Smithtown Town Board met for its bi-weekly meeting at Town Hall Thursday, April 20. The meeting was sparsely attended with around 10 people present. All five members of the board were present.
The meeting began with a site plan presentation from Liam Trotta of the Planning Department. The site plan application was in reference to The Preserve at Smithtown, which is a development by The Northwind Group. Its website describes the development as “a new boutique apartment community located in the picturesque hamlet of Nesconset.”
“The proposal is for a revised site plan for the proposed increase in gross floor area of the buildings from 172,873 square feet to 201,323 square feet,” Trotta said, “which is a net increase of 28,450 square feet overall, in accordance with the recent zone change modification, and to allow the project to
be phased.”
Phase one would include the construction of the sewage treatment plant. The next phases would include construction of apartment buildings on the property as well as a clubhouse in phase four.
“The phasing will essentially allow the occupancy of the buildings that have already been built while also allowing the future construction of the northernmost apartment units,” Trotta said. “The applicant has agreed to six conditions of approval, and the Planning Department supports the project as well.”
The Town Board unanimously approved this proposal.
During the public participation portion of the meeting, St. James resident Laurie Kaufmann-Robedee raised concerns about the traffic situation on Woodlawn Avenue in the hamlet. “There are tractor trailers traveling down that road, every day, at very high speeds,” she said.
According to her, Suffolk County Police Department previously told her that they did not have the manpower to post an officer there each day to ticket speeding vehicles in order to mitigate this issue.
“I don’t know where to turn to stop this type of traffic,” she said. “I don’t want there to be a fatality. If anyone has a suggestion where I should take my concern to, I would really appreciate it.”
Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R) recommended making an appointment with Councilman Tom Lohmann (R), who liaises with SCPD 4th Precinct. “He’s usually pretty successful,” Wehrheim said. “I would set up a meeting with the councilman, and I’m sure he would be willing to help
you out.”
Although the board meeting was scheduled for a possible two hours, it wrapped up after only 25 minutes. To watch a recording of this meeting, go to the website smithtownny.gov/226/Town-Meetings. The next board meeting will take place at Town Hall May 2 at 2 p.m.
Sound Beach Civic Association President Bea Ruberto, left, and Dorothy Cavalier, Democratic candidate for Suffolk County’s 6th Legislative District, celebrate during the hamlet’s 2nd annual Spring Festival. Photo by Raymond Janis
Along New York Avenue in Sound Beach, before rows of storefronts and restaurant spaces — some filled, others not — thousands gathered on Saturday, April 22, for the 2nd annual Sound Beach Spring Festival and Street Fair.
The event featured dozens of local businesses and merchants tabling outside, along with food stands, face painting, music and other festivities.
The annual festival is hosted by the Rocky Point Sound Beach Chamber of Commerce, an organization founded in 2018 to draw businesses and economic development into the neighboring hamlets.
Gary Pollakusky, president and executive director of RPSBCC, said there was a two-year gap in the first and second festivals due to COVID-19. With public health concerns abating, the chamber picked up where it had left off before the pandemic.
“We had, I’d say, over 65 vendors, and we had thousands of people come through, all seeing for the first time some of the new businesses in Sound Beach,” he said.
Bea Ruberto is president of the Sound Beach Civic Association, the leading advocacy group representing the hamlet’s roughly 7,000 residents. She has been a leader in raising awareness for this private beach community.
“One of the things that we as a civic have tried to do for years is make people aware that we exist, make our representatives aware that we exist,” she said.
To do that, Ruberto has been forceful in distinguishing Sound Beach for its unique history and local identity. She authored “Sound Beach: Our Town, Our Story,” which was recently adapted into the documentary film, “The History Upon Our Shores: Sound Beach, NY.”
Gary Pollakusky, above, president and executive director of the Rocky Point Sound Beach Chamber of Commerce. Photo by Raymond Janis
The historical uniqueness of Sound Beach established, Ruberto has her sights on the future. She said the annual spring festival represents a vital organ in drawing attention to the area.
“I love it because it brings people outside of Sound Beach into Sound Beach,” she said. “We want people to get to know about our community.”
Though several restaurants and merchants are in business, the commercial strip is a ways away from a fully formed, traditional main street. That, Pollakusky said, will require additional advocacy work to keep occupants of the storefronts commercially viable.
“Seeing businesses come and go is heartbreaking sometimes because those are families that are local and that are losing their livelihoods,” he said. “To see a business that did everything that it could to survive and then fail, it’s heartbreaking.”
Pollakusky indicated that countering these trends will take time and effort from local organizations and government. He outlined his aspirations for the hamlet.
“I’d like to see that our storefronts are filled,” he said. “I’d like to see that people want to come to Sound Beach to live and to patronize our businesses.” The chamber president added, “I’d like to see that we have a robust business community that is self-sustaining.”
Putting this vision into action is not so cut and dry. Consistently, Sound Beach has competed for and lost out on limited grant funding against established downtown districts also debilitated by the pandemic.
The commercial district’s small size is another limiting factor, cutting the hamlet off from certain types of grants.
