Board Discusses Chalet Motor Inn Plans

The Town of Huntington Planning Board recently discussed a pending ZBA application (#20115) filed by Tino's Enterprises for renovations at the Chalet Motor Inn at the corner of Route 25A and Centershore Road in Centerport.

The applicant is proposing to improve the existing motel and construct a restaurant/banquet hall next to it on the site. The proposed banquet hall is expected to be 14,455 square feet and should be able to hold 250 to 300-person weddings.

The applicant is seeking multiple variances on the lot from the ZBA. They are seeking a parking variance, an area variance on the town code to maintain parking in the front yard, a variance on a law restricting main buildings on the lot to 1 (since they are looking for 2), and a use variance to obtain an expansion of a previously granted use variance.

A member of the planning board asked why they were coming back to the ZBA since they were granted similar variances in 2008. It was explained that in that decision, there wasn't much information about the size of the restaurant and the banquet hall being built. Additionally, the applicant was seeking to add additional rooms to the motel, which they are not planning to do now. They were granted a use variance then for a motel with 88 units, and then asked for an area variance to expand their use variance so they could construct 120 units. They were granted that in 2009, but a court reversed the decision. As a result, they were now looking to keep the motel at 88 rooms while expanding the size of the restaurant/banquet hall. They need a new use variance because they lost the previous one when they knocked down the original building.

The planning board had two concerns with the construction plans. One was over the logistics of parking for a banquet hall. There was concern that the parking would be separate from the parking from the motel, also noting that there were no places to park on Centershore Road. They wanted this to be noted in a message to the ZBA. The other concern was with water runoff into the nearby Mill Pond. They didn't know what would be done to mitigate contaminants from falling into protected areas. It was mentioned that runoff from the park area would be permitted to flow directly into lands to the east, but the planning board had concerns about this.

Finally, the planning board wanted to mention in its note that they submitted a short-form Environmental Assessment Form when they were supposed to submit a long-form EAF. They noted that that form shouldn't be considered in this case.

Public Hearing on Rose Plat

As for the rest of the meeting, a public hearing was scheduled on the Rose Plat, located at 330 E Main Street in Huntington, near the Centerport border. Attorney Robert J. Flynn, Jr., was the counsel that spoke on behalf of applicant Luigi Perry.

Flynn described a location "akin to a Monet painting, complete with pristine wetland, palm, and walking bridge." There are two lots on the site that were already built on. One lot, a 13,275-square-foot lot, has no plans for any new construction. The second lot is 116,236 square feet and has a house located on it. 75,000 square feet on lot 2 will be a conservation area.

Planning board chairman Paul Mandelik said that the board got the application for the plat at the last meeting and that it looked excellent. The board also commended the decision to create a conservation area on the second lot.

No residents chose to speak at the public hearing, so the hearing was closed after the board's remarks.

Site Plans

Two site plans were reviewed. The first plans were for a 10,000-foot extension on an existing 1,200-foot locker room for a hockey rink at the Huntington Country Club in Cold Spring Harbor. The planning board reviewed the application earlier with respect to the removal of several trees. It was noted that the club had the necessary zoning board approval for parking in place. The board noted that the country club made the rink available to many children in the community and passed the motion.

The other site plan that was reviewed was for a public storage facility along the west side of Walt Whitman Road, approximately 174 feet north of Old Country Road in Melville. The applicants want to expand 40,000 square feeet over two stories (or 19,768 square feet on the building footprint, or total area of the lot). The expansion would be occurring toward the Northern State Parkway, so there would be an additional barrier built. The applicants received the proper special use permit from the ZBA but did not receive an outdoor storage permit.

Board member Avrum Rosen brought up that the applicants came to the planning board requesting outdoor storage last year. It was noted that while the planning board had no problem with this, the zoning board did.

The motion was carried.

Subdivisions

The first subdivision heard by the board was in regards to the Cherry Lane Plat, located on the west side of Cherry Lane, nearly a mile north of Greenlawn Road in Huntington. The property is a historic property, and the applicant (Steve Davis) received final approval for his project over a year ago. He had not had enough time to complete his work in between the final approval and Wednesday's meeting, so he was requesting a waiver from the preliminary and final review, which the board was OK with since the project was bascially the same as previously presented. This part of the motion carried.

It was noted that the original subdivision was created based on planning department regulations, including clearing gratings and installing drainage structures. The applicant was asking to have these regulations waived, but it was recommended to the board that they were not. The board agreed that they should not so that they wouldn't set a precedent allowing other subdivision owners to do this.

When Davis heard this, he asked to speak, and was granted special permission to by Mandelik. He said that he was only making the request because of the extended time period the project has taken. He was aware that drainage was required on the property, but also noted that nothing could be constructed on the property without a permit. The board conceded that while they knew that, if someone made a similar request ten years from now, they wouldn't know the specifics of his situation. They also noted that it shouldn't slow him down.

Next up was an application called the Chisena Plat, which was nearby, on the corner of Cherry Lane and Greenlawn Road. This plat was an old project, receiving preliminary approval in 2001 and conditional final approval in 2002. The applicant failed to provide the necessary maps needed to advance the project, and the laws for the subdivision review process changed in that time period (a storm prevention plan was added). 

This was relevant to this project because between the time of conditional final approval and the meeting, new information arose that illustrated a drainage issue on the plat that was not previously known, and it was determined that the site needed to create some sort of drainage to alleviate flooding problems and to be compliant with FEMA regulations.

Deputy director of Planning and Environment Robert Riekert devised a plan that would not be tremendously expensive to the property owner and would also benefit nearby property owners.

The request was for an expedited review of the situation, but the board noted that they no longer granted expedited reviews, and that nine years was an extended period of time anyway. They decided that this was not a special case and that they would give this review the due diligence they give every review.

The third subdivision was called the Haines Plat and was located at 338 Woodbury Road in Huntington. The proposal was for a two-lot subdivision due to a deficiency in width. One lot, where the existing resident would live, would be 2 acres, while the other would be 2.1 acres. One of the lots would have a panhandle in the rear of the property where a common driveway would allow cars from both lots to exit. A 40-foot buffer will be installed on the right side of lot 2 as well as along the panhandle in order to accomodate a neighbor to the north.

The advisors felt that all issues were addressed with the plat and that they had no problem with the project moving forward. The board carried the motion.

The final subdivision being addressed was called the Kreling Plat, located at 212 Seamans Neck Road in Dix Hills. It is one of the oldest subdivisions in the Town of Huntington, dating all the way back to 1904. The property will be improved in the front of the property and to the south, but not in the north as it would create a cut-through in the neighborhood. It was advised that the applicant provide an area for cars to make a three-point turn. It was noted that the applicant is providing drainage on the site.

The advisors told the board that all issues on the property were addressed, and the motion was carried by the Board.

Miscellaneous

An ongoing application to build a 7-Eleven at the corner of Livingston Street and Walt Whitman Road in South Huntington was also mentioned. The advisers told the board that they had not received any additional plans or studies with regards to that site plan because they are trying to address the concerns of the board and the community. The board decided to give them a month to come up with something definitive.