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With a career focused on representing development projects before municipal planning officials, Victoria Ryan now finds herself on the other side of the table.
The development advocate and community outreach specialist is now a member of the Town of Islip Planning Board, appointed earlier this week to fill the unexpired term of former member Brad Wilson through the end of 2031.
Through her public relations firm VR/PR, Ryan has worked with applicants who have appeared before planners in Islip and other towns to obtain land-use approvals, though her process has always begun with knocking on doors, acting as a liaison between the community and her clients to try and build consensus.
Ryan says talking to people in their homes has enabled her to get their unique perspectives and humanize the impact of each application, while working with developers to revise their proposals to smooth the long and arduous approvals process that Long Island is infamous for. Whether the project is multifamily development, a public works project, or a quick-service restaurant, Ryan stresses that communication is key to bridging the gap between concerns of residents and the goals of developers and her experience in the trenches brings a unique perspective to her new role.
“My goal is to find the sweet spot between what can turn into two polarities, particularly with controversial projects: the property owner’s right to develop their property, and the concerns of nearby residents,” Ryan told LIBN. “My experience in this business has shown that some concerns are valid, others less so. Some applications make sense, others less so. But everyone has a right to be heard.”
Ryan cut her teeth in the political arena, serving as the assistant to the mayor of Saratoga Springs, where she shared in oversight of the city’s planning and engineering departments. She later served as policy analyst for the Albany County executive. Ryan later served as vice president for a Melville-based advertising agency, producing award-winning television and radio advertisements for political candidates throughout New York.
In 2007, Ryan was tapped as executive director of lslip’s Foreign Trade Zone, where she ran day-to-day operations, uncovering and addressing non-compliance issues that saved the agency over $500,000 in pending fines.
Ryan, who is married to Phil Boyle, a former state senator and current president and CEO of Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation, has served as a trade mission delegate to Ireland for the Ireland Chamber of Commerce-USA and currently serves on the board of the Long Island YMCA and on the gala committee for United Veterans Beacon House. In 2023, she was honored by LIBN as one of Long Island’s Top 50 Women in Business.
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David Winzelberg
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