Filed Under: Local | Long Island | Nassau

Roslyn Estate

220 Plandome Road
Manhasset, NY 11030
(516) 627-0590
www.northhempstead.com

The Town of North Hempstead is governed by a Supervisor (elected for two years) and six Town Board members who serve four year staggered terms.

Three volunteer citizen committees advise the Board on environmental matters: the Ecological Committee, the Environmental Legacy Fund Committee and the Waterfront Advisory Committee. The main issue addressed by the Ecological Committee has been the Hempstead Harbor clean up and the open space bordering the resource recovery plant, the Morewood Property.

Town of North Hempstead Issues

Solid Waste

North Hempstead trucks its garbage to a landfill in Pennsylvania under a 15-year contract agreement (signed in 1998). Trash moves through a state-of-the-art transfer station built in 1996. The Town has an active curbside recycling program and a STOP (Stop Throwing Out Pollutants) program four times a year for the safe removal of household hazardous waste.

Involved Agency: The North Hempstead Solid Waste Management Authority (Tel: 516-767-4608)

Toxic Waste

There are several hazardous waste sites in North Hempstead. As of 2003, the state DEC lists 12 waste sites in the Town that pose a “significant threat” to the public and therefore require action.

The hamlet of New Cassel, one of the most polluted sites in Nassau County, remains a top environmental priority. Thanks to a $200,000 grant from the federal EPA in 2000, the New Cassel’s Brownfields pilot program will address up to eight remediation sites in the area. The Town has also successfully closed and capped a superfund landfill site on the Port Washington Peninsula, the L-4 Landfill. This involved both groundwater remediation and gas remediation. The L-5 Landfill is two-thirds capped.

Involved Agencies: NYS DEC, EPA, County DOH, Town of North Hempstead

Open Space

Little open space remains in North Hempstead, although the town adopted a five-acre zoning restricting in the North Hills area (a special groundwater protection area) in response to the Long Island Regional Planning Board recommendation.

Chief among the Town’s open space accomplishments in recent years has been the 400-acre development of the Morewood Property, an abandoned sand mine, into the Harbor Links Golf Course. The project has earned much environmental recognition, including Audubon International Signature Status and the DEC Mined Land Reclamation Award.

In 2000 voters approved a $15 million Environmental Legacy Fund for the acquisition and improvement of open space. Around 60 projects have been nominated. In 2001 ELF funds were used to purchase a 4.5 acre waterfront property along Hempstead Harbor. It is now part of the Hempstead Harbor Nature Trail.

The Town manages 38 passive and active parks, two beaches, five pools, the Clark Botanical Gardens (which is pesticide-free) and the Harbor Links Golf Course.

Involved Agencies: Town Supervisor’s Office, Planning Department, Ecological Committee, Parks Department, Environmental Legacy Fund

Clark Botanical Gardens

Water Quality

The water supply is being polluted and diminished, both in the aquifers and during distribution. In 1987, New York State passed the Sole Source Aquifer Protection Act, which limits development in nine areas covering about one-quarter of Long Island. The North Hills and southeastern areas in the Town of North Hempstead are protected by this legislation.

Involved Agencies: Town Supervisor’s Office

Planning

Planning remains central to North Hempstead’s hopes for environmentally sensitive growth. In 1989 the Town implemented a Master Plan to ensure well-planned development. Written by the Town Planning Department after extensive public input, the Master Plan gives general goals and guidelines for development in North Hempstead. There is a Town Implementation Committee that advises and makes recommendations to the Town Board on zoning and planning issues. The aim of the committee is to look at specific areas of North Hempstead that need more specialized planning than is contained in the Master Plan. The Implementation Committee then produces a report for a plan which is specific to that area. Those reports are appended to the original Master Plan.

Involved Agencies: Planning Department, Ecological Planning and Development

Pesticides

In 1993, North Hempstead adopted an Integrated Pesticide Management Plan for all town lands. This program requires the town to find alternatives to pesticides where possible. The program was established in response to the potential link between contamination of groundwater and the high rates of breast cancer on Long Island. The Plan also limits turf fertilization on parkland to three times per year.

Involved Agencies: Parks Department

The Villages of North Hempstead

The incorporated villages within the Town of North Hempstead are: