HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB-02/06/2023 PH 1
--{ 1 . TOWN OF SOUTHOLD PLANNING BOARD
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK: STATE OF NEW YORK
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3
4 TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC HEARINGS
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7
SOUTHOLD TOWN HALL
8
FEBRUARY 6, 2023
9 6: 00 P.M.
10
11
12
13
14 DONALD WILCENSKI, CHAIRMAN
15 JAMES H. RICH, III, VICE-CHAIRMAN
16 MARTIN SIDOR, MEMBER
17 PIERCE RAFFERTY, MEMBER (VIA ZOOM)
18 AMELIA JEALOUS-DARK, MEMBER
19
20 PAUL DECHANCE, TOWN ATTORNEY
21 HEATHER LANZA, PLANNING DIRECTOR
22 MARK TERRY, ASSISTANT PLANNING DIRECTOR
23 BRIAN CUMMINGS, PLANNER
24 JESSICA MICHAELIS, PLANNING BOARD SECRETARY
25
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 2
r
1 INDEX
2
3 NAME: PAGE:
4
Arrow Horse Farm 3-5
5
Peconic Watersports 5-12
6
Greenport Medical Offices & Residences 12-109
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
? 25
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 3
1 ARROW HORSE FARM
2 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: We have three
3 Public Hearing' s this evening. The first
4 Public Hearing is for Arrow Horse Farm.
5 This agricultural site plan is for the
6 proposed construction of an 8, 064 square
7 foot building for the keeping, breeding,
8 raising and training of horses with
9 eighteen stalls and no basement. Also an
10 1, 800 square foot agricultural storage
11 building, two 240 square foot run-in sheds
12 with supporting parking and driveway
13 access on ±17 . 02 acres with Southold Town
14 Development Rights in the A-C/R-80 Zoning
15 District. The property is located at
16 13945 Oregon Road, Cutchogue.
17 SCTM #1000-83-2-9 . 3. At this point, we
18 would like to ask the applicant' s agent to
19 speak and then we will open up the floor.
20 MS . MOORE: Thank you. Patricia
21 Moore on behalf of Arrow Horse Farm. Via
22 Zoom, we have (inaudible) Rose, the owner.
23 If there are any questions that she can
24 answer, I will defer to her. I have Scott
25 Murphy who is the principle design
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 4
1 professional. He can answer any questions
2 regarding the design. As you pointed out,
3 this is a horse farm with agricultural
4 buildings that are strictly for the
5 purposes of horse farm. It ' s not for
6 public access. So if there are any
7 questions, we will address them.
8 Otherwise, I will sit down. I do
9 understand that the hearing will be open
10 till next month and reserve the right to
11 any comment. And I would respectfully
12 request if there are any significant
13 comments (inaudible) . Thank you.
14 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
15 Just if anybody is on Zoom, we did not
16 notify all the property owners. So this
17 application needs to be tabled until next
18 month. I am sorry. The hearing will be
19 held open. Can I get a motion to hold the
20 hearing open till next month?
21 MEMBER RICH: Motion.
22 MEMBER JEALOUS-DANK: Second.
23 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Motion made by
24 Rich. Seconded by Amelia.
25 Any discussion?
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 5
1 (No Response) .
2 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: All in favor?
3 MEMBER JEALOUS-DANK: Aye.
4 MEMBER RAFFERTY: Aye.
5 MEMBER RICH: Aye.
6 MEMBER SIDOR: Aye.
7 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Aye.
8 MS. MOORE: Any public comment?
9 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: I am sorry.
10 I am getting ahead of myself. Would
11 anybody like to address the application on
12 Arrow Horse Farm? Anybody on Zoom?
13 (No Response) .
14 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Do any Board
15 Members have any comments or questions?
16 (No Response) .
17 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Okay. Thank
18 you, Pat.
19 ********* ****************** *****************
20 PECONIC WATERSPORTS
21 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: The second
22 application' is for Peconic Watersports.
23 This site plan is for the proposed
24 creation of a 7, 535 square foot marine
25 sales, service, and storage facility,
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 6
1 including the demolition of an existing
2 building, on a 37, 123 square foot parcel
3 in the General Business "B" Zoning
4 District. The property is located at
5 46770 County Road 48, Southold.
6 SCTM #1000-55-5-9 . 1 . I will open it up
7 with Martin who is the agent' s --
8 applicant' s agent.
9 MR. FINNEGAN: Martin Finnegan,
10 13250 Main Road, Mattituck. I am here on
11 behalf of Peconic Watersports, the
12 applicant. I am also joined here by Doug
13 Adams, who is the project engineer and
14 Robert Johnson, who is the architect.
15 This site plan has --
16 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Martin, can
17 you just talk more into the speaker a
18 little bit? We' re having some issues with
19 the microphones. If you can just talk
20 into the microphone.
21 MR. FINNEGAN: Okay. So the site
22 plan is for the creation of marine sales,
23 a conforming parcel in the General
24 Business Zoning District. The parcel is
25 currently improved with a retail building
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 7
1 that will be demolished to make way for
2 the new facility. As the Board may be
3 aware, Peconic Watersports has been an
4 established marine business in our Town
5 and necessary for the continued growth and
6 viability of the business. The proposed
7 facility is a permitted use by Special
8 Exception in accordance with Section 288
9 of the Town Code. The project has been
10 designed to be compliant with all bulk
11 schedule and per the requirements per the
12 General Business District. However, a
13 variance will be required for the proposed
14 70 . 1 feet of linear footage. A 60 foot
15 wide facility on this parcel with two
16 separate buildings. Simply not workable
17 for the proposed use. Peconic Watersports
18 asks for a Special Exception approval.
19 Variances were heard by the ZBA in
20 November. And the record of that
21 proceeding is closed subject to your SEQRA
22 determination. The applicant submits that
23 the proposed use is in harmony with the
24 purpose of the General Zoning Ordinance,
25 which is to provide for retail, wholesale
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 8
1 commercial development and limited office
2 industrial development outside of the Town
3 and Business area. Generally along major
4 highways. And that we believe and submit
5 that the use will be compatible with the
6 surrounding commercial uses within this
7 Business District and vastly approve the
8 existing aesthetics and condition of the
9 property. A little bit about the
10 property. It is a conforming parcel
11 located on Route 48 . Approximately 406
12 feet west of (inaudible) Avenue in
13 Southold. As mentioned, it lies within an
14 extension of the business corridor.
