By Henry Musa
Following months of debate, the Town of Hempstead Council recently moved forward with an application to construct Fieldstone at Oceanside LLC, a luxury townhouse complex in the heart of Oceanside. During the board’s March 11 meeting, all six members unanimously approved Fieldstone’s rezoning application during a 24-minute meeting.
Plans for the property have been debated since May 2022. The project will convert the former Beth Shalom Oceanside Jewish Center, at 2860 Brower Ave., into a housing complex with 59 new units and 139 parking spaces.
Residents had argued for and against this project at numerous town halls, even as late in February this year. However, at the March 11 session, no one spoke on the planned townhouses. Issues previously presented by residents included traffic, land use and tax dollars from this project.
In the weeks after the town board’s decision, residents reacted on social media. Marsha Sakol Migden remarked on Facebook, “Oh yay more luxury housing that most of us can’t afford.”
A number of residents commented on social media that the area would look like New York City with the introduction of a greater number of apartments.
In response, Tracey Simon compared Oceanside to adjacent and other villages. “Lynbrook has loads of apartments. So does RVC [Rockville Centre]. So does Great Neck. No one is screaming that it looks like Queens there.”
Other residents rebutted her claim. Margaret Pugh replied, “The whole county looks like Queens. No trees, too many cars parked on the streets, not enough parking when shopping, too much traffic.”
Jen Glavin, of Rockville Centre, said, “I live in RVC, and they are constantly complaining that it looks like Queens here. They restarted their civic association over it.”
A number of members of the Oceanside Civic Alliance Association Facebook group expressed their thoughts since Fieldstone was approved. Joyce Lipton, an administrator for the group, wrote, “I live off of Brower . . . I might be affected traffic-wise as well. I think looking at the condos will be OK, especially since there will be foliage in front of [them]. They also look attractive.”
She continued, “How much traffic comes out of the condos . . . on Brower now? I don’t see very much at all. There will be more traffic. Hopefully, this project will entice a better quality of stores to meet the needs of the residents, instead of nail salon after nail salon.”
Responding to residents’ concerns, the Fieldstone project developers had scaled back the number of homes in the complex from 90 to 59. They also added plans for a second entrance in case of emergencies.
Nick Girardi, principal at the Girardi Development Corporation and the lead contractor for the Fieldstone project, said he hopes to have site work and building permits completed within the next several months. Ground on the project is expected to be broken before 2026.
