Just hours before the state will announce that the New York Islanders arena is the winning proposal for redevelopment at Belmont Park, a group of Elmont residents are planning legal action to stop the project.

Officials of the Parkhurst Civic Association, which represents about 900 households surrounding the racetrack, sent a letter Monday to Howard Zemsky, the president of Empire State Development, claiming that the agency ignored its charter by failing to establish at least one community advisory committee in its Belmont selection process.

According to its charter, the Urban Development Corporation Act, the ESD is required to “establish one or more community advisory committees to consider and advise the corporation upon matters submitted to them by the corporation concerning the development of any area or any project, and may establish rules and regulations with respect to such committees.”

Aubrey Phillips, vice president of the Parkhurst Civic Association, said the ESD did not create any community advisory boards on the Belmont Park redevelopment during its latest request-for-proposals process. He said the group would now seek redress in the courts.

“We’re looking at the full scope of legal action and we’re going to take each one,” Phillips told LIBN. “But definitely an Article 78 lawsuit is in the works.”

After issuing its second RFP in five years, ESD received three bids in September to redevelop up to 43 acres of underutilized parking lots at Belmont Park. One was an Islanders arena, another was a soccer stadium for the New York City Football Club (NYCFC) and the third was a retail/recreation development from Syosset-based Blumenfeld Development Group, which later pulled its bid from consideration.

Sources say the ESD will announce the Islanders arena as the winning bid on Wednesday. That proposal, which includes a hotel and retail stores, was made by a group called New York Arena Partners, consisting of Sterling Project Development (controlled by the Wilpon family, owners of the New York Mets) and Oak View Group, which is backed by Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan.

The state abruptly cancelled the previous RFP process in Dec. 2016 four years after fielding four proposals for the Belmont site, none of which was selected.

The goal of the new RFP was “to strengthen Belmont as a premier destination for entertainment, sports, recreation, retail and hospitality on Long Island,” ESD said in a written statement. ESD suggested that any proposals for the property “provide a source of quality jobs for area” and “benefit the neighborhoods and communities adjacent to and surrounding” the existing Belmont complex.

A state government source and others from the Long Island development community had told LIBN that the new RFP was tailored made for the Islanders arena and that the other proposals didn’t have much of a chance, which now turns out to be the case.

Phillips agreed with that assessment and added that the needs of the Elmont community were overlooked by the state’s process. The civics have said they wanted new housing for young people to be considered as part of the redevelopment and higher-paying jobs than could be offered by a hockey arena or soccer stadium.

“We’re hoping to get the attention of the people we elected,” Phillips said as the reason for his group’s pending legal action. “A lot of public officials are being ambiguous and we want them to be specific. Either they’re with the community or they’re not.”