15 Outside of the hamlet center. Includes
16 two strip retail centers. Fitness center,
17 natural gas service business, an auto
18 repair shop. Stand alone retail stores
19 and a new gas station convenience store.
20 There are residential properties to the
21 Southeast, but otherwise surrounded by
22 business zoned properties. The proposed
23 building will consist of a marine sales
24 and service area. Office space and
25 restrooms, and with the balance of the
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 9
1 square footage use of marine storage.
2 There will also be a second level loft
3 area for additional storage. Access will
4 be available from two points from the
5 north end of the property, along 48 . It
6 will require 10 foot distance from the
7 neighboring property line. As per code,
8 19 parking stalls have been proposed. The
9 balance of the stalls are in the rear.
10 The project as designed, will have ample
11 room for landscaping coverage and
12 additional buffers along the western and
13 southern borders. Substantial screening
14 is also proposed between the site and
15 neighboring residential uses. The
16 proposed design of the facility has been
17 offset by 25 feet, with a closer line to
18 the North Road. Gives visual appearance
19 of separate buildings. Can you pull up
20 that elevation? As you can see from the
21 elevation submitted. Plumbing is in the
22 required functionality for the proposed
23 use. The applicant submits that the
24 proposed retail storage facilities
25 entirely compatible with the character,
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 10
1 scale and appearance of the existing area,
2 and also entirely appropriate here in
3 Southold. Watersports are a way of life.
4 I know that the applicant will be
5 installing sanitary system and the
6 proposed action was recommended consistent
7 with the LWRP. We respectfully request
8 your approval of the site plan and I can
9 answer any questions.
10 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Does anyone
11 have any questions for Martin at this
12 time? Any Board members?
13 (No Response) .
14 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Would anybody
15 from the audience like to address the
16 Board on this application for Peconic
17 Watersports? Sure. You can step to the
18 podium. State your name and write your
19 name for the record.
20 MR. BERSEN: My name is David
21 Bersen, and for the past 25 years, owner
22 of a solar power boat at Preston' s Dock.
23 And I remember when Joe showed up at the
24 dock with his mirrored youth. I hadn't
25 seen him in many years. He worked hard.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 11
- 1 He brought a lot of joy to Preston' s Dock.
2 He is a better, responsible -- I mean, I
3 am running a solar powered boat. Joe is
4 very into that. Very clear. We have
5 worked together very well. He is a good
6 guy. A lot of integrity. I don't know
7 anything about this specific site plan,
8 but I have watched him grow from a couple
9 of little boats into this really nice
10 evolution of a young man making a stand --
11 establishing good business in Greenport
12 and Southold. Hiring local young people
13 who are working with him and getting
14 Captain licenses. So I wanted to say a
15 good word about him. I am not even going
16 to ask you for a discount. That is all I
17 can say.
18 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
19 Would anybody else like to address the
20 Board on Peconic Watersports?
21 (No Response) .
22 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Anyone else?
23 Anybody else? Last time.
24 (No Response) .
25 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Motion to
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 12
1 close the hearing?
2 MEMBER SIDOR: Motion.
3 MEMBER RICH: Second.
4 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Motion made
5 by Jim. Seconded by Martin.
6 Any discussion?
7 (No Response) .
8 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: All in favor?
9 MEMBER JEALOUS-DANK: Aye.
10 MEMBER RAFFERTY: Aye.
11 MEMBER RICH: Aye.
12 MEMBER SIDOR: Aye.
13 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Aye.
14 Opposed?
15 (No Response. )
16 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Motion
17 carries. Thank you.
18 **********************************************
19 GREENPORT MEDICAL OFFICES & RESIDENCES
20 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Okay. Our
21 third and final Public Hearing of the
22 evening is Greenport Medical Offices &
23 Residences. This Site Plan application is
24 for the proposed construction of four
25 10, 900 square foot office buildings with
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 13
1 three medical office units on the first
2 floor and ten apartments on the second
3 floor of each. For a total of 12 medical
4 offices, and 40 apartments. It also
5 includes a parking lot with 120 parking
6 stalls on 4 . 7 aces in the RO and R-40
7 Zoning District. An alternative site
8 plan, which is also called the "mitigation
9 plan" is also provided for review. This
10 second plan is proposed as mitigation of
11 potential impacts from the original
12 proposal pursuant to the SEQRA, State
13 Environmental Quality Review Act. The
14 mitigation plan proposes three 10, 900
15 square foot office buildings with 3
16 medical office units on the first floor
17 and 10 apartments on the second floor.
18 The mitigation proposed includes the
19 reduction in the number of medical offices
20 from 12 to 9, and the reduction in the
21 number of apartments from 40 to 30 . The
22 mitigation plan includes, in part, the
23 removal of one of the buildings, a
24 reduction in the size of the parking lot,
25 an increase in the buffer size, and the
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 14
1 relocation and reduction in length of the
2 western driveway. The property is located
3 at 160 New York State Route 25, Greenport.
4 SCTM# 1000-34-2-1. At this time before I
5 have the applicant' s agent present the
6 project to the Board, I would just like to
7 make a few comments so everyone is aware
8 of where we are. The reasons that the
9 Board is considering the condition of
10 declaration to be positive is the
11 Planning staff found potential moderate
12 to marked impacts in the following areas.
