With Hempstead Village Mayor Wayne Hall pulling UrbanAmerica’s plan for the village off of the table, there’s one question … what’s next for the blighted area?
The development centered around market-rate condominiums and retail space, but opponents wanted more affordable housing out of the deal.
The Long Island chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now seems pleased the plan was nixed, and they issued the following statement today.
Read it and ask yourself this, how will Hempstead secure the amount of affordable housing it wants? Who will build it, and how will the village pay for it?
The statement:
Members of Long Island ACORN applauded Hempstead Village Mayor Wayne Hall and the Hempstead Village Board of Trustees today for their decision not to move forward with UrbanAmerica LP’ proposal to redevelop Main Street. Today ACORN leaders proposed principles that should guide future development on the site and encouraged Mayor Hall and Trustees to begin an inclusive process to forge a new development plan for the area.
“We have never said don’t build in Hempstead. There’s nothing wrong with housing and good retail, but we need to do it right. We need to make sure that any large scale redevelopment plan for Hempstead has housing for working families and jobs that pay a living wage,” said Joseph Gill, co-chair of East Hempstead ACORN and Hempstead Village resident.
Throughout the summer hundreds of ACORN members from Hempstead village turned out at hearings to call on Hempstead Village and the principals of UrbanAmerica LP to modify their plan to include 50% affordable housing, living wage building service and retail jobs and a relocation assistance plan for impacted small businesses, residents and workers.
UrbanAmerica LP had proposed a $2 billion development on 26 acres in the center of Hempstead Village to build 2,500 market rate condominiums and develop 600,000 square feet of retail shops and a performing arts center.
“Hempstead Village doesn’t need 2500 luxury condos. We need diverse neighborhoods open to low and moderate income people. And Hempstead doesn’t need dead end service jobs, we need retail tenants and building service jobs that provide a living wage and quality healthcare that working families can afford,” aid Diane Goins, ACORN member and Hempstead Village resident.
Today Hempstead ACORN members called on Mayor Wayne Hall and the Board of Trustees to go back to the drawing board and come back with a redevelopment plan that sets aside at least 50% of new housing for low, moderate and middle income Hempstead residents. ACORN also called on Hempstead to insist that any developer negotiate a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement with ACORN and residents covering jobs and wages at any proposed retail, commercial or performance space.
“We did not set out to oppose development in Hempstead Village. We are not against growth. We are for development that works for working families in Hempstead and look forward to working with the Mayor and Trustees to make that a reality,” said Goins.
Typical NIMBYism, liberal nonsense. Hempstead IS affordable housing, I mean please. Let’s be honest, this ACORN is a disaster, and someone needs to stand up to them. They kill all proposals that come by their desk. It’s a joke that this Mayor was so gung-ho about this project (which he should be) and all of a sudden kills it…why, b/c it will actually create a nice area in Hempstead. Disgraceful.
Hempstead’s plight is another example of why village and town zoning does not work. Villages and towns are too politically influenced by small majority factions like ACORN and civic assoications to produce a well functioning real estate market.
If Nassau County was the jurisdiction with zoning authority, as is the case within most states, these small political factions would have less influence and this property would already be under development.
Village and town zoning, by its very nature, results in socialism and destroys both individual property rights and any free real estate market…most important, village and town zoning does not WORK…anywhere!
Citizens foolishly believe that they can will or vote for the development that they want or that what they want is the right development. Can citizens vote to produce low cost energy or vote to produce low cost, fuel efficient cars? Of course not. Any good or service must be produced by free enterprise.
Sometimes the result is ugly or ill-conceived but then the market causes the project to fail and it becomes something else that is successful.
The important point is that the ugly or ill-conceived development that results from a free real estate market is far better than the status quo and economic malaise that results from a Government controlled real estate market market.
Private property in The Town of Hempstead is treated with contempt and controlled by majority rule not the rule of law or a real estate market and, thus, the market cannot function.
The result has been and will continue to be economic malaise and the blame will fall on “greedy” developers.
Socialism doesn’t work…communism doesn’t work…free markets work.
The tragedy for Hempstead and all Long Island is that the past and present citizens that have perpetuated this embrace for communal control over private property will not be here to suffer the consequences for their unintended harmful actions. The future inhabitants of Long Island will reap the mess that Mayor Hall and his constituency have sowed.
Liberty and free markets work…Long Island and Hempstead are perfect examples!
Well said.
Very well said. All the same, the people that really mystify me are the ones who complain endlessly yet never vote. I guess its just too consuming to get involved when you are a working professional. So, all these morons who think money grows on trees continue to run this place into the ground with their pie in the sky attitude.
[...] 12th, 2007 by Henry E. Powderly II Remember ACORN, the civic organization that fought hard to stop UrbanAmerica from redeveloping a major chunk of Hempstead because the plans did not include enough affordable housing? Well, Hempstead ACORN members scored [...]
Jeremy,
Voting is not part of the solution…in a freer real estate market, pricing is the mechanism that controls “what goes where.”
In a sense, land use decisions are “voted” by whoever pays the highest price for a particular piece of property.
The highest and best use of property will be determined by the competition among all the purchasers for a particular piece of property.
We have to change the system away from a politically charged village and town zoning system toward a more politically diffused county and city zoning system. Additionally, we must provide for a higher respect for private property rights.