LPOA Weighs in on Crocus Lane, North Village Green Projects

Construction projects on the grounds near Crocus Lane and the North Village Green have been weighing heavy on the minds of Levittown residents in recent months.

The Levittown Property Owners Association (LPOA) gathered Tuesday night after an adjourned Town of Hempstead hearing regarding the Crocus Lane property where owners want to build a 50-unit senior housing development.

The property is located on an empty parcel of land located alongside the Long Island Motor Parkway, which closed in 1938.

Resident Victoria Johnson addressed LPOA with information from the adjourned hearing. She said an attendee in favor of the Crocus Lane project spoke out on the record despite the adjournment, so she did the same to provide a different perspective.

"I went there prepared with a traffic study I had done in front of my house on Orchid Road," Johnson said. "I presented facts and figures, not emotions. There were 699 cars that passed in three hours, without development. Add another 200 cars plus visitors if the facility was here."

Ilene Lubin, another Orchid Road resident, has spent her free time hanging signs and going door-to-door around her neighborhood urging residents to fight the proposal at Crocus Lane.

"We have to do what we can to protect our property and the neighborhood," Lubin said. "A lot of people tell me they have to go to work when we have a hearing. I'd rather lose a day's pay then see my property value go down $20,000 or $30,000. If you had stock and you're stock was going to go down, you'd show up at that meeting. Our house is our most valuable property."

A proposal for an assisted living facility where the bowling alley once sat at the North Village Green has also raised concern of the LPOA and residents alike.

Hempstead Town Councilman Gary Hudes opened Tuesday's meeting by announcing an open forum regarding the Wolcott Lane property that will take place Wednesday, May 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Levittown Public Library. The property owners, along with Hudes and Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, will address the community.

"I would like everybody to come here that night," said LPOA Vice President Andy Booth. "We will ask direct questions to the person that owns the property. That's who should be talking to us, it shouldn't be the town."

LPOA approved a motion Tuesday to develop a committee dedicated to the North Village Green property, suggested by resident Maureen Carty.

"Instead of taking everyone's time at an LPOA meeting with the dirty details of this issue, that we form a committee with people who are interested in the subject," Carty explained. "The bowling alley is just one of many issues. I think if we had a committee focused on this issue, they could report very succinctly into this whole group."

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