The Town Board
Port Washington sits in the Town of North Hempstead. The town is governed by a Town Board: a supervisor elected town-wide and six council members elected by district. The board adopts local laws and budgets, passes resolutions, and decides certain land-use applications.
Board meetings are open to the public and recorded. Agendas and meeting materials are posted in advance on the town's public meeting portal, and past meetings can usually be watched online. Every formal decision is made by a public vote on a written resolution.
- Supervisor
- Jennifer DeSena
- Council · District 1
- Robert Troiano Jr.
- Council · District 2
- Edward Scott
- Council · District 3
- Dennis Walsh
- Council · District 4
- Christine Liu
- Council · District 5
- Yaron Levy
- Council · District 6
- Mariann Dalimonte
Council members serve staggered four-year terms; the supervisor serves two-year terms.
Public hearings and public comment
For many significant decisions—changing the zoning code, granting a special permit—the board must hold a public hearing before it votes. Hearings are announced ahead of time through published legal notices and the meeting agenda.
At a hearing, any member of the public can speak, usually within a time limit. You can also submit written comments to the Town Clerk before the vote. Both generally become part of the official record of the decision—and the record is what the board acts on, and what any later review of the decision looks back at.
Zoning, special permits, and site plans
The zoning code says what can be built where: uses, heights, setbacks, parking, and more. Changing those rules requires the Town Board to adopt an amendment—a local law—after a public hearing.
Some uses are allowed only as a “special use”: the board may permit them after a public hearing, guided by standards written into the code. Site plan review covers the specifics of a project—layout, landscaping, drainage, traffic. Approvals often come with written conditions that bind the project going forward.
Environmental review (SEQRA)
Before approving a project or changing land-use rules, New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) requires agencies to take a hard look at potential environmental impacts—on water, traffic, habitat, flooding, community character, and more—before they act, not after.
It works in steps. The action is first classified by its potential scale. The applicant and agency then complete an environmental assessment form describing the site and the project's likely effects. One agency takes the role of “lead agency” and decides whether the impacts may be significant. If they may be, the project must prepare a full environmental impact statement, with a public comment period. If not, the agency issues a “negative declaration” stating its reasons.
Every step produces public documents—assessment forms, studies, determinations—that anyone can read. They are often the clearest window into what a project will actually do to a place.
Open meetings and minutes
Under the Open Meetings Law, public bodies must conduct business in public, with narrow exceptions. Minutes must be made available—draft minutes within two weeks of the meeting—so residents can see what was decided without waiting for formal approval of the record.
Process facts last reviewed July 23, 2026. Details can change—confirm current requirements with the Town Clerk.