DRI Matters Scarcely Discussed
Previously Published in The Messenger
By Matt Meduri
The Kings Park community turned out for a Monday evening meeting at Kings Park High School with the intention of contributing input for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) plan for the Kings Park Business District, which is separate from the $10 million State grant to improve and beautify the core of the district.
The meeting’s guest speaker was Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga), who essentially headlined the meeting to lambast a local resident and developer over a proposed fifty-unit apartment application in downtown Kings Park.
Tony Tanzi, a third-generation Kings Park resident, owns a construction firm, a hardware company, and several properties in the area. Tanzi is seeking to construct a fifty-unit, three-story apartment building on 2.26-acres near the corner of Meadow Road and Indian Head Road in place of a vacant restaurant.
The $22 million private investment is seen by some as a key to revitalizing the business district of the hamlet to promote food traffic and spur other local economic activity.
The proposal is currently awaiting a decision by the Smithtown Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), an autonomous entity separate from the Town Council.
Trotta, however, disagrees with the scope and location of the proposed luxury rentals, spoke heavily against it at Monday’s meeting, and fielded questions from a packed room of attendees regarding the proposal. The meeting was initially intended to gauge questions and garner public opinion on the Downtown Master Plan for the hamlet.
On August 13, the Town Board voted unanimously to accept the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the Kings Park Downtown Revitalization Master Plan. The consideration period ends on Friday, September 6. Residents who feel specific environmental issues were not substantially addressed in the FEIS may submit written questions to dew@smithtownny.gov or dbarnes@smithtownny.gov. Residents looking for additional information regarding the States DRI grant can visit kingsparkdri.com.
Some suggestions for the grant usage were discussed, including burying electric lines on Main Street, adding turning lanes at certain junctions, improving traffic signals, and increasing downtown tourism. These suggestions have already been submitted to the DRI committee during their public input phases.
The DRI plan recommends three sub-districts in the Kings Park Business District consisting of the Downtown Core, Downtown Transition, and Downtown Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). The Tanzi property is spawning the most controversy, being in the third category.
“I think the reason we’re here is because everyone read that they wanted to put 50 apartments on a third of an acre,” Trotta told the room. “If you think that’s too many apartments on a third of an acre, I’m going to ask all of you to email the Town Board to tell them it’s too much.”
Trotta also criticized the Town for not sending a representative to the meeting. Emails of correspondence between the Town and Legislator Trotta obtained by The Messenger show that the Town could not send a representative due to scheduling constraints between the response to Hurricane Ernesto and the upcoming Labor Day weekend. The Town also notified Trotta in the emails that the Town cannot send a taxpayer-funded employee to an event not sponsored by the Town after hours unless that employee were to volunteer.
Trotta confirmed receipt of the email and said that he has been “aware” of the “number of presentations and public meetings that have been held with respect to the various Kings Park reimagining efforts.” Trotta also said that he would encourage residents to contact the Town regarding the Tanzi proposal.
The Town replied that since the meeting was held regarding a proposal currently with the BZA, the Town would not be able to offer comments without incurring ethical violations. A spokesperson for the Town said that comments collected from the meeting would be entered into the public record if and when the Town Board hears the Site Plan Application for the Tanzi property.
Trotta compared the project to Governor Kathy Hochul’s (D) widely-panned plan from last year that sought to wrest local zoning control from municipalities to meet statewide affordable housing demands, in which fifteen units per acre were deemed as “too much.”
Trotta also said that after a recent tour of Huntington, he said that “95%” of the hamlet is two-story buildings. He added that three-story buildings are generally undesirable because they “block the sun” when pedestrians pass beneath them from the sidewalk.
Trotta also contended that there is “no criteria” outlined for apartments in the Kings Park Business District, referencing comparable metrics for other parts of Smithtown, such as thirty-four apartments on four acres in Fairfield off of Indian Head Road.
Trotta also said that a three-story apartment building with units on the ground floor would have “headlights shining” into the residences, along with noise from neighboring businesses on the other side of the building.
“Never doubt that a small number of people can change the world because throughout history, it’s the only thing that has ever changed [anything],” said Trotta, adding that the “squeaky wheel gets the grease” and recommending that residents opposed to the project “get loud” and protest the proposal.
“When you start putting fifty apartments on that site, you’re asking for a disaster,” said Trotta. He also conceded that while he is “not an expert” on traffic flow and management, he referenced a recent study that found Main Street is “so narrow, it’s dangerous.”
Trotta also said that if one should be interested in three-story developments, they should “go to Queens, Bay Shore, or Babylon.”
“I don’t want to live like that; this is Smithtown. We want to revitalize what we have, fix it up, and put some apartments in, not a ton of them,” said Trotta.
