Representatives from the Town of North Hempstead are seeking to keep Sunset Park in Port Washington public, even as the owners are looking to transfer the property to a charitable organization.
The 5.2-acre Sunset Park, which is not legally defined as a park, is owned and operated by the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District, which has a pump station and other equipment on the property and several sewer lines running underneath it.
The district and the town are currently in discussions with the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America about transferring ownership of the park. Any such transfer would have to be approved by both the town and the state of New York.
Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte said at an Oct. 22 meeting of the Town Board that she and Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth were not in favor of the idea.
“They do want to get rid of this piece of property,” Dalimonte said. “The supervisor and I will not allow, and, I’ll state it again, will not allow this property to be transferred into private hands. It will always remain public.”
“It has been used as a park for decades,” Bosworth said at the meeting. “And if there were any sense of anything done with that land, other than it being the green space that it currently is, that would be considered alienation of parkland.”
Town Attorney Leonard Kapsalis said at the meeting that the alienation issue was where the town and district had “a difference of opinion.”
“The one issue where we and the district do have a difference of opinion is whether this is subject to alienation,” Kapsalis said. “So the district has said because they’re not eligible to operate a park, this can’t be a park, and they’ve described it as simply vacant land on the district. But, it does not matter if there was ever a formal dedication of parkland … How it’s been used, how it’s been maintained. This establishes the park. So it is subject to alienation legislation, and then whatever long-term conditions are put on that. So we’ve taken the position and both the councilwoman and supervisor stated, this is always going to be a park. It’s the fact that it may transfer to private hands, it may not but if it does, it does not mean it’s an eligible development parcel.”
At an Oct. 6 meeting of the waterfront business district’s Steering Committee, Dalimonte reported that she had attended a meeting with the Alzheimer’s foundation where officials explained that they sought to construct a gazebo, install several benches, employ additional landscaping, and “maintain the park-like setting for the enjoyment of people living with Alzheimer’s, their caregivers and, of course, the public.”
Under the proposed deal, the sewer district would retain easements on the property to access its equipment, and its underground sewer lines would prohibit any building from being constructed on that site, Dalimonte said.
“During that meeting, I stated my objections to transferring Sunset Park to a private entity, even with assurances that the park would remain open to the public,” she said.
Dalimonte said she had suggested at the meeting that Sunset Park remain publicly owned, but could potentially be leased to a private entity in what she described as a “friends of” arrangement, where the entity would then be responsible for the park’s maintenance and operation.
The councilwoman said it would be “similar to how the Sands Point Preserve is owned by Nassau County but maintained and operated by the Sands Point Preserve Conservancy.”
“I have requested a meeting with AFA to discuss this possibility and the town and I will continue to explore any and all available options,” Dalimonte said.
Michael Ingham, a Farmingdale lawyer who represents the district, said in a statement that the district has limited jurisdictional status and that it cannot transfer or sell any of its property without prior approval of the Town Board.
“Consequently, we join with the Town in our mutual attempt to preserve Sunset Park as dedicated parkland which will always remain open to the public,” Ingham said. “We have both turned to the New York State Comptroller for his guidance on how to best effectuate that goal.”
Most of the property was acquired by the district in 1931, but in 2012 discussions between the town and district to acquire the park fell through.
Nothing has yet been announced on the license agreements of local organizations, including the Port Washington Chamber of Commerce, the Port Washington Police Athletic League and the John Philip Sousa Memorial Bandshell, which hold agreements to use portions of the property.
