Huntington's Planning Board Recommends Sports Center

The Huntington Planning Board recently voted to support Brad Rosen's application for a proposed family sports center on Depot Road in Huntington Station. The proposed sports center needs a zoning variance for parking, along with a special-use permit.  The planning board's recommendation is advisory. The Zoning Board of Appeals hearing is set for April 7.

In other business at the planning board meeting:

Public Hearings

D'Amico Estates: Attorney Ron Goldstein addressed the board before a proposed public hearing in regard to the D'Amico Estates application. The application, in regard to a lot at 290 Old East Neck Road in Melville, is in the last stage of a process that included getting approval for a three-lot subdivision from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The planning board asked Goldstein and engineer Paul Racz, of Nelson Pope Engineering, what they planned to do about contaminated soil in the rear yard of Lot 2 of their proposed site. Goldstein and Racz said that the soil, which is contaminated with arsenic, will be buried in a cul-de-sac trench area after a proposal to trench it in the north and northeast part of the development was turned down. A remediation plan for the area was filed with the town and will be fulfilled by the applicants. 

No residents spoke at the public hearing, so it was ended after Goldstein and Racz spoke.

43 Glen Way Plat: Attorney James S. Margolin spoke on behalf of the applicant for the plat at 43 Glen Way in Cold Spring Harbor, whose application had a preliminary public hearing in front of the planning board. The plat is a two-lot subdivision (although three lots could have been created out of the proposal) and is approved as a single-family residence.

It is located in an R7 zone and was given a grant for a flag lot by the Zoning Board of Appeals in May of 2009, with a 36-foot setback in the back of the lot. The ZBA's grant came with several restrictions, including that there would be a) no further subdivision of the two lots, b) additional setbacks for the new dwelling on the lot, including a 50-foot rear setback, and c) that the existing vegetative buffer along the southern property line be maintained throughout the entire lot length.

Several changes to the plan were noted. The rear house had a garage added upon a request from the project's planning staff, and the driveway on the existing house was reconfigured for less disturbance to the neighborhood. A recommendation from an environmental review that a cesspool and expansion pool on Lot 2 needed to be moved was taken into account, according to Margolin.

A local resident spoke at the public hearing against the project, noting that 30 residents opposed the plan when it was presented before the zoning board. Her main concerns were that the flag lot would be dangerous for residents and that it would set a precedent for further subdivisions on nearby lands. Planning board member Avrum Rosen noted to the resident that they never usually recommend flag lots, but added that they had to proceed with the lot as a flag lot because the time frame to appeal the ZBA's ruling had passed.

After Margolin was given a chance to respond, which he did by saying he felt the plan benefited the neighborhood, the public hearing was closed.

Site Plans

Plans for two lots were denied by the board because they had not been updated in several years. One was for the proposed location of a Habberstad Nissan Used Car dealership at 960 Jericho Turnpike, Huntington Station, which had not been updated since a site plan was submitted to the planning board following a granting of a special use permit by the zoning board in 2002.

The other denial was in regard to a lot called "Laurette Prisco" located at 165 Depot Road, Huntington Station, which did not follow through after getting a grant from the zoning board legalizing two properties on the lot in 2006.

Subdivisions

329 Concord Plat: This subdivision, located at 329 Concord Street in Dix Hills, received a grant from the ZBA regarding two lots located on the property in February 2009, under the condition that all accessory structures on the lot were either legalized or removed. It was granted preliminary approval by the planning board in 2007 and final approval in 2008, but an additional approval granted in 2009 to waive a final public hearing expired on March 28 of last year. The application was being presented to determine whether this final public hearing should be waived again. It was determined that it would not be, as the board could not get unanimous approval to do so, as it was opposed by board member Mitchel Sommer.

There was extensive debate on the other subdivision application on the agenda, for the plot called Wieck Homes, located at 172 Broadway in Greenlawn. That plan proposes to create a new block with a cul-de-sac (called Wieck Court) for several homes to be located on. The debate was over a conservation area located between a neighboring property and the proposed location for the court, as there was a suggestion that the property owners to the north would be able to use that conservation area to install a driveway if the land is subdivided in the future. The planning board did not want to see this happen, and, in their approval of the subdivision, drafted an amendment preventing it from happening. (A suggestion from Steven Haber, the executive assistant to the planning director, that the court be moved up to the property line, eliminating the conservation area, was not taken into account by the board.)

Zone Changes

The only zone change request submitted to the board was submitted by the Huntington Community Development Agency in regard to a lot at 14 Columbia St., Huntington Station. The request was to change the zoning from an I5 (industrial) zone to an R5 (residential) zone to accommodate affordable housing plans. The planning board gave a strong recommendation to the application, with planning board member Lynn Healy citing it as a great example of the community "taking back the block".

ZBA Applications for Review

ZBA Application #20233: This application, filed in regard to a proposed building at 270 South Service Road in Melville, will request a special use permit to build a restaurant on the top of a proposed six-story building that otherwise will mostly consist of office space. Planning department director Anthony Alosio noted that the department strongly supported building a restaurant at the location in an effort to limit traffic in the area, but board member Avrum Rosen cautioned that such restaurants usually failed in similar locations.

Two members of the Melville Fire District, Robert Warren and Matthew Arundole, read a letter expressing their opposition to the project to the planning board. Among their complaints were that the proposed 90-foot structure prevented their equipment from reaching the top of the building, that it would cause a 135-foot collapse zone, that there would be communication problems at the site, that access for fire rescue workers was being ignored by the project designers, and that a restaurant would extend the building's hours of operation beyond those of a normal work day.

They also noted that purchasing the necessary equipment to properly service the building would cost between $800,000 and $1 million, which Sommer suggested should be noted to the zoning board, as the developer could be asked to pay for that equipment. Alosio and Rosen noted that most of the issues would be addressed in the site plan review, but they said that the issues relating to the restaurant should be included in the planning board's recommendation to the zoning board. The Fire District's letter was attached to the planning board's non-objection to the application and were expressed as concerns that needed to be addressed.

ZBA Application #20245: This application was filed in regards to , a restaurant located at the corner of Wall Street and Gerard Street in Huntington. It is switching the seating arrangements in its restaurant and will need a permit from the ZBA allowing it the use of a nearby municipal parking lot.

Rosen said he had no problem supporting the use for The Juice Box since it makes sense to do so and since the restaurant is much older than other places that were granted use of the lot. The board did not object to granting them use of the lot, but Rosen requested to Alosio that a tally of the businesses that use that municipal lot be provided, as the planning board needs to know how many spaces were granted to those businesses in case future applications request to use the lot. 

ZBA Application #20228: This application, filed in regard to a proposed site at 25 Depot Road, Huntington Station, will request a special use permit when it is presented to the ZBA to construct a building called the Station Sports Family Fun Center. The ZBA hearing date is April 7.

The planning board commended the idea of the center, saying it would give neighborhood kids a place to play after school and would help to revitalize the Huntington Station area. It did not object to the application, although it did request that green building techniques were taken into account in construction.

ZBA Application #20211: This application, in regard to the 205 Wall Street, will request an alteration of a special use permit to accommodate a 793-foot extension and the absorption of a neighboring dry cleaning business that closed. The planning board recommended to the ZBA that it does not object to the application.

The Town of Huntington Planning Board meets bi-weekly on Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. The next meeting is April 6.