The Village of Mineola Friday will be recognized for creating its two business overlay districts on Jericho Turnpike and downtown.
Mineola is a 2023 honoree for the Long Island Smart Growth Awards, hosted by Vision Long Island, a nonprofit that advocates smart growth projects.
“It’s an honor to be recognized as a Smart Growth Award winner by Vision Long Island. Retail as we knew it from when I grew up in Mineola, unfortunately, is not coming back and we needed to think outside the box to create new ways to encourage smart development,” Mayor Paul Pereira told Blank Slate Media.
In December, the village board unanimously passed zoning changes for the strip of Jericho between Willis Avenue and Marcellus Road and downtown on Main Street, First Street and Second Street between Mineola Boulevard and Willis.
Developments in those areas, if approved, can now exceed the maximum height of 25 feet but not go above 40 feet within the districts, which places a cap on what the village’s master plan enacted in 2005 allowed
The board approved its first application under the new guidelines in May to redevelop the site of the former Piccola Bussola, which burned down in an August 2020 fire, into a four-story residential building.
Pereira first mentioned the possibility of having an overlay district during his first state of the village speech in September 2022 during a Mineola Chamber of Commerce meeting. He said at the time commercial development needed to be reimagined in light of retail businesses in the traditional sense no longer being able to thrive.
“By creating these new overlay districts we have given clear guidelines to property owners and developers on what will and will not be acceptable, allowing them to invest back into their properties and back into our Village,” Pereira said. “The board and I will continue to do the work to ensure we keep Mineola the best place to live on Long Island.”
Additional honorees for the Friday night event to be held at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury include the City of Glen Cove, the Town of Riverhead and the Town of Oyster Bay for increasing affordable housing and transit-oriented developments.
