Politicians, developers sketch a Lighthouse timetable

Newsday.com

Politicians, developers sketch a Lighthouse timetable

BY EDEN LAIKIN

June 5, 2009

Literally holding hands, developers Charles Wang and Scott Rechler, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray agreed Friday to work as a team to expedite approvals for the mega Lighthouse project.

"There's a new spirit of collaboration and cooperation," Suozzi declared after the meeting in his conference room.

In the first such meeting ever, the officials collectively sketched a preliminary timeline of events in the approval chain that could get a decision on the project to Wang, the owner of the New York Islanders, by his Oct. 3 deadline - the start of the next hockey season.

Wang, who seven years ago conceived this project - with a renovated Nassau Coliseum as its centerpiece - set the deadline a few months ago when he announced he was losing $20 million to $30 million a year on the team. He criticized Murray, saying she was dragging her feet on the town's environmental impact review of the project and that she continually refused to meet with him and Rechler.

Murray vowed at Friday's meeting that the town board would vote on the Lighthouse Group's draft environmental impact statement - reviewed by town consultants over three months - at its July 7 meeting.

If the draft is deemed adequate for public review, it will be sent to such agencies as the state transportation and county health departments. Fifteen to 60 days after that, a public hearing will be held.

The foursome - seated next to each other in Suozzi's conference room - also agreed that over the next 10 days they will work out a timetable for the rest of the project's many required approvals and make it public.

Plans for the Lighthouse project, estimated for now to cost $3.7 billion, includes a minor league ballpark, a luxury hotel and 1.5 million square feet of offices and shops.

"It was a very productive and fruitful meeting," Suozzi said, "Several things were accomplished."

Once the draft environmental impact statement is declared complete, the burden of the approval process will no longer be only the town's, Suozzi said. The project also faces reviews by state and county agencies and the county legislature.

Suozzi said he had spoken with the governor's staff and "we're all in agreement."

Murray said she was pleased with the dialogue between the parties. "It was a great meeting - a watershed moment," she said, adding that they were now all on "the same page."

Murray for months had said it would be inappropriate to meet with developers who have a pending application before the town board, which has to vote on the project. But last week she agreed to a meeting with the principals and Suozzi to discuss how to expedite the process.

"We're not looking back," Wang said, "we're looking forward."