Glen Cove Awarded $150K in "Smart Funds" for Planning

By Chris O’Neill

The City of Glen Cove was awarded $150,000.00 from New York State’s Smart Growth Community Planning Program.

This state program helps to finance local programs that promote goals such as walkable downtowns, affordable housing, alternative modes of transportation, and a general increase in prosperity.

Glen Cove plans to use the award to incentivize affordable first-time homeowners, senior mixed-used development near train stations and the waterfront, and facilitate new business openings downtown.

The state’s Smart Growth program distributed $3 million this year to 15 communities throughout the state. Glen Cove was the only Long Island community to receive this funding.

The Glen Cove award came from a specific part of the Smart Growth program called the Brownfield Opportunity Area Program, which focuses on brownfield sites, and thus areas affected buy real or perceived environmental hazards.

“We are very pleased to be the recipients of this award,” stated Glen Cove Mayor Pam Panzenbeck. “We recently completed and adopted our comprehensive plan, giving us an opportunity to qualify for programs such as this.”