Community Life Makes A Comeback
The demand for livable towns and cities has taken on an immediacy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a year of “going nowhere,” the importance of vibrant neighborhoods, local amenities and space to connect with one another is squarely in the public’s consciousness.
With one in four employed Americans planning to work remotely post-Covid and a growing population of retirees, it’s no longer enough to be a commuter town offering easy access to the nearest megacity. Towns and smaller cities need to close the connectivity gap, with walkable downtown commercial areas, outdoor restaurants, shops and scenic streetscapes, parks and playing fields, hiking trails, gardens, bike paths, safe roads for pedestrians and cyclists, and recreational activities for all ages.
Enhancing building-to-people, people-to-people relationships
Improving communities is an essential part of our work at Nelson + Pope and NPV, from all-encompassing planning and zoning recommendations to innovative transportation solutions, to the design and engineering of facilities and public amenities.
For the Hicksville Downtown Revitalization Plan, NPV assisted the Town of Oyster Bay in developing a planning and zoning framework to revitalize the Hicksville Central Business District. The objective: to redevelop a ‘commuter’ oriented area into a dynamic downtown with a mix of uses—where people live, work, shop and spend leisure time—that benefits from proximity to transit. Creating a new form-based code (adopted by the Town Board in March 2021) that considered the relationship of structures to their environment, NPV established design and graphic standards to guide more pedestrian-friendly development, achieve quality architecture and enhancements, and promote active ground floor uses and inviting storefronts with new opportunities for outdoor spaces. While often taken for granted by the public, sidewalks play an important role in promoting walking and activating street life, both socially and economically.
“By changing the relationship and scale of the buildings and activating the sidewalk environment, we create a more dynamic downtown environment that focuses on the people, rather than on cars,” says NPV partner Kathy Eiseman, AICP.
Our vision is the creation of a vibrant downtown that returns to its “main street” character while improving opportunities for local business owners and incorporating new housing markets to create a model community—with an emphasis on walkability, open space, places to congregate and engaging commuters to view Hicksville as a destination—not merely a transit hub.
Hicksville Local Planning Committee,
Hicksville Downtown Revitalization Initiative – Strategic Investment Plan
Roundabouts and Rec Centers
Transportation projects create connectivity within the community and with neighboring towns, and modern roundabouts are particularly beneficial. “A proven safety counter-measure” according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, roundabouts slow traffic down with features that deflect traffic around the central island, wide entry lanes, and raised or painted areas to separate entering and exiting traffic. Case in point: the redesigned Riverside Roundabout for the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, a 1930s era, five-legged traffic circle that had capacity, operational and safety deficiencies. Nelson + Pope designed a new two-lane modern roundabout with improvements to accommodate bicyclists, pedestrians and vehicular traffic, including landscaping, LED streetlighting, signage and pavement markings. Coined by some in the local community as the “egg-about” due to its oval shape, the new roundabout safely and efficiently links the downtown areas of Southampton, Riverhead, Flanders, Riverside and Northampton, encouraging greater circulation and interaction among residents.
The availability and condition of recreation amenities also significantly impacts community vitality. The major rehabilitation of the pool and the addition of a skate park and spray pool at Roberto Clemente Park in Islip, and the construction of the Michael J. Tully Dog Park in New Hyde Park, provide much needed venues and opportunities for quality time with family and friends. Our professionals were involved in all aspects of the projects, from topographic surveying and mapping, permitting and design to construction plans, support services and inspections.
Go Local: Native Plantings Improve Life
Nature knows best. That’s certainly true when it comes to native flora, which does a much better job of preserving and enriching our habitats than do non-native plantings. Native plants develop long roots, creating vertical pathways that dramatically boost the absorption of deep water into the soil. Rain gardens, created by digging a shallow bowl in the terrain and filling it with indigenous plant species, are an innovative solution to managing stormwater runoff and reducing pollution conveyed in stormwater. A rain garden’s deep rooted plants help create healthy soils that will both reduce the volume of water rushing through catch basins to surface waters and filter out toxins and pathogens contained in stormwater. When mature, rain gardens can decrease stormwater runoff volume by up to 90%, explains NPV Landscape Ecologist Rusty Schmidt.
Native plantings also sustain indigenous fauna. At Manorhaven Preserve, demonstration gardens utilizing native plant species and tree groves have replaced invasive species, and the benefits are clear. “Native oak trees, for example, are the host plant for over 500 species of caterpillar and other insects, whereas the invasive species were host to none,” says Schmidt. “Most insects require a host plant at some point in their lifecycle to mature. Without the insects, 96% of our terrestrial birds can’t sustain their populations.”
The communal effort involved NPV’s team working alongside local volunteers and master gardeners to plan, install and maintain the native plantings at the Manorhaven Preserve. Educational signage at strategic locations within the Preserve is generating public awareness of indigenous plant species’ impact on area ecology.
Town of Babylon Municipal Building at North Amityville Nelson + Pope’s proposed design for a new 11,000 sq. ft. municipal courthouse building, located at the nexus of a prominent intersection in the Town of Babylon, accentuates its two street frontages by creating a modern architectural massing with metal panels and glass curtain wall. Read More |
Village of East Hampton Sewer Feasibility Study Realization of a vibrant, year-round mixed use residential, commercial and institutional area requires installation of a wastewater treatment system to improve water quality and allow for growth and expansion of uses. Under the Village’s Commercial District Revitalization Plan, a sewer feasibility study, housing options assessment and parking utilization study were performed. Read More |
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New Rochelle Downtown Overlay District NPV worked with the City of New Rochelle and its Master Developer in preparing a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) to evaluate the adoption of a Downtown Overlay Zone (DOZ). The 279-acre area encourages the development of an active, mixed-use district centered around the train station. Since adoption of the DOZ in 2015, the City has retained NPV to assist with the establishment of an additional overlay district, which will extend to the City’s waterfront to create a more productive and sustainable mix of land uses along the Echo Bay/Snuff Mill Creek/Long Island Sound. Read More |
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Widening of NYS 347 The largest Right-of-Way (ROW) survey mapping contract ever awarded by NYSDOT, the project comprises widening of approximately 15 miles along NYS 347 from Northern State Parkway to NYS 25A in Port Jefferson. Surveying a project of this magnitude presents challenges when trying to recover boundary corners that were set more than 65 years ago when only woodlands existed—well before suburbia migrated to the area. By accessing Nelson + Pope’s historical survey records dating back to the 1800s, the survey department is tackling this challenge, providing for an efficient flow of data from past to present. Read More |
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Nelson + Pope’s Michael Sciara, RA, LEED AP for Architecture
Michael is the managing partner of Nelson + Pope’s architecture division since 2018, overseeing a team of talented architects and designers, and working hand-in-hand with the engineers and planners. He is passionate about “creating spaces that people will find useful, functional and aesthetically pleasing.” For more than 20 years, Michael has designed successful large-scale projects in Heath Care, Commercial, Retail, Mixed-use Residential, Educational and Hospitality sectors, bringing his expertise and laser focus from schematics through construction close out. When not envisioning ideas for improving the built environment, you’ll find Michael hiking, biking and generally enjoying the non-built environment.