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OK, my next question, what about creating a new villiage or Hamlet, kinda like Woodsburgh in Hewlett/Woodmere did. How do you go about doing that?
Woodsburgh incorporated as a village in 1912.
Hewlett and Woodmere are hamlets.
The Hamlet of Hewlett and the Hamlet of Woodmere are two of the upscale "5 Towns" (none of which are towns) that includes the Village of Lawrence (incorporated in 1897), the Village of Cedarhurst (incorporated in 1910) and the Hamlet of Inwood.
The very short version: in order to form a village, you need to get the approval of more than 50% of the property in the area that would like to become a village. All other votes are by simple majority after the village forms, but the first vote on whether to be a village needs a majority of the property.
The Nassau County Planning Commission decides on hamlet borders; so, I guess, you would need to petition the NCPC if there was a group of people that wanted to form a new hamlet from parts of one or more existing hamlets.
BTW, the entirety of Woodmere + Woodsburgh was originally known as Woodsburgh prior to incorporation. "Woodmere" was created to differentiate between the relatively small village and the rest of the area.
Another fun fact: Lawrence is one of the 5 (I think) villages in Nassau County that incorporated prior to it's existance (Nassau was part of Queens County until 1899). The other three are Freeport, Hempstead, Rockville Centre and Sea Cliff.
Fun fact #2: Hempstead was the first village in Queens County, in 1853.
It's very rare nowadays....I think the most recent one was Sagaponack way out in the Hamptons. I also read somewhere that North Hempstead put legislation on the books banning incorporation in the late 30s because the Town didn't want to cede all of it's power to a "lower" form of government.
SeanX4, it was the 1938 Nassau County Charter that stripped zoning control from all villages incorporated after that date that put a break on village incorporation in Nassau County.
The Village of Atlantic Beach incorporated in 1962 and is the only village formed since Nassau County adopted the 1938 Charter.
Sometime in the past few years, the Village of Atlantic Beach was ceded local zoning control by the Town of Hempstead, but the restriction on new villages incorporated in Nassau County after 1938 having local zoning control is still on the books, I think.
Ah, Walter, but you forgot the Villages of Hewlett Neck, Hewlett Bay Park, and Hewlett Harbor--and today Hewlett Bay Park would not qualify for incorporation as there is a 500 resident minimum for new villages. Hewlett Neck just squeaks in there, at 504 residents according to the 2000 Census.
As for "controlling the community", this can be good and bad. Sometimes there's a fine line between "control" and "attempting to freeze the village in an imagined 1964".
It is beneficial to incorporate when you have a large commercial establishment paying large amounts of property tax. I live in Port Jefferson Village, and we have a ton of services due to the LIPA power plant paying 10s of millions in tax a year. If they close it, the gravy train will end.
Flushing was the first village, incorporating in 1813, followed by the Village of Jamaica in 1814 and the Village of Astoria in 1839.
Wow, I'm really dropping the ball lately....I have no idea where I read that Hempstead was the first, but I've been under that impression for a few years now.
Where did you find the dates for when those Queens villages were incorporated?
Where did you find the dates for when those Queens villages were incorporated?
SeanX4, my source was "New York State Population, 1790-1980", by Barbara Shupe and published by Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 23 Leonard Street, New York, NY 10013.
.....................Pre-1898 Villages of Queens County.......
................Village................Date of
.................Name.............Incorporation... .....Town........
* Village of Astoria and surrounding areas become the City of Long Island City in 1870 and become independent of the Town of Newtown. Other sources give the date of incorporation of the Village of Astoria as 1836, not 1839.
P.S. SeanX4, on a separate thread, it was mentioned that the Green Acres Mall was not in the Village of Valley Stream. I thought it was. Your thoughts on this, please.
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