LIA Strongly Supports Lighthouse Project--Crosson Addresses Town Board

Testimony of Matthew T. Crosson, President of the Long Island Association before the
Town Board of the Town of Hempstead, concerning the application of the
Lighthouse Development Group, LLC for a planned development district and a change of zone At the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum site and adjacent properties

Supervisor Murray, members of the Town Board, I thank you for the opportunity to briefly state the strong support of the Long Island Association for this Board’s acceptance of the Lighthouse Project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement as complete and the scheduling of a SEQRA hearing in connection with this application.

Long Island is the sum of its parts. The quality of life Long Islanders enjoy, the economic prosperity they rely upon, their very future, all depend upon the choices made locally about how each town and each village will grow. And one such choice, perhaps the most significant such choice to come before a town board in many years, is now before you.

Many Long Islanders instinctively oppose growth. They believe that growth equals inconvenience; more people, more taxes, more trouble. In fact, well-planned, intelligent growth means just the opposite. It broadens the tax base, it attracts more businesses, it creates high paying jobs. As many regions around the country already have experienced, visionary growth of the kind represented by this project has improved the quality of life not just for the people who live or work within the newly built community but also for the surrounding communities.

The Lighthouse Project comes at a critical time for Long Island. Our regional economy is staggering under the weight of the national recession. Unemployment is near historic highs. Job losses are approaching those we experienced during the recession of the early 1990s. And Long Island continues to lose younger people at a rate higher than any other place in New York for lack of housing options.

Because of Long Island’s current circumstances, the significance of the Lighthouse Project extends well beyond the boundaries of the project itself. The Lighthouse Project will provide construction jobs to an industry reeling from unemployment. It will provide thousands of permanent jobs of varied kinds. It will add desperately needed housing options that will help keep younger people here. And it will significantly improve and expand the tax base of Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead.

Perhaps even more important, however, the Lighthouse Project will show the nation and the world that Long Island is moving forward, Long Island is progressing, we are growing both with the times and into a brighter future. This Project will provide inspiration to younger people who may be feeling that they should live their lives somewhere else. It will provide hope to the many people who love this place but wonder if they can afford to keep living here. It will provide a reminder that Long Island remains a place of innovation and problem solving.

Now, I have spoken of the Lighthouse Project in broad terms but I recognize that this Board has to wrestle with the details of this Project and their effect on the people of this Town. My purpose is to place this Project in its larger context and to ask this Board to remember when it makes its decision that the Town of Hempstead’s action on the Lighthouse Project has implications for all 2.8 million people who call Long Island home and will in the years ahead. If there are issues within the Project’s design that require attention, deal with them head on, but do not allow this Project to be derailed or delayed. For Long Island’s future, a great deal is riding on the decision you make today.

The Long Island Association, the region’s largest business and civic organization, strongly supports the application of the Lighthouse Development Group and urges this Board in the most urgent terms to accept the Lighthouse Project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement as complete and move forward as rapidly as possible with the scheduling of a SEQRA hearing.