“Sound Beach does not have a downtown,” Ruberto said. “We have two commercial nodes. Therefore, a lot of the downtown revitalization grant funding we can’t have.” The civic president added, “That has to be fixed.”
The Sound Beach commercial district is currently zoned J-2, a general business zoning classification typical for retail spaces. For Sound Beach to qualify for downtown revitalization funding, the Town of Brookhaven would have to rezone the hamlet to J-6, a Main Street Business classification.
Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) represents Sound Beach on the Town Board. Reached by phone, she commented on the difficulties of Sound Beach making use of those granting opportunities, stressing that Suffolk County should consider easing the criteria for qualification.
“Those funds are hard to come by,” she said. “I think the onus is on the county in being a little more flexible” in dispersing downtown revitalization funds.
Map of the Sound Beach commercial district, which is currently zoned J-2, a general business classification. Graphic from the Town of Brookhaven website
Currently, Sound Beach has much of the look and feel of a traditional downtown despite lacking the zoning classification of one. Bonner nonetheless remained open to the proposal to rezone the commercial district to J-6, potentially giving the hamlet a proper downtown and opening it to grants.
“If any business owner wanted to come in to become J-6, it’s certainly something that we would obviously entertain,” the councilwoman said.
The U.S. Census Bureau indicates that Sound Beach’s population shrunk by more than 2.5% between 2010 and 2020. This population decline is comparable to those of neighboring hamlets in the area, including Rocky Point, Miller Place and Mount Sinai.
Dorothy Cavalier, legislative aide to Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai), is running to fill the seat of her boss this November as Anker is term limited.
The candidate remarked upon the need for a larger governmental initiative to return small businesses to the area and keep residents from leaving the county for the Sun Belt.
“We’re losing a lot of people to Down South and other places, and we really need to figure out how to get them to stay here,” Cavalier said. “We need to get the small businesses back here because once we get the businesses to come back, the people will follow. They’ll stay.”
In the meantime, Bonner emphasized that the businesses in Sound Beach are still recovering from the aftermath of the pandemic. To support those businesses, she encouraged the community to continue patronizing local mom-and-pops in their hour of need.
“The pandemic really brought a lot of people to their knees financially, and our small businesses are the ones that suffered the most,” she said. “That’s why we have to invest with our dollars, to shop locally and support them.”
Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce president Jen Dzvonar, above, is a declared candidate for Suffolk County’s 5th Legislative District. Photo courtesy Dzvonar
The race to replace Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) is now a three-way contest as Jen Dzvonar, president of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce, has declared her candidacy.
Hahn’s 5th Legislative District spans Three Village, Port Jefferson, Port Jefferson Station, Terryville and parts of Coram and Mount Sinai. The incumbent cannot seek reelection due to 12-year term limits for county offices.
Former New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) and 2022 GOP primary candidate for New York’s 1st Congressional District, Anthony Figliola of East Setauket, have received their respective party committee’s nominations. [See story, “Legislative races ramp up across levels of government,” The Port Times Record, March 9, also TBR News Media website.]
Dzvonar’s campaign is unaffiliated with a political party. She owns the Port Jefferson Station-based Bass Electric and has served as chamber president for over a decade. She is also a Port Jefferson Rotary Club member.
In an exclusive interview, Dzvonar told TBR News Media she entered the race to build upon ongoing efforts within the 5th District.
“I wanted to make sure that our community is moving in a forward direction, still making progress, still revitalizing,” she said.
The chamber president suggested local initiatives often stagnate due to bureaucracy. She expressed interest in “streamlining” government services, limiting paperwork and removing other impediments within the county government.
“Especially being in the chamber, I see the struggle of local and small businesses — even small developers — that have a hard time getting things to happen,” she said. “It just seems to take so long, and I want to streamline that whole process.”
Among other policy concerns, Dzvonar said she would focus on addressing homelessness, maintaining that the county offers valuable services that are not used to their full potential. Accessing social services, she noted, should be simple.
“There are so many great programs already established for homeless people, people with addiction, with mental health,” the candidate said. “We just need to make those services more readily available.”
She added, “There just seems to be a disconnect somewhere. They don’t make it easy for people that have these issues to be able to obtain help.”
Dzvonar also proposed expanding sewer access into Port Jefferson Station, a measure she contended could bolster further community development. “We can’t get rid of the blight until that is done,” she said.
Dzvonar added that increasing the number of mental health personnel within the county and promoting the Safer Streets initiative are also items on her agenda.
To get on the ballot, Dzvonar has a tall task ahead, needing to obtain 1,500 signatures between April 18 and May 23. Election Day is November 7.
Left to right: Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich, Scott Declue, Joe Cristino and Neil DeVine at the town-operated Port Jefferson Boat Ramp.
Photo by Raymond Janis
On a rainy evening in April 2017, Smithtown resident Joe Cristino drove north on Barnum Avenue in Port Jefferson when he approached the intersection of West Broadway.
Between poor visibility and unfamiliarity with the sideroads, Cristino continued straight as the light turned green. This decision would prove to be nearly fatal.
