Park district to expand Steppingstone

BY BRANDON DUFFY

The Town of North Hempstead passed a resolution to appropriate $3.25 million for the Great Neck Park District to fnance the acquisition of land next to Steppingstone Park in Kings Point.

Included in the appropriation is an expenditure of $500,000 in district funds and the issuing a $2.75 million bond to cover the costs.

The property includes two parcels of land that total about seven-tenths of an acre located east of the district and adjacent to Steppingstone, a waterfront park on Long Island Sound. It was last expanded in 2000 to the east to include land previously belonging to the George M. Cohan estate.

District ofcials spoke to the North Hempstead Town Board during a July 11 meeting to get the bond approved since the district is a special improvement district that does not have the power to authorize or issue bonds on its own.

The bonds themselves will be town bonds but will be entirely payable by residents of the district.

There are currently no specifc development plans for the land right now aside from incorporating them into Steppingstone, Christopher Prior, counsel for the district, told the town board Tuesday.

One parcel of land is on the waterfront while the other contains two single-family homes on Hewlett Lane that will be demolished at a later date, Prior said.

Prior added that the annual cost for district residents would be approximately a $6 or $7 increase on their tax bill.

“I live in the park district and I think this is a wonderful thing when we can expand our green areas,” Council Member Veronica Lurvey said Tuesday night.