13 Traffic, noise, odor, aesthetics and
14 resources. The applicant upon learning of
15 this, offered mitigation to reduce those
16 impacts. The mitigation that they offered
17 was reviewed and geared to reduce
18 potential moderate, large impact. The
19 Board and Planning staff drafted a
20 conditioned negative declaration, which
21 included the mitigation offered as a
22 conditions, and added some conditions for
23 additional mitigation. The impacts of any
24 amount of new construction are expected to
25 occur. So the goal of the Board is to
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 15
1 decide whether or not those impacts rise
2 to a level of moderate to marked. The
3 Board has the following options regarding
4 SEQRA after this hearing. Number 1, adopt
5 a condition negative dec as it is. We can
6 revise a condition of a negative
7 declaration based on your comments
8 identifying more mitigation is needed,
9 which would result in an additional
10 condition that we would impose. The last
11 or the third option would be issue a
12 positive declaration instead of a
13 conditioned negative declaration. The
14 Board will listen to everyone' s testimony
15 this evening and we will consider our
16 options after the hearing is closed. We
17 understand everyone' s concerns and we will
18 gladly hear them tonight. And with that,
19 I would ask the applicant' s agent.
20 Martin, if you could address the Board?
21 MR. FINNEGAN: Good evening,
22 Martin Finnegan, 13250 Main Road,
23 Mattituck, for the applicant. I am joined
24 here this evening by Paul Doblowski and
25 our project manager. Thank you for the
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 16
1 opportunity to present this application
2 for site plan approval of the mixed use
3 campus style development that will provide
4 access to medical care and desperately
5 needed workforce housing for essential
6 workers that are found in the Village of
7 Greenport. We submit that the subject
8 property is ideal size and location for
9 this project and the required acres in
10 area. In close proximity to Greenport
11 Village, the hospital, San Simian, Peconic
12 Landing, Greenport High School and the
13 Greenport East Marion Fire Department.
14 All of those institutions are essential to
15 our Town and Village, and they all need
16 employees to operate. The proposed
17 development is entirely consistent with
18 the Comprehensive Plan, where there is a
19 creation of Affordable Housing opportunity
20 for year round residents, which is
21 paramount of the housing chapter. The
22 Comprehensive Plan speaks to the dire need
23 within the Town to create obtaining
24 housing and provide quality, accessible
25 human services, including medical
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 17
1 services. The proposed medical office
2 space at this site will accomplish the
3 goal of providing convenient access to
4 acquired medical care to residents who are
5 not able to travel. Although not
6 required, the applicant ,is voluntarily
7 making the proposed apartments affordable,
8 so that the potential residents in our
9 schools, hospitals, fire departments and
10 nursing homes will achieve access. The
11 applicant understands that there have been
12 questions raised about potential
13 affordability. With respect to the
14 property, the subject premises as we all
15 know is located in the intersection of
16 Main Street and County Route 48 Greenport.
17 The majority of the surrounding properties
18 to the east, west, south are residentially
19 zoned and developed. The parcel is vacant
20 and partially wooded, 7 . 8 acre lot, with a
21 massive concrete foundation across the
22 intersection surrounded by mounds of first
23 and brush from a previously abandoned
24 development of the site. The property is
25 the only RO zoning in the vicinity, which
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 18
1 is indicative of the Town Board' s
2 recognition of the parcel' s ability for
3 the mixed use development. This parcel
4 and the project fits squarely into the
5 stated purpose of the Residential Office
6 Zoning District and providing a
7 transitional areas of low density
8 residential development along major roads,
9 which will provide opportunity for limited
10 non-residential uses in essential areas.
11 The proposed site plan was thoroughly
12 reviewed by the Building Department, which
13 issued a Notice of Disapproval confirming
14 the proposed medical office space is a
15 permitted use of right and the second
16 level of apartments are also permitted,
17 with a Special Exception by the Zoning
18 Board of Appeals. No dimensional area
19 variance is needed or required for this
20 project. There was a question raised
21 about a 3, 000 square foot limitation in
22 the RO Code that applies to small business
23 offices. As the Board is aware, this
24 application is for medical offices that
25 are not subject to a square footage
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 19
1 limitation and again, that is confirmed by
2 the Notice of Disapproval. As the Board
3 is also aware, our application for s
4 Special Exception approval was reviewed by
5 the ZBA back in September and their
6 determination is pending your SEQRA
7 determination, which is also the subject
8 of this hearing. The applicant is
9 confident that this project meets or
10 exceeds the criteria for the issuance of
11 the Special Exception. I note that this
12 project was designed to be entirely
13 planned with the bulk schedule requirement
14 in the RO Zoned District, which appears on
15 the site plan. And as you can see, the
16 proposed construction meets or exceeds all
17 those requirements. With the buildings
18 that are there and proposed, we' re talking
19 12% lot coverage, where in a zoning
20 district, allows 30% . As originally
21 proposed, the development consists of four
22 campus style with office medical space on
23 the first level, and 10 workforce
24 apartments. On the second level of the
25 building, including 5 studios and 5
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 20
1 one-bedrooms units. The parking stalls
2 are proposed by code. The studios are
3 going to be about 350 square feet. The
4 one bedrooms are going to be about 525
5 square feet. There will be room for up to
6 three office suites on the first level of
7 each building, approximately 6, 000 feet.
8 Significantly, the property has access to
9 water and the Village of Greenport sewer.
10 As the Board is also aware, New York State
11 Department of Transportation is to
12 construct a new intersection at Route 48,
13 which is slated to be completed by final
14 approvals of this project. The roundabout
15 is designed to provide for significant
16 traffic at the intersection. As shown on
17 the site plan, access to the property is
18 limited to the northern side of the
19 property. The applicant has met with the
20 Architectural Review Board Committee and
21 considered their input and design. It is
22 evident from the review of the design and
23 renderings, that the proposed workforce
24 apartments above the medical office space,
25 are properly designed and compatible with
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 21
1 the surrounding residential use. The
2 substantial green space and natural
3 screening incorporating as a buffer to
4 adjacent residential properties. The
5 applicant will preserve as many trees as
6 possible, and incorporate new plantings
7 that will enhance the scenic vista with
8 each other properties. Through the site
9 plan and SEQRA review process, the
10 applicant became aware of potential
11 impacts on certain resources stemming from
12 the proposed development. As noteworthy;
13 however, the Planning Board' s impact
14 assessment confirmed that the proposed
15 action is (inaudible) surface waters,
16 plants and animals, archaeological
17 resources, open space and recreation,
18 critical environmental areas, energy and
19 human health. The proposed action is also
20 deemed consistent with the community plan.
