The 8th annual Smart Growth Summit held Nov. 20

The eighth annual Smart Growth Summit was held November 20 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Melville Marriot. The summit pulled together local civics, chambers of commerce, town and village officials, developers and design professionals to tackle the best practices in land use and infrastructure for Long Island. Over 800 attended the event and, as in years past, continued to be a catalyst for change in land use, development, preservation, energy, infrastructure, and planning policy across the region. The theme for the 2009 Summit was "Regional Challenges, Local Solutions" as we outlined the 75 small, medium and large scale smart growth projects that are moving through planning and need assistance in implementation. We were joined by NYS Governor David Paterson who shared New York State's approach to smart growth planning and the work of his smart growth cabinet. In addition RXR Realty chief Scott Rechler shared his economic vision for Long Island at our luncheon session. Nine of Long Island's thirteen towns and a number of villages participated and Nassau County legislator/county executive candidate Ed Mangano spoke in an opening session on the status of land use on Long Island. This year's event featured panel discussions on the state of the towns and villages, new media, suburban revitalization, stimulus & infrastructure, SEQRA & regulatory tools, transfer of development rights, regional planning, green energy, transportation, developments of regional impact, market-based solutions, green building, financing smart growth, community planning, and impacts of the recession. A Youth Summit involving area college students ran concurrently through the day. We also be introduced live blogging at the event and updated their "Blueprint for Smart Growth." For more information visit www.visionlongisland.org. Eric Alexander is the executive director for Vision Long Island, Northport, N.Y.