Within seconds, Cristino’s vehicle was in the Port Jefferson Harbor, having plunged off the Brookhaven Town boat ramp just west of the marina. Six years later, he and two indivduals who helped save his life met with Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornriech (D-Stony Brook) at the scene to discuss potential progress.
Cristino recalled the moment he drove off the dock. “I see that I’m in the water, so I screamed out, ‘Help, please help,’ and I saw two people at the dock, and they came running into the water,” he remembered. “Next thing I know, I’m in the hospital.”
Cristino lost consciousness for hours, placed in a medically induced coma. Doctors did not know if he would be brain dead. He remained hospitalized for five days following the incident.
Luckily for him, there were two good Samaritans — Scott Declue and Neil DeVine — who helped to pull him from the water, saving his life.
Declue, who had braved the 38-degree water to pull Cristino from the car, remembered the trauma of looking into the eyes of a seemingly dying man.
“It’s something you never forget,” he said. “All I remember was looking at him and seeing those eyes, like, ‘You’re my only hope.’”
Declue recalled Cristino’s precarious physical condition: “He was foaming at the mouth, and when they pulled him out, he was in a [near] rigor mortis form, frozen.”
DeVine had jumped into the water as well. Along with Tony Barton and Wayne Rampone Jr., DeVine helped to pull a life-rescue line and ring carrying Cristino and Declue, lifting them from the frigid water.
DeVine, a Port Jefferson resident, remarked upon the severity of the moment. “To fail at this attempt would have changed our lives dramatically,” he said.
Cristino, Declue and DeVine remain friends, united by shared trauma.
Town of Brookhaven officials are working to alleviate longtime public safety concerns over the intersection of Barnum Avenue and West Broadway in Port Jefferson. Under the new plan, above, the town aims to redesign its boat ramp exit while adding landscaping and signage. Graphic courtesy Jonathan Kornreich
Layout changes
In December, Nassau resident Stuart Dorfman was pronounced dead at the scene after driving off the same dock. [See story, “Man suffers medical emergency, drives off dock in Port Jefferson,” TBR News Media website.] Six years after the original incident, the boat ramp remains the same.
DeVine, who passes by the intersection frequently, described an unnerving feeling of hearing about another tragedy. “Reading that in the paper definitely stirred up some feelings there,” he said.
‘This hopefully will never happen again.’
— Jonathan Kornreich
The Town of Brookhaven is taking tangible steps toward remediating the issue. Kornreich, whose 1st Council District includes Port Jefferson, attended the dock reunion with Cristino, Declue and DeVine.
Kornreich noted that the dock issue first came to his attention after reading about the most recent fatality at the site, after which he approached the town parks commissioner, Edward Morris, asking for a redesign. The commissioner complied with the request.
“There have been a number of these kinds of incidents,” the councilmember said. “We’re getting ready to repave over here, so as part of that I asked the parks commissioner, and we’ve redesigned” the intersection.
Kornreich presented engineering plans for the redesign, which include closing off much of the existing exit to traffic while adding trees and additional signage. The councilmember said the proposed layout changes should go into effect in the coming months.
Resolutions
Upon hearing the story of Cristino’s near-death experience, Kornreich expressed both consolation for the victim and optimism for the site’s future.
“This hopefully will never happen again,” he said to Cristino. “What you went through, no one should have to endure.”
Assessing the engineering plans, Declue remarked, “This is amazing compared to what’s going on here now.”
‘The only regret is that it didn’t happen sooner.’
— Neil DeVine
On why the safety hazard has stood unchanged for so many years, Kornreich suggested that simple solutions require the necessary public attention and political initiative. “It’s not politics, it’s not complicated,” the councilmember said. “It’s just that someone has to say, ‘Hey, there’s a problem here, and let’s fix it.’”
DeVine conveyed his confidence in the new plan. “The only regret is that it didn’t happen sooner,” he said. “But I’m happy that things are going to get done now, and I’m so thankful that Joe is here with us today.”
Declue noted that tragic events do not always come to tidy resolutions. He thanked Kornreich and the town for recognizing the public’s concern and putting a plan in place.
“You don’t have good outcomes like this all the time,” he said.
As for Cristino, who opted not to sue the town for the injuries he sustained, he remained appreciative of the potential remedy, though reminding the town not to let up until the intersection is made safe for all.
“Let’s try to get the ball rolling so that no one else will have to suffer a horrible event as I had,” he said.
VHB landscape architect Andrew Kelly, above, presented three concept plans to the Six Acre Park Committee and the Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees. Photo by Raymond Janis
With an approaching May 1 public hearing on the Maryhaven Center of Hope property on Myrtle Avenue, tensions are simmering within the Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees.
During an April 18 business meeting, trustee Lauren Sheprow clashed with Mayor Margot Garant and members of her administration over “the process” in which potential zoning code changes have been handled to date. This dispute comes as the village enters the heart of election season, with decisions over term extensions, term limits and election administration hanging in the balance.
The Six Acre Park Committee also inched closer toward a concept plan for the last remaining tract of undeveloped open space in Upper Port.
Maryhaven
‘We’d like to see the building be maintained or preserved somehow.’