21 There are only three resources identified
22 as having potentially moderate impacts by
23 the applicant. And they included, as
24 mentioned in the beginning, aesthetic
25 resources due to the properties location
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 22
1 on a scenic highway. Transportation of
2 traffic based on anticipated trip
3 generation from the site once developed,
4 and noise and light coming from the
5 construction phase of the project. It has
6 been suggested that identification of each
7 potential impact once the preparation of a
8 (inaudible) , the applicant respectfully
9 disagrees with each of these potential
10 impacts and will be mitigated by the
11 revised site plan presented. The
12 applicant has also prepared and submitted
13 a traffic impact assessment that will
14 include, if the development of the parcel,
15 it will generate 6% traffic volumes into
16 the perspective roundabout. Nevertheless,
17 the mitigated traffic, as well as, noise
18 and community character will result in the
19 elimination of 12, 000 square feet of
20 medical office space. A decrease in trip
21 generation from the site and will be less
22 than 5% . A reduction of the parking
23 requirement of 30 spots, will result in a
24 smaller blacktop area and more green space
25 within the parking area. As further
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 23
1 mitigation and traffic concerns and
2 activity at the site, access will be
3 extended along the perimeter of the
4 property and driveway to Main Street, and
5 bike racks will be available in secure
6 locations adjacent to each building. The
7 concerns regarding the scenic vista, the
8 applicant will add more Evergreen trees.
9 And large green space buffers proposed on
10 the west and north side of the property
11 will screen buildings from the roadway.
12 To address concerns about noise, the
13 impacts on neighboring parcels will be
14 consistent with community character. The
15 western access driveway of New York State
16 Route 25 will be reduced in size and curb
17 and move further internally, which will
18 increase the buffer on the southern border
19 and eliminate any encroachment to the
20 south noise. Fencing will be installed
21 along the entire perimeter borders of the
22 property. To further reduce down
23 (inaudible) from the site to the adjacent
24 properties. Additional plantings will be
25 added to the site. It ' s noteworthy that
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 24
1 the revised plan has 50 foot buffers to
2 the north and east and over 60 ft buffers
3 to the southern side, which will be
4 substantially vegetated, which result in
5 over 500 landscape coverage. The
6 applicant appreciates the Planning Boards
7 consideration for a conditional negative
8 declaration (inaudible) and potential
9 impact identified by the Planning staff.
10 I know that this project is entirely
11 compliant with the RO Zoning and bulk
12 schedule. I am just going to show a
13 rendering, and this is of the revised site
14 plan with the three buildings, smaller
15 driveway space. Ample Green Space that
16 has been added. It will be responsibly
17 constructed, if approved. And above all,
18 it ' s a desperately needed project for our
19 town. As I said on the outset, I am with
20 Paul and Chris Dweyer. If you have any
21 questions, please let us know or do you
22 want to take comment and address questions
23 later; however, you want to do it.
24 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
25 If there is any Board members who have any
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 25
1 questions for Martin at this time?
2 (No Response) .
3 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: At this time,
4 we would like to open up the floor to the
5 public. Please step to the podium and
6 state your name and write your name for
7 record. And please address all your
8 comments to the Board. Just as another
9 note, we have three different (inaudible)
10 and all your comments should be made to
11 us . I do not want to see a back and forth
12 to the applicant and the applicants agent.
13 Please address the Board. Thank you.
14 MEMBER RAFFERTY: My name is
15 Margot Perman of 1200 Main Street in
16 Greenport. And I want to thank the Board
17 for their time and work on this
18 mitigation. I know a lot of work goes
19 into it. Recognizing these efforts, there
20 is still significant issues that we need
21 to look forward to and address today. The
22 Greenport neighborhood has addressed the
23 traffic consultant and engineering, to
24 evaluate the traffic impact' s with the
25 associated proposed medical offices and
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 26
1 apartments. Mr. Schneider was unavailable
2 to attend this evening. These are not my
3 words, but I will be summarizing his
4 findings, and will submit his full report
5 to be entered into the record for
6 consideration. As part of the evaluation,
7 the consultant reviewed various documents,
8 traffic impact and assessments prepared
9 and various other documents that are
10 covered in his report. The result of his
11 report was, "in order to properly evaluate
12 the anticipated impacts of the new
13 proposed development, it is critical to
14 perform a traffic impact study that is
15 based on the most up to date information,
16 including but not limited to site
17 description, existing traffic volumes
18 associated with the proposed development
19 and in the vicinity and roadway design
20 features that are reasonably expected to
21 exist when the proposed site is built. "
22 The impact study that was created for
23 this, which was dated October 26, 2022
24 fails to incorporate all the updated
25 details. And therefore the traffic
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 27
1 impacts are not appropriately evaluate the
2 use of the traffic study to support the
3 new development. Those were his findings.
4 Based on Schneider Engineering' s review,
5 there are concerns that the traffic impact
6 statement summarized to the following six
7 points. First point, he developer' s
8 assessment did not obtain its own traffic
9 volume to a level of service analysis.
10 Instead relied on existing traffic volumes
11 for their roundabout. The DOT' s traffic
12 volume were taken during COVID. Currently
13 traffic volumes have likely increased with
14 associated activity of farms, vineyards
15 and hotels. Thus, they recommend new
16 traffic volume being taken to reflect the
17 increases in the existing traffic.
18 Second, the traffic impact assessment
19 relies solely on no build project volume.
20 Calculated by the DOT and their final
21 report. They do not include any proposed
22 developments because none were identified
23 in the next 20 years at the time this was
24 done. Most importantly, the subject
25 development directly adjacent to the
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 28
1 proposed roundabout. As we are familiar,
2 numerous projects and applications in
3 Southold are on the table have really
4 increased more traffic. In addition, in
5 2015 and 2019, there were existing sites
6 that were not being told were utilized as
7 they are now. And there are examples of
8 those in the traffic consultants report.
9 Clearly there is a need for a new traffic
10 report. And should include this new
11 development and the proposed development.
12 Third, a Saturday peek hour is not
13 analyzed in the analysis. Saturday is a
14 critical period for this area. This is
15 when traffic is higher, especially in the
16 summer months . Number 4, the traffic
17 assessment only analyzed site volume in
18 their analysis and not the intersection.
