Sustainable Long Island
January 2015
Sustainable Long Island Newsletter
The one-stop-shop...
For all Sustainable Long Island news! 
In This Issue
Sustainable Long Island to Launch Rainwater Capture and Storm Water Management Program
Calling All Long Beach Small Businesses
Town of Islip's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program
What is a Livable Community, Anyway?
Transit Oriented Development Increases Value and Affordability
Cameron Engineering & Associates, LLP
Board of Directors

Charlotte Biblow, Esq: President
Farrell Fritz, P.C.
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Lauren Furst: Executive Vice President

Pathways to Wealth, LLC 

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Robert Bernard: Treasurer 

Capital One Bank

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Lennard Axinn: Secretary 

Island Estates

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Russ Albanese

Albanese Organization Inc.
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Jeff Arestivo
Citibank 

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Dr. Miriam K. Deitsch

Farmingdale State College,
State University of New York

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Jeff Kraut

North Shore - LIJ Health System

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Kevin McDonald

The Nature Conservancy
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Ruth Negr
�n-Gaines
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Lidija Nikolic
Bank of America

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John O'Connell

PSEG Long Island

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Mitchell H. Pally

Long Island Builders Institute

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Charles Rich

CA Rich Consultants, Inc.

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Ron Shiffman

Pratt Institute

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Sustainable Long Island to Launch Rainwater Capture and Storm Water Management Program   
Funded by the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute's Community Grants Program

Sustainable Long Island has been awarded $15,000 from the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute's (NYSP2I) Community Grants Program to launch a new initiative entitled "Reduce Rain Runoff." This rainwater capture and storm water management program will implement conservation practices within Long Beach and East Islip and emphasize the importance of more wisely and carefully using Long Island's natural resource of water.

 

"The 'Reduce Rain Runoff' initiative will have tangible, positive effects on the environment by reducing flooding from storm water runoff, increasing the areas that allow for water recharge above a sole source aquifer, and reducing carbon emissions through the planting of new rain gardens, trees, and bioswales," said Amy Engel, Executive Director of Sustainable Long Island.

 

Sustainable Long Island will design, install, and implement rainwater capture and storm water runoff infrastructure projects in prominent public areas within Long Beach and East Islip, accompanied by signage to explain its significance and importance. These projects may include some of the following green infrastructure:

  • Rain gardens (15 gallons per sq. ft.)
  • Flow-through planters (30 gallons per planter)
  • Rain barrels (52 gallons)
  • Bioswales (15 gallons per sq. ft.)
  • Infiltration planters (15 gallons per sq. ft.).

Sustainable Long Island will also work closely with the Long Beach City Council and East Islip School Board to encourage their community and schools to participate in raising awareness, and promoting implementation of rain water capture devices and plantings.

 

As an educational component, Sustainable Long Island will develop two separate brochures (residential and commercial) to promote the initiative and include practical, easily implementable techniques to reduce rain runoff at home or in the workplace in order to prevent pollution and flooding, enhance water quality, and protect and improve the local environment.

 

"This grant moves us forward with the City's overall goal of becoming a model of resiliency and sustainability," said Long Beach City Council President Anthony Eramo. "We sincerely appreciate Sustainable Long Island's efforts to secure funding to move our goals forward."

 

"Supporting this grant would advance the work we did with students from the NYU Capstone Project - producing the Green Toolkit and recommendations from the EPA funded Global Green report," commented Long Beach Director of Economic Development Patti Bourne. "The NYU Green Toolkit was developed with Sustainable Long Island, and they have been very supportive of our resiliency efforts."

Calling All Long Beach Small Businesses 
$500 small business recovery grant still available

 

Long Beach businesses still have time to take advantage of an exciting opportunity and apply for a grant that includes a marketing assessment and $500 to be used toward marketing initiatives.

 

Marketing assessments will include personal meetings/conference calls with a communications expert from Sustainable Long Island staff. The assessment and $500 grant will help grant recipients build and/or enhance their websites, social media accounts, and/or additional marketing projects to aid business in the offseason.

 

The $500 Marketing Grant can be used toward:

  • Website Development services
  • Search Engine Optimization services
  • Social Media Optimization services
  • Sign/Flyer/Banner creations and printing
  • Print and Online Advertisements
  • Coupons, promotional discounts, and event sponsorships

All small businesses in Long Beach are eligible for the grant:

  • Businesses in the East End and Canals neighborhoods will receive special consideration (Census Tracts 4167.02 and  4168.01)
  • Minority and Women Owned Businesses and those negatively impacted by Superstorm Sandy will also receive special consideration
 
Town of Islip's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program 
A vision for the future of the waterfront
LWRP STUDY AREA
CLICK TO ENLARGE

The Town of Islip was awarded a grant through New York State Department of State to complete a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) for the hamlets of Bayport, Sayville, and West Sayville. An LWRP identifies opportunities and constraints for revitalization.

 

Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, LLC (NP&V), and Sustainable Long Island were chosen by the Town of Islip through a competitive RFP process. Working with NP&V, Sustainable Long Island will assist the Town by completing a comprehensive analysis evaluating issues currently impacting these hamlets and other potential scenarios that may affect the waterfront and/or water quality.