— Margot Garant
As the village board prepares for the highly anticipated May 1 public hearing, Sheprow is at odds with some of her colleagues over how decisions with the property have been advanced. “I’m wondering about the process,” she said.
Responding, Garant said deliberations over Maryhaven predate Sheprow’s entry to the board in July 2022 as the previous board held a work session approximately 18 months ago with Alison LaPointe, former special village attorney for building and planning. At the time, LaPointe had advised the board to consider rezoning the property, the mayor said.
Gradually, the matter has become a question of historic preservation as maintaining the existing building is in the village’s interest, Garant added.
“We’d like to see the building be maintained or preserved somehow,” the mayor said.
Village attorney Brian Egan gave additional context, saying the process began in 2019 when Catholic Health notified the village it would sell the property. The issue, Egan noted, lingered for some time though Garant started pushing for the structure’s preservation.
“It became the village’s initiative — the mayor’s initiative — of engaging with Catholic Health, saying, ‘We’re going to work toward trying to save that building,’” Egan said. “That was really impetuous and got us to this point to say, ‘How can we save the building for an adaptive reuse as opposed to putting it all into a landfill.’”
He continued, “The policy of the Village of Port Jefferson — hopefully, if this board adopts it — is to preserve the historic building that’s on it and encourage its adaptive reuse as opposed to demolition.” Egan added, “The ideal process is to draft the zoning that this board wants to see, and make the developers work to that standard.”
Sheprow expressed her appreciation for Egan’s clarification, adding, “I appreciate that explanation very much, just would have loved to have had that before opening it up for a public hearing so that we all kind of understood the entirety of the concept.”
The board agreed to set a work session on Tuesday, April 25, at 2 p.m. to discuss the matter further.
Elections
Trustee Rebecca Kassay reported she had received resident interest in creating a task force to oversee the restructuring of village government and elections, exploring issues such as term limits and extensions, change of election month and counting ballots by hand or machine.
Sheprow shared that PJV is working to obtain a document from the Village of Southampton for reference. Southampton “had a panel that went through this process,” she said. “So maybe we can use that document as a guide to help look at best practices.”
Conversations surrounding election changes were prompted by a notification from the Suffolk County Board of Elections that its electronic voting machines would not be made available to the village, to be used instead for primary elections this June.
Sheprow inquired whether the village could rent or purchase voting machines to administer the upcoming June 20 election for village mayor and trustees, especially as at least two other Long Island villages will be using such devices.
Egan clarified the legality of this proposal. The village attorney cited the New York State Election Law, which bars villages from renting machines from vendors outside their county BOE.
“It’s not a question of the integrity of the machines,” the village attorney said. “It’s a question about whether the Election Law will allow us to do it, and the Election Law is very clear that it does not, and [the New York Conference of Mayors] is very clear that it does not.”
Six Acre Park
The Six Acre Park Committee met with the board, along with representatives of the Hauppauge-based civil engineering company VHB, toward finalizing conceptual plans for the 6-acre parcel along Highlands Boulevard.
‘Projects like this have been proven to greatly increase the safety and security of an area.’
— Rebecca Kassay
Garant outlined the committee’s purpose and the current status of the project. “The whole reason why we got this structure in place with the committee and the design team of VHB is because there’s a New York State grant that we are positioning ourselves to make an application for,” the mayor said. “We’re just trying to get to that point where we have what we need to make a submission.”
Andrew Kelly, a VHB landscape architect, presented three concept plans to the committee and board. Kelly said most spaces within the 6 acres would be open, tree-lined areas with native plantings. All options accommodate a realignment of, and on-street parking along, Highlands Boulevard.
Plans are to include security lighting, Kelly said. Kassay, trustee liaison to the Six Acre Park Committee, added that transitioning this area into parkland would discourage people from camping on-site.
“Projects like this have been proven to greatly increase the safety and security of an area,” she said.
The next steps are to decide upon a conceptual plan, likely integrating elements of all three concept proposals presented during the meeting. The mayor added that the board would soon return for a final round of public input as it completes the conceptual planning phase.
To watch the entire presentation on Six Acre Park, see the video above.
Correction: In the print version of this story, we reported an incorrect time for the upcoming Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees work session on the Maryhaven Center of Hope property.
The work session will take place on Tuesday, April 25, at 2 p.m. at Port Jefferson Village Hall. We apologize for the error.
The Huntington Planning Board approved development on the property of the Indian Hills Country Club. File photo by Sara-Megan Walsh
On the evening of Wednesday, April 12, the Huntington Town Planning Board approved The Northwind Group’s development proposal at Indian Hills Country Club in Fort Salonga.
Throughout the meeting, a recording of which can be viewed at huntingtonny.gov/meetings, residents can be seen in the background holding up “Vote No” signs in a show of disapproval of the proposal. Signs also read, “Let Us Speak on Indian Hills,” since members of the public were not permitted to speak openly at this meeting.
At the outset, Anthony Aloisio, the town’s director of Planning & Environment, said,“What I would want to do is just point out some of the improvements that we’ve made in the plan since the last plan that you approved was the preliminary plan.”
