Trustees Retain Attorney
for Zoning Matter
Huntington School Board members voted 5-2 at their meeting this past Monday evening to retain attorney Vincent J. Messina, Jr. as special counsel in a matter currently before the Huntington Zoning Board of Appeals.
Trustees acted upon a motion made by Richard McGrath and seconded by John P. Paci III. Trustees Christine Bene and Emily Rogan cast the dissenting votes.
Mr. Messina, a partner in the law firm Sinnreich, Kosakoff & Messina LLP of Central Islip, will represent the district at a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing this Thursday (January 27) at 6 p.m. at Huntington Town Hall on Main Street. The Huntington Housing Authority, in a joint venture with D&F Development Group's ZBA application, is proposing to rehab 30 existing family occupied units on the 2.99 acre site and construct a new four story building adding 46 new senior units and a dwelling for the superintendent at the Gateway Gardens housing complex.
The HHA and D&F were issued a denial letter on December 10 by the Town's Department of Planning and Environment, which cited a variety of reasons, including the proposed of units. The application seeks approval for 77 units on the 2.99 acre site while only 43 are permitted under current zoning regulations.
Trustees sent a letter to the ZBA earlier this month "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 Huntington School Board's position is that the HHA should be approved to build only the 43 units allowed under current zoning law rather than be granted permission to significantly increase the density to 77 units, or 26 per acre.
If the pending application is approved, Huntington School Board members have said they believe other district property owners will have a similar right to request increased density in an area that already contains the greatest density in the town.