive. Beechwood's been outstanding."

The latest plan requires zoning changes that would allow the developers to build multifamily residences for families and seniors as well as certain business uses. The plan calls for 890 housing units and 114,330 square-feet of commercial space.

Town officials said about 44 acres of land would be dedicated to the Town of Oyster Bay for park and recreation use.