19 It is essential that an LLS analysis be
20 performed. In addition to, that the
21 intersections of Main Street and Bailey
22 Avenue be added. This should be analyzed
23 because it will have an immediate effect
24 on our neighborhood. The new development
25 placed at the corner of the roundabout.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 29
1 There is a need to address safety issues
2 at the intersection as well as other
3 environmental issues discussed. And
4 finally, a traffic assessment should
5 include an alternative analysis with an
6 intersection at New York State 25 and
7 Route 48 on the roundabout. Based on our
8 conversations and the traffic consultants
9 conversations, this is what we were told.
10 A roundabout is one of four locations that
11 the DOT is including in this project.
12 This will be completed one at a time and
13 in order. Therefore, the development may
14 be constructed before the roundabout
15 exists. Furthermore, a delay in the DOT' s
16 project can potentially delay the
17 roundabout from being constructed on time
18 or prevent it from being constructed all
19 together. So clearly, there is a
20 possibility that if the construction
21 begins on the development project, there
22 may not be a roundabout because of the
23 time. This may worsen. So in conclusion,
24 the traffic consultant, Mr. Schneider
25 concludes, that based upon our review that
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 30
1 the applicant is subject to an updated
2 traffic assessment. The traffic
3 consultants information is on the report
4 and I will be bringing it up to you, and
5 he will be happy to answer any questions.
6 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you
7 very much. If you want to bring the
8 document, you can give it to Jess. Again,
9 everyone, please speak to the Board. So
10 please don' t go back and forth. So with
11 that, if anybody would like to address the
12 Board, please step to either podiums and
13 address the Board. Write your name for
14 the record.
15 MS. LINDLEY: My name is Pearl
16 Lindley, and I live at 512 (inaudible)
17 Place. I live about a block away from the
18 site. I a member of the Greenport North
19 Neighborhood Association, which consist of
20 44 homeowners and their families. And all
21 located in the immediate neighborhood of
22 the property. And some of our members are
23 here today. And I have several statements
24 from members that couldn' t be here that I
25 would like to read into the record
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 31
1 whenever that is appropriate. The traffic
2 report that Margot just presented, credits
3 the impact statement that was submitted
4 with the mitigation plan and clearly
5 describes why a new traffic study must be
6 done during peak summer months, prior to
7 granting approval of this project in any
8 form. Either in its original form
9 (inaudible) determination that the traffic
10 is a moderate and clear impact to declare
11 a positive declaration. Looking at the
12 draft negative declaration, the mitigation
13 plan does nor satisfy our concerns about
14 the square footage of the offices of
15 approximately 15, 000 square feet, the
16 number of apartments 30, and the number of
17 parking spaces. We would like to see
18 additional mitigation that addresses the
19 overall project and in addition, we would
20 like to see the size of the apartments to
21 increase and make them more family
22 friendly and more consistent. In addition
23 to future mitigations, we' re going to need
24 to include a number of covenants and
25 restrictions across a wide range of
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 32
1 issues. To address a variety of issues.
2 I have mentioned a few of them here, but
3 there are a lot. To keep our
4 neighborhoods free of the construction
5 vehicles. There was a little bit of that
6 in the first mitigation, but additional
7 mitigation is needed. The finding of the
8 permissible use of commercial space for
9 present and future, the finding a
10 permissible use of the apartments, present
11 and future, including keeping them
12 affordable. Setting appropriate rental
13 rates and incrementing changes in traffic
14 on local roads to minimize the spillover
15 of traffic. As you explain, and I
16 understand at today' s hearing, I believe
17 it' s going to be our last chance to
18 communicate directly with the Board and
19 then submitting written comments for
20 process to close on March 6th.
21 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: We will let
22 you know.
23 MS. LINDLEY: At that point, the
24 Planning Department and the Planning Board
25 will compile our review. All of it and a
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 33
1 decision to move forward, either with a
2 condition negative declaration or with a
3 positive declaration, could happen as
4 early as the Boards April work session.
5 Further if I could just ask, if the Board
6 could explain further how things will go
7 forward and how we can continue to be
8 involved? As I mentioned, I have several
9 statements to read. Should I do that now?
10 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: If you have
11 copies, you can give them -- everything
12 that is submitted to us in writing, we get
13 copies of it and we' ll go through the
14 process of when we go through all the
15 information tonight. We will hear from
16 the applicant and the applicant' s agent.
17 All that information is going to be gone
18 through and determined. As far as the
19 procedure, that pretty much spells it out.
20 We ' re going to take all this information
21 that we have, myself and Heather, Planning
22 Director, and we have the minutes from the
23 ZBA meeting, that I believe was held back
24 in December. So some of those concerns
25 were already put into the record and put
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 34
1 into the file to be addressed, as well as,
2 everything that is heard here tonight.
3 And we will take all that information and
4 move towards a decision. Obviously, we
5 will notify the public at that point.
6 MS. LINDLEY: I guess my question
7 was too, also once you do reach a
8 decision, is there going to be additional
9 work that needs to be done still?
10 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Yes . What
11 we' re going to do, whatever we hear
12 tonight that is addressed, we are either
13 going to -- we will ask the applicant and
14 the applicant' s agent to make those
15 changes to our satisfaction and add those
16 on as to conditions, to consider a
17 negative dec. If they do not come up with
18 what we see is enough mitigation, then we
19 can go to the other two options. One of
20 them would be a positive dec.
21 MS. LINDLEY: Okay. I think that
22 is enough, thank you.
23 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
24 Would anybody else like to address the
25 Board?
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 35
1 MS MURRAY: Good evening. My name
2 is Anne Murray and I am here representing
3 the North Fork Environmental Council. We
4 appreciate the fact that the applicant has
5 submitted revised plans that mitigate some
6 of the impacts of this development. We
7 believe however, that the full permanent
8 environmental impacts of this proposal on
9 traffic, density, and the scenic view
10 sheds in comparison with the original
11 (inaudible) cannot be sufficiently
12 evaluated without a full GEIS SEQRA
13 review. We still believe it would be in
14 the best interest of the Town and Planning
15 Department issue a positive declaration
16 under SEQRA, which will examine the
17 critical issues that we have mentioned, as
18 well as, others that continue to be
19 indicated by the community that is here
20 tonight. In addition, while it is true
21 that Southold Town is in desperate need of
22 Affordable Housing, we believe that
23 Affordable proposal should have covenants
24 that guarantee ability and perpetuity. I
25 didn't see that indicated in the
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 36
1 mitigation proposal. Thank you very much.