“In the revised plan we’ve asked for some depressions to be built on the property,” he added. “This was to capture stormwater runoff from the proposed development areas as well as from the golf course.”
Board chairman Paul Ehrlich defendedthe plan. “We’ve taken a long hard look at every aspect of this plan,” he said. “We’ve allowed the maximum amount of public input by having multiple public hearings, and even extending the comment period for months, well beyond those public hearings.” At this pointrumblings could be heard from the crowd.
Ehrlich said in the beginning of the process, the Planning Board passed a resolution directing The Northwind Groupand the planning staff to perform “abroad and comprehensive environmental review. ”
According to Ehrlich, at Northwind’s expense the town also brought in outside consultants to review their engineering study.
“As a result of all of this, important aspects of the environmental conditions that currently exist are being significantly improved,” he said. “This application could have easily moved forward without any of these actions.” He also said that the “proposed resolution will ensure that the land of the golf course remains open space in perpetuity.”
Planning Board member Joseph Tantillo said that he has done extensive research on this project. “I would like the record
to note that I feel confident that I can make an objective decision on this plan,”
Tantillo said.
Judge Robert Lifson also saidhe had done research into this project. “I feel no reason not to participate and vote, and I would vote to approve the project,” he said.
Judge Mara Manin Amendola addressed some of the residents present at the meeting.“I see your signs,” Amendola said. “I understand how the neighbors feel.” She went on to say that “you have to agree it is an improvement” from the original proposal, adding, “Yes, we see you’re not happy, and we’re sorry for that.”
The proposal passed 4-0. The building then erupted in a chorus of boos. Chants of “shame on you” echoed throughout the room for several minutes. This then led to Ehrlich banging the gavel several times with requests for everyone to “clear the room” since the board still had more business to attend to.
As the disturbances continued, Amendola said to a uniformed individual, “Can you make them leave? This is unacceptable.” While the yelling gradually quieted as the room was cleared, Amendola said to other members of the Planning Board: “I do feel bad for them, I do,” and then said, “This is bugging me,” in response to one individual shouting, “Corruption!”
Don McKay, who is running for a Town Board seat, attended the meeting and was not pleased with the way the approval was handled. In a phone interview, he said, “My primary objection is I think the entire application should have been a change of zone application.”
“Why this application did not go to the Town Board for full review and instead went to the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board, I believe was inappropriate. It should have gone to the Town Board as a change of zone application.”
“The way that this community was treated by the town was reprehensible,” McKay said. “They should have been given a lot more respect, courtesy, and they weren’t. That needs to change.”
“I understand the fact that the developer does have a right to build some residential units on the property if he wants to,” McKay said. “But what he has proposed is too intense, too high of a density for this property.”
John Hayes, president of the Fort Salonga Property Owners Association, which was founded specifically for the project, wasalso not pleased with how the Planning Board handled the situation.
“It was a so-called public hearing at which the public could not be heard,” Hayes said of the meeting in a phone interview.
“This hearing originally took place in February of 2022, and it was adjourned,” Hayes explained.
“In the meantime, three new plans had been filed by the developer, considerably different in grading, drainage, tree preservation. And we were not allowed to speak on any of this. No public input allowed on it.”
Hayes also said that they are not completely opposed to development at this location, only that the proposed plans go “way too far” and that there have not been any concessions made that he would consider reasonable. “We’ve never ever said no development,” Hayes said. “But we are very passionate about the fact that it should be minimal, and the houses should be placed away from existing residents.”
Hayes went on to explain that some residents that own homes by the golf course would now have several more houses adjacent to their properties. Some of these residents obtained professional appraisals to investigate what the potential effects of these new houses would be, and they were told their property values could decrease by as much as 10%.
In a phone interview, Jim Tsunis, CEO of The Northwind Group, disagreed with this claim. “The homes in the area will actually go up [in value] as a result of this community being built,” he said.
Tsunis, who has been in the real estate business for over 30 years, explained that “being in real estate for as long as I have and building communities in other areas, the homes in the area will benefit from this community being built.”
Tsunis said The Northwind Group has “met every single condition imposed by the Town of Huntington” and has “spent years studying and analyzing the site.” He also said that he has met multiple times with a different group, the Fort Salonga Association, a Fort Salonga-based civic association. “They helped me shape the community and they were able to endorse the community when the plans were completed,” he said.
“The Fort Salonga Association has approved every iteration of the plan since it came into being,” Hayes countered. “We can understand why the Fort Salonga Association was not opposed to the principle of developing on the golf course. What we do not understand is how they could endorse the fact that these houses were right next door to existing properties rather than in the interior of the course.”
Additionally, when asked about the Fort Salonga Property Owners Association, Tsunis said that members have not been in contact for over four years to discuss the proposal to come to some sort of compromise. He indicated he would be more than willing to meet with the organization to discuss the situation.
Hayes said the association had negotiated with Tsunis years ago, adding, “We mutually agreed that we were too far apart. Since then, we haven’t had any contact, but he hasn’t had any contact with us either.” Hayes said that when they talked “there was really no attempt to reduce the number [of houses] that had already agreed on with the town.”