One resident said that while commuting from Queens on Route 25A, he witnessed the development throughout Queens, Nassau County, and Huntington, adding that “this is the one opportunity you can’t mess up, because everybody else is exploited already.”
Trotta and residents also bemoaned inconsistent facade coloring of buildings on Main Street, adding that consistency codes do exist, but that they’re not enforced.
The topic then turned to burying electrical lines on Main Street, a suggestion for which many residents have voiced support, citing safety hazards and general blight. Trotta said that the Town cited $10 million per mile for line burial. He contended that from Indian Head Road to Pulaski Road is just about a quarter-mile.
Utility poles are owned and maintained by PSE&G, while the lines attached to the poles are owned and maintained by the carriers. A spokesperson for the Town confirmed to The Messenger that the Town had recently received rough estimates from PSE&G upwards of $16 million per mile, however the Town is meeting with PSE&G to get an accurate assessment next week. A solution for utility poles and wire clutter is a major priority for the Town and is actively being pursued to present the community.
“I think this $10 million [DRI grant] is the biggest rip-off since the colonists bought Manhattan for $26,” said a resident, referencing the relatively low price for which settlers purchased the land that now houses New York City from the Native Americans. “I have a lot of evidence that this is the worst plan that is going to bury Kings Park.”
“Absolutely,” agreed Trotta. “If we stay vigilant, it will not bury Kings Park.”
One resident, who is also a commercial property owner in the area, said that another issue is “underground” apartments, which are constructed behind, above, and below commercial properties.
“You may not need fifty apartments, but those people are going to have to go somewhere,” said the resident. “They’re going to leach out into the streets and that’s a large community.”
One resident inquired about the parking plan for the development, to which Trotta said, “the plan is so out there.” He compared the parking plan to the Town’s plan for remediating some of the parking at the Kings Park branch of the Smithtown Library as park space, which he praised as a “great idea.”
“Ironically, they want to build all the heavy buildings on Meadow Road, a two-lane road,” said Trotta, referencing the parking inquiries around the proposed Tanzi apartment buildings. The Kings Park Downtown Master Plan also identifies the T.J. Maxx building as an opportunity site for a change of zoning should interest in redevelopment arise. However, the Supervisor has remarked that this was not viable for something the Town would consider adopting during his tenure.
Trotta also warned of a possible precedent being set should the Town ultimately approve the Tanzi development, stating that other developers will seek the same approval on grounds established by the Tanzi property.
“You can’t let it happen once,” said Trotta. “The good thing is, the plan is a plan. However, if there’s a [development] lawsuit that comes by, you’re going to have to build another fifty units from a separate proposal.”
Trotta also warned of a population swell that could burden the school districts and other municipal resources.
“The DRI committee admitted that in a one-square-block area, they’re estimating the population to increase by four hundred people, that’s not counting the proposed [Tanzi] apartment complex,” said Trotta. “Four hundred people in one square block is the definition of high-density housing.”
One resident added that since the DRI grant is taxpayer-funded, along with County funds going into the Kings Park sewer project, “it’ll be double-taxed and overpopulated.”
“Five years from now, you’ll all be crying when the school districts are oversaturated and have to expand their buildings,” said the resident. “What’s the biggest part of your property tax? The school districts.”
Another resident decried the Town’s recently-updated Master Plan, which had not been updated in over fifty years. The Master Plan serves as a blueprint for the Town’s path forward in terms of development, retention, and economic sustainability in the long term.
“Did anybody here vote for the Master Plan? No. The Master Plan has eliminated our vote,” said the resident. “Hence the railyard. Nobody got a vote on that. They just put it in.”
The proposed rail yard received federal approvals from the Surface Transportation Board (STB) on August 14 to build and operate the new rail line, pending mitigation efforts for environmental concerns. The proposal must first seek a lengthy application process and environmental review through the township prior to breaking ground.
There is currently no application before the Town of Smithtown.
On the other hand, the Master Plan had been put out before the community for eight years before the public portion was closed earlier this year. By default, the Master Plan is not voted on by the community.
Trotta closed the meeting by conceding that developers want to make money, which is not something he fundamentally disagrees with.
“They deserve to make money,” said Trotta. “We have to make sure that they don’t kill us by doing it.”
Present also at the meeting were Suffolk County Legislator Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset) and Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy (R-Nesconset).
Although the Monday evening meeting was mostly devoid of discussion specific to the Kings Park Downtown Master Plan the public consideration period for environmental issues closes next Friday, September 6th. Members of the public who wish to learn more or submit questions pertaining to the $10 Million state grant (separate from the Master Plan) can visit www.kingsparkdri.com or attend the community workshop meeting to be held Thursday, September 12, at 6:00p.m. at the RJO Intermediate Center’s cafeteria at 99 Old Dock Road.