Amityville

The Village of Amityville holds great potential to become a destination with improved quality of life and economic opportunity. Its assets are well-aligned with the demands of Long Island’s changing economy and demographics, from its compact, walkable downtown to its rich history and multicultural community. Its location by the sea has drawn residents and visitors even before it became a village in 1894. But its location on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)’s heavily-used Babylon line and on the southern end of Route 110, one of Long Island’s major employment corridors, gives Amityville a unique advantage that is likely to grow even stronger. The LIRR’s East Side Access, which will provide service on the LIRR directly to Grand Central Station, will put western Suffolk communities like Amityville within easier commuting distance of over a million jobs in east midtown Manhattan. Planned north-south transit improvements for Route 110 envisioned in Suffolk County’s Connect Long Island initiative will make downtown Amityville a more strategic place connecting the LIRR to the corridor. With the right planning and investments, Amityville can increase economic development and business attraction, while providing housing choices and amenities that meet the needs of all Amityville residents.

Amityville residents and business owners have identified the revitalization of their downtown as a top priority. The village of Amityville created a Downtown Revitalization Committee (DRC) in October of 2013, composed of residents and business owners, with the goal of creating a plan to help make the downtown a destination that would strengthen existing businesses, expand the tax base and improve quality of life. The village requested and was selected for assistance from the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to strengthen the county’s economy through mixed-use, transit-oriented development. Under a contract to the IDA, Regional Plan Association (RPA) worked with the Amityville DRC and the Suffolk IDA to analyze existing conditions and identify opportunities for revitalization in the downtown. This collaboration led to the identification of several priorities:

• Promote compact mixed-use development on underutilized parcels around the train station and the larger downtown area, particularly by revising outmoded provisions of the village’s zoning code.
• Create context-sensitive development by using design guidelines that would give developers a clear set of rules that would advance a coherent vision for the downtown.
• Improve the public realm throughout downtown Amityville by improving pedestrian conditions, by creating new connections within the downtown and from surrounding neighborhoods, and through improved wayfinding.
• Take advantage of the market with mixed-use development that meets the high demand for rental apartments in close proximity to transportation and employment.

Specific actions were identified to address these priorities, both to prime Amityville to take advantage of appropriate development opportunities, and to ensure that development that does take place is in keeping with making the village downtown an exemplary place where people want to come to socialize, shop, work and enjoy themselves. The recommendations summarized below and detailed in the report are made solely by RPA to the village of Amityville and Suffolk IDA for consideration in the appropriate programs, public meetings and processes.

• Revise the village zoning code to remove incompatible uses, such as single and two family residences and fast food establishments from the permitted uses in the downtown. Downtown uses should facilitate constant pedestrian activity with a healthy business district. Revise the dimensional standards – front and rear setbacks, height, and lot coverage to allow for development which encourages infill and greater density in the downtown.
• Adopt design guidelines that dictate specific requirements to supplement the Bay Village Architectural Theme. The guidelines could cover items such as, but not limited to, building surface materials, architectural treatments on corners, and percentage of window coverage on the ground floor.
• Create a pedestrian-friendly downtown with safe crossings on Broadway by reducing crossing distances through the implementation of bulb-outs. Create inviting and safe access to rear parking lots, the train station and surrounding neighborhoods
• Engage developers with a good track record of building mixed-use developments in downtowns across Long Island. Brand and market downtown Amityville to attract business types that are lacking for a downtown Amityville.