The Fort Salonga Property Owners Association is undergoing the process of filing lawsuits against both the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board. “This is not a frivolous filing by any means,” Hayes said. “We would not be doing that if we didn’t think we had a very good chance of winning.”
A development proposal has caused uproar over the past month among residents of St. James, as reported in The Times of Smithtown. Mills Pond Group, owned by Fort Salonga developer Frank Amicizia, proposed the construction of an assisted living facility on the former Bull Run Farm on Mills Pond Road.
The proposal included a two-story, 97-bed assisted living facility to be built on the property, which is 9.02 acres in total and is in residential zoning. At a public meeting with lawyers of the developers of the project in March, many residents were outspoken in their disapproval of the proposal. This ultimately resulted in Town of Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R) announcing that a special exception would not be made for the assisted living facility.
Additionally, Wehrheim intends to legislate that assisted living homes will not be approved to be built in areas zoned residential. Smithtown public information officer, Nicole Garguilo, said that “for the longest time there was this loophole in the town’s code” which provided an opportunity for a “special exception” for developers when attempting to gain the rights to build on a piece of land.
“One of the most common criticisms was that developers often used this loophole to get through the process without having to go through a zone change,” Garguilo said.
This special exception essentially enables them to “go right to the Town Board rather than going through all of the zoning boards and environmental reviews — it was very frustrating to residents.”
Garguilo went on to explain that the Town Board intended to propose legislation to remove the loophole even before this issue arose with the Bull Run Farm proposal. She said she believes this would reflect the interests of the community.
“You’re going to be hard pressed to get anybody in the whole hamlet of St. James to support an assisted living [facility] on that land,” Garguilo said. “That land people want to see preserved. They want to see it maybe become an active farm again.”
Garguilo went on to explain that “a lot of it has to do with the sentimental value of the farm and the history there.” People remember when the farm was active, she said. Some might have fond memories such as sleigh riding or feeding carrots to the horses. Garguilo herself used to spend her allowance money on Blow Pops from the farm stand, and her family would frequently buy pies from the Elderkins — the family that ran the farm.
As there does not seem to be a path to building this assisted living facility at that location, an alternative option that the developers could turn to is building homes on the property.
“When they originally presented their plan, they had presented a backup plan with it, which was to build a subdivision of homes,” Garguilo said .
She went on to say that while members of the community would likely prefer the land simply preserved, they may be more willing to accept this alternative as it would be in line with the town’s codes.
“I think it’s a pill easier for them to swallow rather than seeing assisted living go up on that land.”
The next Town Board meeting will be held Thursday, April 20, at 2 p.m. at Smithtown Town Hall, 99 W. Main St. Garguilo said it is unlikely that the board will be prepared to vote on removing the special exception loophole at this meeting, but that residents should expect a vote in the near future.
Narcan kits will be placed in close proximity to automated external defibrillators in county facilities. Stock photo
A new bill sponsored by Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) has been approved by the county Legislature.
Her resolution requires kits of naloxone — or Narcan, its brand name — to be supplied in close proximity to automated external defibrillatorsin all county facilities. The bill was co-sponsored by county Legislator Tom Donnelly (D-Deer Park).
An April 4 press release stated that Narcan “is a lifesaving medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose when administered in a timely manner.” Hahn believes this bill will help to improve the outcomes of the opioid overdoses seen in the county.
Hahn has been passionate about fighting the opioid epidemic for more than a decade now. In April of 2012, she sponsored a resolution which enabled police officers to administer Narcan to overdose victims. The press release for the current resolution noted, “According to SCPD statistics, patrol officers equipped with Narcan have saved thousands of lives in the 10 years since the [original] bill was enacted.”
Old Field resident Carole Trottere came up with the idea for this legislation and brought it to Hahn’s attention only a few months ago.
“It’s really a no-brainer,” Trottere said. “Put them in wherever we have AEDs. … If you save one life, it’s sparing the parents the horrible grief that I go through and giving someone a second chance to try to get into recovery.”
Trottere has been reaching out to grieving parent groups. “You cannot believe how many groups there are on Long Island alone and nationally of grieving parents who have lost children to fentanyl and overdoses,” she said.
She has also been working with the Suffolk County Police Department’s Behavioral Health Unit. Trottere lost her son, Alex Sutton, to a drug overdose in 2018, and last year planned an event in memory of him at his favorite pizza place. Police attended and carried out Narcan training at the event. This is something they would offer to anyone else who would like to plan an event in memory of a loved one.
According to the press release, the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence also supports Hahn’s efforts.
She said this bill will be beneficial because Narcan kits need to be readily available. “What is frightening about the disease of addiction is that it can happen to anyone,” she added. “So it does need to be everywhere.”
Hahn also mentioned that street drugs are now sometimes laced with fentanyl, so someone could be taking what they think is a simple Xanax, but it’s actually unexpectedly laced with fentanyl.
“It’s probably the person who unexpectedly overdoses that will benefit the most from its placement,” she said. “If it’s ubiquitously placed, then more people will be saved.”
Hahn said she’s working with local universities to build the pipeline of clinical social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists that can help people battling mental health issues. She indicated the system is under-resourced, and she would like to work toward strengthening child, adolescent, and adult mental health in our communities.
