Trustees Send Letter to Town ZBA
Huntington School Board members are asking the Huntington Zoning Board of Appeals to postpone a public hearing scheduled for January 27 to consider an application by D&F Development Group LLC of Lake Success for variances related to a proposed Huntington Housing Authority high density housing project in Huntington Station.
Huntington School Board President Bill Dwyer sent a letter to Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman Christopher Modelewski asking for the postponement "until we can meet with the Town and the HHA to express our concerns."
According to a legal notice the applicant is proposing to rehab the 30 existing family occupied units on the 2.99 acre site and to construct a new four story building containing 46 senior units and a dwelling for the superintendent.
The project would need variances related to the maximum number of units permitted, the maximum number of stories permitted and from "long street side yard setback, interior side yard setback and minimum parking requirements."
Current zoning on the property would allow for a maximum number of 43 housing units, while the proposal under consideration would result in 77 units. The minimum long street side yard setback requirement is 30 feet, while the project proposes 10 feet. The minimum interior side yard setback requirement is 12 feet, while the project proposes 10 feet. If approved, the proposal would also require 113 parking stalls according to current regulations, but only 77 such stalls are provided in the plans submitted.
Mr. Dwyer said he wrote to the Town on behalf of the entire Huntington School Board "to express our opposition to granting any zoning variances to accommodate the Huntington Housing Authority's proposed high density residential housing at the corner of Lowndes and New York Avenues. With all that has occurred over the past year we were disappointed that we learned of the project only through a small legal notice in the local paper, with no outreach from the Town to us."
The public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, January 27 at 6 p.m. at Huntington Town Hall, located at 100 Main Street. Huntington based attorney Michael L. McCarthy is representing the applicants for the variances.
"It is our strong desire to spare our Board, yourself, the Town and the Zoning Board of Appeals the public fight that is shaping up and instead to work collaboratively as partner to truly revitalize the area," Mr. Dwyer wrote in his letter.