2 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
3 Yes, sir?
4 MR. JIM: Jim (inaudible) . 17
5 Knapp Place in Greenport. At the
6 intersection of 25 and Main Street in
7 Greenport, almost every weekend from
8 Memorial Day weekend to the first weekend
9 in November, there is a traffic jam up
10 from Main Street. And I know this because
11 I see it every weekend. Part of this, I
12 know that people who are familiar with
13 that neighborhood, there are residential
14 areas. And I saw surveyors looking in the
15 last couple of days. During the weekdays.
16 Never during a weekend and not at night.
17 Especially a Friday or Saturday when the
18 traffic is high. These are just my
19 observations. Mr. Pawlowski, is an expert
20 at the Planning Board, said that it would
21 increase no more than 60 . If you don't do
22 the surveying during the weekend, you
23 won't get a true consensus.
24 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Excuse me.
25 When you' re saying surveying, surveyors in
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 37
1 our County?
2 MR. JIM: Yeah. Surveyors in our
3 County, with tri-pods. Up and down. They
4 weren't surveying in the evening.
5 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: I am not sure
6 I understand. You' re talking about the
7 cars being backed up on -- you' re talking
8 more about traffic?
9 MR. JIM: Traffic, yes.
10 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: They are
11 surveying the property of the land. Not
12 the traffic.
13 MR. JIM: Well, someone needs to
14 do traffic monitoring. And one of the
15 other concerns that I had was on the
16 structure of the property and medical lot.
17 I know that they' re going to be on the
18 first floor and second floor. Individual
19 apartments. The group for the East End
20 sent a letter to you guys on 11/18/2022,
21 stating that there wasn' t enough specific
22 information about the buildings
23 themselves. Especially parking. And I
24 know that Mr. Pawlowski wants workforce
25 housing. But according to the HUD, all he
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 38
1 has to do is give 100 of whatever the
2 amount of apartments are available. So
3 with three buildings and 30 units
4 available (inaudible) . So my question
5 was, how many workforce units would be
6 available? What will the rents be? It ' s
7 Affordable Housing. Are they going to be
8 leased or -- or is it going to be a month
9 to month situation. I know that someone
10 here from the Planning Board meetings said
11 that this was going to be great for
12 seasonal workers. So if they' re going to
13 be seasonal workers and there is a lease,
14 how can they get in there? So that was
15 implied. 350 square feet, there are going
16 to be 4 apartments. Then it says
17 one-bedroom anywhere' s from 411 square
18 feet to 545 square feet. 411 square feet
19 in an apartment is basically a studio with
20 a closet. So that is not a whole lot of
21 room. I am just saying. At Peconic
22 Landing, they just put in a brand new
23 medical facility, which is run by Stony
24 Brook Hospital. They have five examining
25 rooms, five physicians of different
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 39
1 specialities and practices. And they' re
2 on different days. And so if there are
3 other facilities doing the exact same
4 thing in Greenport, what has been done to
5 determine that. the community will need
6 15, 000 nine office facility? Is there a
7 need? So I am not sure that can be done,
8 how important is it? Because there are
9 offices in Southold and all areas around
10 Greenport. So I don't know how big markup
11 of that medical building is there. And
12 you know, that to me is vital to
13 understand and have that specified. What
14 will happen to this space if it can' t be
15 leased? Also the same thing with the
16 apartments, if no one goes in there, is
17 that going to be an empty Air BNB? I
18 don' t know if it ' s RO Zoning or not. Our
19 quite community can see the likes of maybe
20 a hair salon, gas station, pizza place,
21 UPS stores, maybe a restaurant. I don' t
22 know. It' s not specified in that. The
23 reason I say this, we know -- I see that
24 there was an eyesore that was built and on
25 123 Sterling Ave, and that is vacant and
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 40
1 still is . So my belief is -- and it was
2 one of my favorite sites. I enjoyed going
3 down and seeing the area. And now, I
4 don't even go there any more. I don't
5 know how the tenants feel about it and the
6 people that live there, but it ' s, you
7 know, not a happy sight, at least for me.
8 It seems to me that we' re awarding Mr.
9 Pawlowski another opportunity in our
10 neighborhood when his last project hasn' t
11 surfaced yet. And we don't need another
12 empty building. Thank you.
13 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
14 Anybody else? Yes.
15 UNKNOWN FEMALE SPEAKER: --
16 mission to advocate for Affordable Housing
17 and workforce housing. It is not within
18 our purview to discuss site plans, zoning,
19 building issues. We leave that up to the
20 experts and that is up to you and the
21 planners. We do advocate for is workforce
22 and Affordable Housing. We do understand
23 that this parcel is already zoned for the
24 the purpose that he is projecting it to
25 be, which is R0. It will be using
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 41
1 Greenport sewer, Suffolk County Water.
2 Located near the Village and pedestrian
3 side walks. We have met with Mr.
4 Pawlowski at least six times over the last
5 two years over this and the other projects
6 that he has been working on. His
7 commitment to workforce and Affordable
8 Housing should not be called into
9 question. We are convinced that this is a
10 developer who really cares about workforce
11 housing. Evidence of that is given in the
12 manner in which he had mitigated in some
13 of the challenges that -- by which -- in
14 the Planning reports and the neighbors.
15 He is aware of these things and he has
16 mitigated them to the point where he has
17 cut the project back by 250 . Both in the
18 offices and the residential areas. He has
19 reduced the size of the parking lot. He
20 has moved the driveway. He has
21 landscaped, buffer zones. He is trying to
22 meet the challenges that are before us .
23 He is not saying take it or leave it. He
24 is working to mitigate. And it is our
25 belief that if there were additional
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 42
1 mitigation put before him, he would do his
2 best to comply with that. We at the
3 housing commission consider to be worthy
4 of approval. Thank you.
5 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
6 Would anybody else -- yes.
7 MS . MILLER: Thank you for having
8 us today. First of all. My husband and
9 I, Sarah Miller, moved to our home on the
10 corner of North two years ago. We are
11 directly across from the proposed site.