Huntington Town Board will have two open seats November, with Councilwoman Joan Cergol (D) and Councilman Eugene Cook (R) not running for reelection.
Huntington Republican Committee has nominated two candidates: attorney Theresa Mari and town personnel head, Brooke Lupinacci. The Democrats have put forward Don McKay, deputy commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation, and Jen Hebert, program director of Kerber’s Farm School in Huntington and former local school board president.
TBR News Media reached out to the candidates to discuss their background, community involvement and what motivated them to run. We hope to have the opportunity to speak to McKay and Lupinacci in the coming weeks.
Republican Theresa Mari in one or two candidates running for Huntington Town Board seats. Photo from candidate
Theresa Mari
Mari has been an attorney for nearly 40 years, focusing much of her practice on family and matrimonial law. Originally from Port Jefferson Station, she has lived in Centerport for 30 years.
“We just have such a great town,” she said. “We’re just very lucky.”
While she grew up wanting to be a pediatrician, it was her internship at the office of state Attorney General Robert Abrams (D), while in college at SUNY Binghamton, that motivated her go to law school. The internship involved undercover work and investigations in the fraud department.
“I just I loved the whole thing,” she said.
After her time at the AG’s office, she secured internships in several law firms, learning more about the trade. While an English major, she took several philosophy and political science classes.
During her first year of law school at Hofstra University, she worked for Covidea, a computer banking company, in product development, and by her second year, was unofficially the general counsel, which became official once she graduated. She stayed on staff until the product was disbanded and helped close out the corporation.
Along with a few co-workers, she then founded a tire remanufacturing company, serving as their counsel and working them through to becoming public.
Once the business was sold, she went into private practice as Theresa A. Mari based in Hauppauge, quickly developing her love for family law while taking on real estate matters.
“I just found the family law stuff was really coming my way, and I liked it,” she said.
Mari quickly got on the fiduciary list to represent 18B plaintiffs and defendants, who cannot afford representation, so the court appoints a lawyer for them in family court. She also accepted appointments to represent children who receive court appointed attorneys at no cost to the family, which she still does to this day. In addition, Mari received a number of high-profile, privately paid court appointments to represent children in divorce cases, including the children of model Christie Brinkley and rapper 50 Cent.
“I have the respect of the judges,” she said. “And they knew I wasn’t going to be pushed around — I wasn’t going to be starstruck by it.”
Working cases involving such tremendous wealth and fame was challenging, she said, with high profile parents “set in their ways and decisions.”
Mari has also served as director of the Suffolk County Bar Association Charitable Foundation, which focuses on raising money for items like teddy bears in family court and clothes for foster children. The foundation also provided meals for first responders and gift cards for food pantries during the pandemic.
In addition, Mari worked with the Kiwanis International club, Cerebral Palsy Foundation and Every Child’s Dream, among other organizations.
“I spent most of my professional life advocating for and representing children in these kinds of dire circumstances and chairing all of these charitable foundations and so forth,” she said. “To me it’s the next logical step to try to serve my town and the community that I live in.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) proposal to change zoning laws, as well as overdevelopment, are some concerns she would like to address if elected.
“I’d like to keep Huntington, Huntington, not Queens,” Mari said.
Democrat Jen Hebert is one of two of the candidates running for two open Huntington Town Board seats. File photo by Rita J. Egan
Jen Hebert
Hebert was born and raised in East Williston, before relocating to Boston to attend Tufts University, where she received both undergraduate and graduate degrees in education.
After graduation, she taught kindergarten at a public school in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Hebert and her husband eventually decided to move back to Long Island to be closer to family.
“We were looking for a town that was similar to New England, and we decided Huntington was exactly the right place for us,” she said.
Having raised three sons in the Huntington school district, Hebert got involved in the district as a parent volunteer. Then, given her educational background, she decided to run for school board, serving for nine years.
“I’ve seen education from a 360-degree point of view,’ she said.
She counts the opening of the Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School, during her time on the board, as one of its chief accomplishments during her tenure. The school accepts students via a lottery system, and focuses on science, technology, engineering and math. It was founded after the district closed the building in 2010 due to crime in the surrounding area.
She also worked to implement new AP classes, increase STEM throughout the district, and founded the Robotics team.
“We worked really hard to bring equity to education and opportunities for all of our diverse student body,” Hebert said.
Eventually, Hebert became vice president, and then president of the board, describing her leadership as assessable and unifying. When she was elected to the board, and the community was grappling with the Abrams school closure, it was a difficult time for the district, she said.
“When I got on the school board there was a lot of animosity and a lot of division, and I think that I worked really hard and was very successful in kind of uniting people,” she said, adding, “I’m a big, great consensus builder and a great team player.”
It was Hebert’s belief in term limits that caused her to step down from the board in 2020,she said.
“I felt that nine years was enough on the board, and it was time for somebody with fresh eyes to take a turn, somebody else with different ideas and different opinions,” she said.
Hebert then decided to run for Town Board in 2021, as she still had a drive and desire to represent her community.
