Business & Tech

Huntington Hotel Has Public Hearing

The applicant of the proposed project is requesting the property be placed in the historic overlay district.

The Huntington Town Board held a public hearing Tuesday to consider applying a historic overlay district to the old Town Hall building at Main Street and Stewart Avenue.

The owners of the building—a conglomerate of companies with Emerson Dobbs as the principal—have submitted an application to develop the property in to a 55-room boutique hotel.

Attorney James Margolin of Margolin & Margolin said that architect Joseph Scarpulla has worked with Town Historian Robert Hughes and the Historical Preservation Committee on the exterior design.

In April, the town Planning Board unanimously approved a recommendation that the Town Board allow the property to be placed in the historic overlay district and that a public hearing be scheduled.

The Town Board approved the creation of the historic overlay district in November 2008 to allow for a way that historic sites may be utilized for purposes other than those permitted by right in the zoning district where the building is located, according to the legislative intent in the town code.

The 1910 building was designed by then-prominent architect Julian Peabody.

In addition to the zone-change approval from C-6 to historic overlay, the owners must apply to the town's Board of Zoning Appeals for parking and building height variances. The proposed three-story addition with one story underground for parking counts as four stories, although is under the 45-foot height allowance.

The applicant will also need a parking variance as the code requires 45 more spaces than would be available on the property due to the intensification of use but has offered to make a $1,000 donation for each required spot and asked that it be used to improve the municipal lot behind the Huntington Elks Building located on Main Street.

"Our analysis shows it's capable of being upgraded by 30 spots," Margolin said.

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The applicant has also agreed to make a one-time payment to the Huntington Sewer District of $142,000 to pay for increased usage.

The annual tax levy on the half-acre property and current building is $56,926, according to town records.

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