 

Over the course of the next year, NP&V and Sustainable Long Island will host three public engagement meetings to glean feedback from local stakeholders about their vision for a thriving coastal community.

 

The LWRP study area includes commercial and public waterfront properties in Sayville, and West Sayville located south of Montauk Highway and south of Middle Road in Bayport.


The Town of Islip's LWRP will be developed with substantial community input and will result in a document which reflects the community's vision and the Town of Islip's priorities for land and water use in the LWRP area.

 

Upon completion, the Town will have the option to adopt the formalized plan into municipal code. Established guidelines for zoning and usage will make expanding existing and/or building new waterfront businesses easier, while preserving the waterfront and water quality in accordance with the Town's goals.

 

The LWRP will utilize the findings and recommendations of previous planning documents and will arrive at a series of coastal policies and actions for implementation, which will allow the Town of Islip to achieve its vision for the coastal area.

 

Islip Town residents are encouraged to get involved, and contact the LWRP team to provide input. Please send all emails to [email protected]  with the subject line "Islip LWRP" to receive updates about the project and to hear about upcoming public meetings and workshops.

 
What is a Livable Community, Anyway? 
Are walkable communities more livable?

(via BetterCities.net) - A walkable community is the most common term to describe the alternative to drive-only suburbia. Walkability is easy to explain but uninspiring. Walking is so basic to human life that we often take it for granted. Perhaps a better term is livability.

 

Former US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood defined livability as "a community where you can take kids to school, go to work, see a doctor, go to the grocery store, have dinner and a movie, and play with your kids in a park, all without having to get into a car."

 

A walkable community is a livable community, says the plainspoken LaHood, a Republican who worked in the Obama administration. Walkability is implied-but access, connection, diversity of experience, and closeness are also qualities of a livable place, LaHood suggests.

 

The concept is a profound one for a transportation secretary: Life changes depending on whether a community is built around walking or driving.

 

A livable community, and how it differs from a place designed around driving, means the following:  

 

Livable communities are real communities.

 

In this modern era, generations after policymakers abandoned walking as transportation, the idea of livable communities may be less real to many people than Santa Claus. Yet as long as love, courage, and excellence are real, so are livable communities.

 

Read more here... 

 

Transit Oriented Development Increases Value and Affordability  
TOD Index provides new benchmark to track both home and rental values in train station areas 

(via Planetizen) - A new report from the TOD Index reveals three important findings for the national real estate industry and housing market:

  1. The financial performance of for-sale and rental housing in thousands of neighborhoods near rail stations across the United States significantly out-performs the national housing market. Among all station typologies, Transit Oriented Developments (TODs) are the leading performer.
  2. Despite the impressive financial performance of TODs, households that live in TODs spend the lowest percentage of their income on housing and transportation costs, providing $10,000 in additional annual disposable income, on average, compared to the average American household.
  3. Households in TODs demonstrate the lowest vehicle ownership rates and highest rates of transit, walk, bike commuting, which has important implications for environmental sustainability.

The fact of the matter is, individuals transport themselves around in large, mostly empty vehicles of their own is extremely inefficient. This comes with large financial costs for the individuals, and also large environmental costs that we jointly pay as a society, through things such as much higher medical bills, more suffering, and premature death.

 

Cars are certainly useful in some instances, but they should be used for all cases and needs. However, many communities have been developed in such a way that other options are poor and even practically illogical. Given more options in better-developed communities, people use more logical and enjoyable modes of transport.

 

"TODs are performing so well in the market because they provide households with options. These options include travel choices, choices of where to eat and shop, and the option to live a lifestyle with lower impacts to the natural environment," Dr. John L. Renne, the creator of the TOD Index, stated.

 

The report finds that TODs residents spend only 24% of their income on housing, compared with the 33% national average, and only spend 13% of their income on transportation compared with the 18% national average. Other key findings from the TOD Index include:

  • The average home value in a TOD was $518 per sq. ft. compared to the Zillow Home Value Index of $149 per sq. ft. for the average home in the United States.

  • Rental rates in TODs was $2.28 per sq. ft. compared to the Zillow Rent Index value of $0.89 per sq. ft. for the average rental in the U.S.

  • Since the start of the economic recovery, in January 2012, TOD home values grew by 37% as compared to a 20% growth for the average American home.

  • Since January 2012, rental rates grew by 18% in TODs compared to 8% growth nationally."

For more, see the full TOD Index.

 

Cameron Engineering & Associates, LLP
January 2015 E-newsletter Sponsor 
Cameron Engineering provides multi-disciplined consulting engineering and planning services in a professional, timely and courteous manner to our municipal and private clients.  
Together we can build a more
sustainable Long Island

 

These challenging economic times have magnified the problems we Long Islanders face each and every day. With our leaders warning us of tougher times to come, thinking regionally and acting locally is urgent. It is in all of our best interests to stay engaged and do what we can together to build a more sustainable Long Island.

 

Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to Sustainable Long Island that will help support our ongoing and future work within your Long Island communities; while helping advance economic development, environmental health, and social equity!

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Sincerely,

The Board and Staff of Sustainable Long Island