“I work really hard,” she said. “When I dedicate myself to something I dedicate myself 100%. Also, I think that if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”
Outside of the board, Hebert was administrator of St. John’s Nursery School in Huntington, until she became program director of Kerber’s Farm School about a year ago.
Kerber’s programming includes classes for children and adults of all ages, Hebert said, with topics such as organic gardening, farm-to-table cooking and sustainability. She has also brought in field trips with local districts for special-needs students, and created an internship program, an opportunity for Scouts to earn badges and a weekly life skills program.
If elected, she hopes to work on the revitalization of Huntington Station and advocate for the creation of a recreation center, as part of the $10 million revitalization grant the town was awarded from the state in January.
“I don’t want to be pinned down to something that I can’t then follow through on,” she said.
However, if she is able to be involved, she said developing a recreation center would be “a project near and dear to my heart.”
She is also environmentally conscious, she said, raising backyard chickens and planting native plants in her yard. If elected, it would be a priority to preserve open space and protect waterways.
“That’s going to be a huge priority for me in finding ways to do that,” she said. “Even if they’re just small, incremental ways, even if it means banning fertilizers — those things are going to be very important to me.”
Ultimately, she said, she wants to represent all residents, and be an accessible resource for her constituents.
“I would represent all of Huntington, all of the parts of Huntington, all of the people of Huntington,” she said. “I don’t care what side of the aisle you sit on, I don’t even care who you voted for. If I get the chance, I can hopefully be an accessible and a productive resource for our community.”
Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden, left, Michael Schwarting, partner of Campani and Schwarting Architects, center, and trustee Rebecca Kassay. Photos by Raymond Janis
Between rising sea levels, more frequent and intense storms and a changing climate, the Village of Port Jefferson is also addressing longstanding flooding concerns.
Public officials, architects and residents gathered at Village Hall on Wednesday, April 5, sharing updated findings of the ongoing village Climate Resilience Plan in a community workshop. With water targeting the village from all angles, data is being used to develop new intervention strategies.
“The Village of Port Jefferson, Drowned Meadow if you will [the village’s original name], has had unending issues with flooding as a result of topography, tides, runoff, rains, storms, a shallow water table and many other issues,” said Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden. “I believe tonight’s workshop will be extremely helpful in moving Port Jefferson toward the ability to implement a responsible and solid resiliency plan.”
Trustee Rebecca Kassay, the village’s sustainability commissioner, updated the public on the status of the Project Advisory Committee. Composed of residents, contractors, Conservation Advisory Council members and Amani Hosein, legislative aide to Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook), the PAC is pursuing the Climate Resilience Plan for the village with a focus on flooding.
The study is made possible by an $82,500 grant from the New York State Department of State to fund the creation of the Port Jeff plan. Michael Schwarting is a partner of the local Campani and Schwarting Architects, one of the firms hired to carry out various tasks associated with the grant. During the meeting, he updated the public on the study’s findings.
Flooding: an Achilles’ heel
Schwarting analyzed Port Jeff’s long history of flooding using historical aerial photographs and maps. He identified various hidden water bodies, such as Crystal Lake near the fire station and other creeks and streams, flowing beneath the existing built environment in Lower Port.
“The maps tell us a good deal about the conditions, and what we know is that it’s all still there,” he said. “That water is underground, and it doesn’t go away.”
Schwarting said three factors work to exacerbate flooding conditions: rising tides, waters below the surface and low-lying topography. “Those three things interact with one another to cause the problems that we’ve been having in the past, are still having and will have in a worse way, according to predictions,” the architect said.
The village is simultaneously afflicted by water from above, with projections for more frequent and intense precipitation events due to climate change. “The prediction is that the storms are going to increase,” Schwarting said, adding that as global sea levels rise, Port Jeff Harbor is projected to begin spilling over into much of the downtown business district.
Potential solutions
Despite the challenges ahead, Schwarting maintained that there are some natural remedies to help counteract these threats.
Storm drainage systems and rain gardens, for example, are already in place, collecting and channeling some of the stormwater load into the ground. Bioswales, bioretention planters and permeable pavement systems offer other modes of stormwater discharge and filtration, assigning it a reuse function as well.
The architect also proposed transitioning hardscape surfaces along the harbor, such as the Town of Brookhaven parking lot, as green space, which could add scenic value while acting as a floodwater sponge.
The next stages of the study will involve collecting more resident feedback and defining projects worth public consideration. Schwarting said a similar meeting would take place as those phases progress.
“We will start to move toward solving the problem now that we have spent quite a bit of time understanding the problem,” Schwarting said.
Kassay acknowledged the complexities of the flooding question, referring to these initial findings as “a little overwhelming.” Despite this, she maintained that planning and intervention remain the proper path forward.
“The only thing worse than digging into this problem is to ignore it because it’s happening, whether or not we do something,” she said. “We really need to come together to prioritize, make these decisions and support this work so that it is guided toward the result that you wish to see as a community.”
To view the full presentation and the Q&A portion of the meeting, see video above. To respond to the Port Jefferson Village Climate Resilience Survey, scan the QR code.
Prev
