Loss of Buffers, Tranquillity, Trees and Endemic Overdevelopment in and round E Hills
Ineffective planning and a typical LI lack of leadership have led to rampant suburban deforestation and overdevelopment. Both issues work together to destroy the quality of life in our communities. The worst disgrace is developers flattening wooded areas and building mini-subdivisions. This is truly rampant in NY State, as any trip along major highways like the Northern State or State Thruway reveals. In East Hills as in many LI communities, over-sized homes are permitted to infest the landscape. In some cases, as illustrated below, these homes directly and blatantly impact adjacent properties. East Hills officials pretend their land-use laws are "the best there are" but their deficiencies are obvious and continuing.
Rebuilt home fills lot at Wickham Rd and Revere Rd., East Hills, July 2011. (See additional photos.)
See prior photo. Rebuilt home aggresses upon neighbor at Wickham Rd and Revere Rd., East Hills, July 2011. The neighbor expressed dismay that rules were not tightened after Woodbine construction of 2007, below, as she thought they had been. (See following photo.)
See prior photo. Rebuilt home cuts clear-cuts trees and shrubs on lot at Wickham Rd and Revere Rd., East Hills, winter 2010-2011. (See following photo.)
(See prior photos.) Rebuilt home receives East Hills permit to clear-cut lot and aggressively impact neighbor's property at Wickham Rd and Revere Rd., East Hills, winter 2010-2011.
This home was rebuilt in 2007 after a fire. Built towering over the neighboring home and closely approaching the lot line, it was hotly defended by Mayor Koblenz in a discussion with the neighbor as an example of East Hills' "model" zoning rules. July, 2011.
Almost half the trees at Arlene Park at Woodbine Rd. and Laurel Lane were cut down in June after the village was notified that three trees appeared to have died and asked to determine the cause. Instead, the village contractor cut down seven adult trees in the park. Whether or not the removals were all justified cannot be determined. In any event the loss of canopy and habitat illustrates the continuing die-off and loss of trees in East Hills, particularly in Norgate. Despite the trend, there is no deliberate plan in place to stop the loss and cultivate a new generation of hardwoods. One village insider agreed the tree protection law is riddled with loopholes and useless.
This house under Town of North Hempstead jurisdiction, on Shade Tree Lane off Roslyn Rd., was acquired by a mom-and-pop private developer who leveled it, the hillside, and most of the surrounding trees last fall, 2011. See following photos.
See prior caption. This plot on Shade Tree Lane, levelled and clear-cut in 2010, illustrates the callous and tacky transformation of many neighborhoods near East Hills, where wooded plots with appropriate-sized homes are destroyed by callous and greedy developers and homeowners.
See prior caption. This Shade Tree Lane property in Roslyn Hts. became victim to the wave of overdevelopment destroying quality of life and proper aesthetic proportion throughout local neighborhoods. The right-sized original home, which was perched on a wooded hillside, was aggressively replaced by this overbearing boxy structure, and the property was levelled. Fall 2010. The Town of North Hempstead issued all the permits.
See prior caption. Trees were levelled throughout this Shade Tree Lane property (off Roslyn Rd.) in preparation for the developer's ugly vision of redevelopment, permitted by the Town of North Hempstead throughout Roslyn Hts. Fall, 2010
This property in Roslyn Heights off Willis Avenue was apparently levelled of the trees typical for the older properties nearby, and a boxy fortress-like structure erected under the auspices of rules of the Town of North Hempstead. October, 2010. (see next photo)
See prior caption. Another view of the block-buster home that presents an eyesore compared to its wooded, more modest neighbors, thanks to permits issued by the Town of North Hempstead. October, 2010. 2010-2011. (see next photo)
See prior caption. The Town of North Hempstead issued the permits to permit this fotress-like structure that was built on a clear-cut lot off Willis Avenue in Roslyn Hts. October, 2010
This property on Roslyn Rd. in the Albertson area reflects the trend illustrated above -- overbearing, fortress-like homes built on clear-cut lots (or mostly clear-cut lots). February, 2011. (See following photos)
See also previous photo. This property on Roslyn Rd. in the Albertson area reflects the trend illustrated above -- overbearing, fortress-like homes built on clear-cut lots (or mostly clear-cut lots). February, 2011. (See following photo)
See previous photos. This property on Roslyn Rd. in the Albertson area reflects the trend illustrated above -- overbearing, fortress-like homes built on clear-cut lots (or mostly clear-cut lots). February, 2011.