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Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee explains advisory role; Flower Hill urges review of adjacent Roslyn waterfront proposal
Summary
Eric Swanson, director of the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee, briefed the board on the committee’s advisory, non‑regulatory role, its grant work including recent oyster restoration funding, and said it does not take positions on member projects unless asked; trustees pressed the committee to review a nearby Roslyn waterfront housing proposal that neighbors Flower Hill.
Eric Swanson, director of the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee, told the Village of Flower Hill trustees that the committee serves as an intermunicipal advisory body focused on water protection and does not act as a regulatory or advocacy body unless a municipal member requests assistance.
"We don't take positions and have never taken positions for or against anything that comes before our member organizations," Swanson said while outlining the committee's 30‑year history and its services, which include water‑quality monitoring, MS4 stormwater permit assistance, and legislative tracking. He said the committee has helped secure grant funding, including an EPA partnership that supported large‑scale oyster reseeding efforts in the harbor.
Trustees and residents pressed Swanson to ask the right questions of neighboring municipalities about a proposed Roslyn waterfront residential project of roughly 50 units that borders Flower Hill. A Flower Hill board member raised a potential conflict of interest when a Roslyn representative on the committee is also identified in the record as involved with the proposed project; Swanson acknowledged the potential for a perceived conflict but said a municipal representative can also provide firsthand information to the committee and that the committee takes direction from its municipal members.
Swanson described the kinds of technical issues the committee can flag for municipalities or state agencies: septic and wastewater handling, stormwater runoff and erosion control, impacts on habitat and viewsheds, impervious surface increases, staging‑area impacts during construction, and de‑icing and salt runoff. He encouraged Flower Hill to request the committee review the Roslyn proposal if the village wants the committee's input.
Trustees said they will ask their representative on the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee to place the Roslyn project on the committee's agenda. Several trustees also noted that other agencies (e.g., DEC) and municipal planning processes will review waterfront projects, and they said they expected multiple actors to weigh in.
