AvalonBay, Round 2

Get ready for round two.

 Town Supervisor and two members of the are encouraging to come back and try again to build a housing development in Huntington Station.

And Mark Cuthbertson, who provided a key vote to reject the controversial proposal last fall, is one of the board members inviting the company to resubmit a plan.

For its part, AvalonBay is still interested.  Matt Whalen, vice president at AvalonBay, said in a statement, "We are very pleased with the invitation to come back into Huntington Station with the support of Town officials. Over the last few days, I listened carefully to the position of the Town Supervisor and Councilpersons Jackson and Cuthbertson. It's clear that AvalonBay has some work to do over the next several weeks to determine if a scaled down development is financially feasible, but we are taking this invitation to return to Huntington Station very seriously and will review it carefully.  It's important to us that the Town Council support our going forward with this project, and so far I have received very strong indications that this is the case."

AvalonBay had tried for more than a year to win approval for its construction on the north side of East Fifth Street near the . Its original proposal called for a 530-unit, 978-bedroom development, later scaled back to 944 bedrooms in a 490-unit plan. Its proposal would have offered a mix of residential housing, including some rentals, with a 25 percent component of workforce, affordable housing, in one-, two- and three-bedroom homes.  The land is owned by the Bonavita family, which planned to build 109 single-family homes on the acreage.

But in September, the Town Board, faced with heated objections and concerns about expanded zoning changes, high-density developments, and fears about crime and overcrowded schools, voted the project down, 3-2.

Cuthbertson, Mark Mayoka and Susan Berland voted against it; Jackson and Petrone supported it. 

Petrone this week talked at length about what such a large project would mean in Huntington Station, arguing that  it would be a component in the revitalization of the community.

Building the development “signals other developers that we are revitalizing Huntington Station, says,  ‘let’s put our money there.’ That basically is the domino effect—it’s not just the housing but the influx of investment that feeds the economy and says that we’re open for business,” Petrone said. “This is a $100 million project.

“I’ve been talking to them (Avalon Bay) since it initially went down,” Petrone said. “I suggested they talk to my colleagues and they did.”

“You see where the controversy lies, the TOD and the density so it wasn’t going to work,” Petrone said. “You’re not going to get the same number of units. You can’t say it’s happening until you see a plan and go through the process. We’re not just going to go around and have it fall apart again. It’s definitely not good for the town, the community or Avalon. We know what the issues are. So if you can look at those issues and satisfy those issues, I’m of the opinion that is a very worthwhile project.”

 “I hope something is submitted that is workable,” Petrone said. “We need a project in there tomorrow. You’ve got to accept something to get something else. You’re not going to have everybody supportive.  Are there traffic concerns? Most definitely. Traffic, density, etc. those are things they would be looking to mitigate. Over the course of time, how would you mitigate your concerns. You’ve got to accept something to get something else.”

Any new proposal can be expected to spark further debate, perhaps even among those appearing to be on the same side.

A few days before the Town Board vote in September, Cuthbertson decided to oppose it, citing a vote earlier in the week by the Huntington Board of Education.

But Cuthbertson angered the school board when he said the school board had changed its mind and withdrawn its support of Avalon Bay. School board president Bill Dwyer said the board had earlier agreed to accept a $1.5 million “mitigation fee,” because Avalon’s plan would have brought in fewer children than the plan for the single-family homes on the same site.

The school board hadn't taken a position, for or against, the Avalon plan itself. But the Transit-Oriented District that some feared would alter zoning beyond the Avalon development, led the school board to oppose a plan that might have a negative impact on the school district by significantly adding to the school population.

Jackson, Mayoka and Cuthbertson did not respond to requests for comment about the issue.