12 We fell in love with everything that
13 Greenport stood for. Authentically
14 beautiful Village that had a connection to
15 a fishing and beach community, with homes
16 that were both original and quirky. But
17 all had the aesthetic that had
18 (inaudible) . We spent a lot of time,
19 money and love, as much as we could, to
20 have a welcoming corner for all that may
21 come and goon the north side of Greenport.
22 Every time someone stops to see the work
23 that we have done. We truly have fell in
24 love with the corner that we love to call
.25 home. And our excited to welcome a circle
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 43
1 that should help because the backup and
2 the noise that is a very busy
3 intersection. So that brings us to why
4 we ' re here. From the property that is
5 being built right across the street from
6 us, from the aesthetic value and the
7 design, feel more Riverhead than
8 Greenport. Affordable Housing that makes
9 us question who are they affordable for?
10 The traffic analysis? The proposed
11 medical use? There are already vacant
12 medical use in the area. The lack of
13 environmental impact study to understand
14 the environmental impact on air, land,
15 water, soil, wildlife, and removal of
16 mature breathing growth. We are always
17 open for change and progress in our
18 neighborhood, as long as it' s done
19 thoughtfully and with a proper angle in
20 mind. And it doesn' t feel that this
21 project has gone through the proper
22 avenues. So we' re again to simply make a
23 case for a slower, more thoughtful
24 approach to everything we previously
25 stated. This seems like a short term
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 44
1 benefit. Thank you.
2 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
3 Just to make a comment, the DEIS that we
4 have done, has addressed many of the
5 issues that you have brought up and will
6 take all of that into consideration as we
7 move forward. Thank you.
8 Would anybody else like to address
9 the Board? Yes, sir.
10 MR. SPURLING: I am Jonathan
11 Spurling. I am the owner of the property
12 within a 150 yards of the proposed
13 development at the intersection of North
14 Road and Main Street, 115 Main Street and
15 117 Main Street. Both of these rental
16 properties are workforce housing and
17 Affordable Housing. I am strongly opposed
18 to the proposed project for the following
19 reasons. One, I believe the increase in
20 traffic will result in developmentally
21 created hard situation at a road juncture
22 that is already burden. I don' t think
23 that the traffic analysis presented in the
24 last Planning Session on this property is
25 sufficient or credible. I am convinced
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 45
1 that an independent traffic study from an
2 acceptable firm is needed before any
3 decision is made. The property across the
4 street from the proposed location has
5 extensive wetlands, which extends to the
6 property behind both of my houses. It is
7 beaming with wildlife. I believe the
8 paving and the construction on the site
9 will cause increase water runoff, that
10 will affect both of my properties, as well
11 as, be harmful to the wildlife in the
12 area. A thorough environmental assessment
13 by an independent party appears to me to
14 be required before any approval. The
15 intensity development on the site will
16 negatively affect the quality of life with
17 increased traffic and noise. I think the
18 addition of more Arborvitae' s and Leyland
19 Cypress will be just be a band aide. It
20 does not appear to my knowledge, an
21 additional demand for medical facilities
22 in the area. Thank you.
23 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
24 Yes, sir. Step to the podium.
25 MR. HUSTESS: Hello. My name is
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 46
1 John Hustess. I live at 305 Bridge
2 Street. First of all, I want to thank
3 everyone for working so hard in trying to
4 make this project more acceptable to the
5 community. That amount if clear. So
6 thank you all this evening. But also, I
7 saw an article in the paper recently that
8 said that Suffolk County led New York
9 State than any other county for vehicular
10 pathology (sic) . That is quite a
11 statement to have. And traffic is the
12 defining issue in a very small area that
13 is the North Fork. A sliver, a mile wide.
14 Given our valid concerns, no one is
15 speaking against Affordable Housing.
16 People safety to not allowing Greenport to
17 turn into something like Sag Harbor or
18 Southampton. So I do believe that it is
19 simply prudent and proper to do an in
20 depth traffic study on this project, on
21 the roundabout. On what that is going to
22 do. I don't think that is an unreasonable
23 demand. And given what I just said, I
24 hope you will consider that. Thank you
25 very much.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 47
1 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
2 Anybody else? Yes, sir.
3 MR. RIEHLE: Jurgen Riehle. I am
4 at 1200 Main Street in Greenport. I live
5 right around the corner from the
6 development. And previous speakers have
7 brought up deficiencies in this issue. I
8 would only bring two points back. The
9 first one that Mr. Pawlowski that relies
10 heavily on the DOT report that we have
11 heard a lot about. A report on the
12 roundabout. However, his assessments of
13 -- do not address key parts of the DOT
14 report. It is the part that deals with
15 the presence of (inaudible) planning to
16 develop. The DOT conducted a screening
17 that included Mr. Pawlowski' s proposal.
18 And it says, unknown materials was
19 identified within the southeast portion of
20 the proposed project. Additional concrete
21 hit walls that led to conduit, drainage
22 pipes, utility pipes were observed near
23 the intersection. And I think you saw
24 some of that on the aerial photograph. It
25 continues and says, utilities installed
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 48
1 prior to the 1980 ' s are potential for
2 asbestos containing materials. The DOT
3 report, which is really quite interesting
4 to read, albeit at all, repayments
5 mitigations. "As a mitigation measure,
6 hazardous waste contaminated material site
7 assessment is recommended. " In order to
8 assess potential impacts to the property,
9 if necessary, a remediation plan will need
10 to be developed after hazardous
11 waste/contaminated material site
12 assessment. I request that the DOT
13 findings and mitigation be included in any
14 environmental impact study. My second
15 point, is something you may be familiar
16 with. Mr. Pawlowski describes this
17 project as medical offices. It' s
18 interesting that Southold' s Code contains
19 no definition of what a medical office is.
20 It sounds absurd but other town code' s
21 take time and define the term and disallow
22 certain uses. And I also ask for your
23 consideration to disallow certain uses.
24 The question is, would the Southold Code
25 allow medical lab, medical spa, medical
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 49
1 weed dispensary? Suitable definitions and
2 restrictions should be added to any permit
3 this project might seek. And Mr.
