FOREWORD: Management Plan

Several years back, we as residents of the North Shore of Long Island found ourselves struggling with the questions of what defines us as a common people and what future we wished to bequeath to our children and generations yet to come. Once a land of sprawling potato fields, dense woodlands, and barren areas of scruffy pine trees, "Paumonok" (as it was known by local Indians and heralded by Walt Whitman) had been transformed into a thriving suburbia. As time went by, a distinct culture and identity emerged that made us proud to make Long Island our home.

Our beaches and recreational opportunities were second to none. To get away from the hectic pace of crowded urban life and find solitude and serenity within the confines of our well-manicured lawns and bountiful vegetable gardens held great allure. Safe, clean communities offered us places to worship as we chose or find refuge from the daily rigors of making a living. These enticements, and others, brought more and more residents to our villages and communities. And, when we arrived, there were parks, historic sites, schools, museums, quaint whaling villages, and woods and shoreline of unsurpassed natural beauty to welcome us home.

We felt our quality of life was deteriorating. The increasingly popular search for the "country life" threatened to obliterate the countryside! The forces that drew many of us to Long Island held the potential to attract so many more that we would overrun what we valued in the first place. In response, various interest groups formed: civic organizations, environmental activists, chambers of commerce, builders' institutes, and tourism advocates, each voicing the concern that we might destroy the very things which defined us as Long Island.

Increasingly, our voices of concern seemed to be coming into conflict with each other, the legitimate needs and interests of one at variance with those of another. Those advocating continued growth of our commercial and economic prosperity worried that others wished to "close the doors behind them." The focus for some was on protecting the character of our villages and our environment from overdevelopment. Lines were drawn, and people of good will engaged in vociferous disagreement. It seemed unlikely that we could agree on what our communities and our economic future should look like.

Out of this swirling controversy, a consensus developed among elected officials, local activists and environmentalists, as well as tourist and business interests throughout Long Island's North Shore, that there was more that united us than divided us. From this consensus, the Long Island North Shore Heritage Area (LINSHA) Planning Commission was born.

We believed that we could coalesce as a diverse, local group and that the LINSHA process could be a new way to choose the "history of our future." We agreed that a planning effort that sought to identify and celebrate the common thread that connected all of us regionally as North Shore residents gave us the best chance to sustain what we value most. And we concluded that it was possible to protect and preserve our past while maintaining a bright and vibrant economic future. That is why in this document the North Shore Heritage Area Planning Commission clearly states that "preservation is the overriding theme" of this Heritage Area planning effort.

Nothing in the LINSHA Management Plan advocates a specific "bricks and mortar" project or insists on any particular course of action that would add to concerns of overdevelopment. The LINSHA Planning Commission is not a "super-agency" of New York State intent on forcing new projects through towns and villages by fiat. Rather, we are area residents appointed to the Planning Commission by the Governor, State Assembly and Senate, and Nassau and Suffolk County to reflect the diverse views of our respective communities and organizations. Our mandate was to work together to develop this Management Plan to provide a "blueprint" for our future.

The LINSHA Management Plan offers a way for us to look at ourselves and define our unique culture. It suggests educational opportunities for us to understand the connections that unite us and to share with others our rich history and resources. The Management Plan documents how the Long Island North Shore Heritage Area is a "living museum" which can be experienced and understood in new ways. As in any museum, curators must plan how best to display the abundant "works of art" and safeguard them for all the visitors yet to come.

And so, to reach that lofty goal, we suggest coordinated signage, information kiosks, downtown beautification, protection of scenic "viewsheds," and improved access to our coastline. We anticipate that whatever entity succeeds the Planning Commission will fund such undertakings, advance the goals of the plan through education, and enter into cooperative partnerships to display the "treasures" in our "museum." We expect that this process will enable us to be good stewards of our resources and ensure their continued survival. We intend that divergent interests will find common ground and see ways to coexist and cooperate for our shared future.

Our Management Plan also offers suggestions and recommendations of other ways to invest in our future because we value our past. Though we seek cooperation and approval of this plan by all the 56 villages, eight townships, and one city (Glen Cove) in the LINSHA region, subsequent participation is wholly voluntary. In essence, we ask that you take advantage of what you like in the plan and leave the rest! We have endeavored to produce a document that reflects our lives and our communities. We hope it will prove useful to all our neighbors within the Long Island North Shore Heritage Area.

It is our conviction that a deeper appreciation and understanding of our shared history and culture will build stronger agreement to protect and preserve the "hidden gems" of Long Island's North Shore which truly reflect "Our Heritage."

By: Ira Paul Costell



PHOTO ABOVE: SWANS, HEMPSTEAD HARBOR NATURE TRAIL – TOWN OF NORTH HEMPSTEAD INSET PHOTO: PLANTING FIELDS ARBORETUM STATE HISTORIC PARK, OYSTER BAY - NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION