Portion Road Visioning Update
Jan 01, 2005
Last month (see below) we reported on the results of
the October Visioning Meetings and mentioned that the
design for the new Portion Road will be very
community-friendly. However, the visioning process
did much more than just focus on the width of the
roadway and the number of lanes that will be
built.
The professional planners and designers who conducted
the sessions looked at the overall Portion Road
corridor, beginning at the eastern end of the Lake,
near the Windows On The Lake restaurant, and
stretching all the way to the Nicolls Road, where the
hamlets of Farmingville and Holtsville abut Portion
Road. They identified a high level of enthusiasm and
community spirit from the many members of the
community who participated in the presentations,
workshops and walking tours. It became apparent to
the planning experts that the Portion Road community
has many natural assets and attributes, and a lot of
potential to be better than it is now.
However, they
also pointed out that the development along the road
has been very haphazard and poorly planned, leading
to typical suburban sprawl and a declining sense of
being part of a true community. Some very interesting
concepts and ideas were developed and presented by
the community participants to counteract the problems
that were identified. Since the total length of the
corridor that was considered is very long, the
recommendation was to create three separate
mini-town-center areas along the road to promote
smart growth development, encourage people to walk
and create the sense of community that many said they
wanted. The areas that were identified as potential
town centers are as follows:
o The Downtown Lake
Ronkonkoma Business District at Hawkins/Ronkonkoma
Avenues
o The sprawling business area near
Waldbaum’s, that we are now referring to as
“High-Point”
o The shopping center and professional
building zone near Morris Avenue at the east end of
the project
Future newsletter articles will describe
the plans and vision for developing these three
specific areas, as well as the connecting areas in
between. A key part of smart growth is setting aside
“green space”; several areas were identified in the
visioning. As always, community input and involvement
is welcomed and appreciated as we continue the
planning process.
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