4 Pawlowski' s own traffic impact assessment
5 as we discussed before, draws significant
6 conclusions. It says even that the
7 medical office generate the most trips and
8 their anticipated uses, Saturday would be
9 significantly lower. A Saturday peak hour
10 was not (inaudible) . The contention that
11 anticipated usage on a Saturday, on a
12 weekend would be significantly lower, is
13 not a given. Not a given at all. City MD
14 and similar offices are open 7 days a
15 week. 8 : 00 A.M. to 8 : 00 P.M. So a
16 Saturday peak hour is necessary to
17 analyze. From the applicants own
18 assessment, medical office generate the
19 most traffic. You know, it ' s just not
20 logic his conclusions or assumptions on
21 conclusions are wrong. The applicant' s
22 assertions that have potential risks of
23 allowing a developer to apply his own
24 interpretation. I request that the
25 Planning Board formulate a clear
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 50
1 definition of medical offices for this
2 project and require the applicant to
3 conduct a traffic impact study specific to
4 this defined use in perpetuity. Thank
5 you.
6 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
7 Would anybody else like to address the
8 Planning Board?
9 MR. BAYER: Good evening, Board.
10 And thank you for staying so late. I know
11 that you guys do this often and it' s
12 difficult work and we do appreciate it.
13 This is a very serious issue. My name is
14 Scott Bayer. I live on Sound Road. And I
15 have been full-time on that street for
16 many years. By calculating in the 15
17 years that I have lived there, traveling
18 at least two times a day back and forth to
19 my house, takes about four trips a day
20 through that intersection, which simple
21 math tells me is about 800 times a year.
22 About 21, 000 times since I have lived
23 here. Therefore, I want to qualify myself
24 as an expert by experience. The
25 experience is first personal. It ' s not
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 51
1 statical. I think it ' s important. And I
2 think there are many people in the
3 neighborhood who live much longer than me.
4 I know the years that I have been there, I
5 have noticed that the neighborhood has
6 become a real neighborhood. It' s
7 developed. Everything towards the Sound,
8 everything from the Highway, has now been
9 developed. , There is very few lots left,
10 which means we have a lot of traffic.
11 There aren't that many places where the
12 traffic can get onto the Main Road. I
13 have noticed the speed of the traffic is
14 extraordinary. And a lot of my bone to
15 pick is not with this Board. It ' s with
16 the State. And we are trying (inaudible) .
17 I am not sure if the roundabout is the
18 best solution. Quite frankly, I am not
19 going to be popular for saying this, but I
20 think we need traffic lights. We need to
21 have a way to enter into that intersection
22 without putting yourself at risk of
23 getting killed. The traffic coming down
24 the road is supposed to be 40/50 in a
25 general neighborhood. They are going 65.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 52
1 When the Cross Island Ferry discharges
2 passengers, there are hundreds of cars
3 coming at one time. I have to sit for ten
4 minutes to get out of Sound Road. The
5 people who are traveling down that path,
6 are not local residents. The State
7 controls that road. There are frequently
8 accidents. And frequently at times, there
9 are people that are severely injured. If
10 you go ahead and put medical offices and
11 additional housing with tremendous amount
12 of density onto the other corner, we' re
13 going to have an even greater capacity.
14 So I am saying that without a serious
15 traffic study, it can't go forward. It' s
16 going to be a nightmare and a problem. We
17 also have to get clarity on lights, a
18 roundabout or nothing? And that is
19 information we need from the State. So I
20 personally say we need a positive
21 declaration. We need a full environmental
22 study. There is also a service station in
23 that area for a long time, and I think the
24 risk of disturbing the grand there is
25 high. Who knows what is in that ground.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 53
1 This would be a concern for people in that
2 neighborhood who are in close proximity
3 and what will be disturbed. So that kind
4 of concludes my few points. Although I
5 believe there are many more to be made. I
6 think you should go with a positive
7 declaration. Thank you.
8 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
9 Would anybody else like to address the
10 Board?
11 MS. GREENBAUM: My name is Joanne
12 Greenbaum. I live at 519 Sterling Place.
13 I agree with what everyone is saying. I
14 wanted -- I am reading the determination
15 of significance and the last paragraph
16 where it says moving and processing
17 equipment from further -- it says no
18 clearing, grading or constriction vehicles
19 shall travel over Bailey Avenue or
20 Champlin Place during the construction
21 period. Well, I live on Sterling Place
22 and Knapp, and I do not want to see
23 construction vehicles on my street.
24 Sterling Place, between Champlin and Knapp
25 is a very narrow street. Small houses.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 54
1 People park their cars and trucks on the
2 street. I also work at home and during my
3 work day, I do not want to see cement
4 trucks, construction vehicles. I do not
5 want to hear construction. So hopefully
6 this project will not ever happen. But if
7 it does, I need to know that I won' t have
8 to even look at any construction vehicle
9 going by my house. And I will submit my
10 other statement. Okay. Thank you.
11 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
12 We' re going to bring somebody over from
13 Zoom. Jess?
14 MR. HENRY: Thank you. Paul
15 Henry. I am a neighbor. I live down the
16 street. Before I read my statement, I can
17 attest to the increase of traffic that has
18 accumulated over the last couple of years.
19 There is absolutely no reason to think
20 that anything is going to change. In
21 support of Affordable Housing, we can all
22 agree that Affordable Housing remains
23 primary concern and major challenge. For
24 the record, I am in favor of Affordable
25 Housing on this property and support such.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 55
1 Despite Mr. Pawlowski' s claims, there is
2 nothing here that is consistent with our
3 community or character. On the contrary,
4 this mixed use high density project is
5 unique and inconsistent with anything
6 else in the Town. I am so tired of
7 hearing developers pitch their project as
8 if they were some sort of saint coming to
9 save the day. Just because one calls the
10 project Affordable Housing does not make
11 it so. It has become all to common for
12 developers to throw the magic word
13 Affordable Housing into the mix. Like
14 Abracadabra, Alakazam. This project is
15 neither affordable decent housing. A 350
16 square foot unit is the size of a small
17 hotel room. The developer recently stated
18 at a Town meeting that rents would start
19 around $1500. 00 . In addition, it' s no
20 small matter that this project will be
21 adjacent to the worst traffic intersection
22 on the North Fork. The pending one lane
23 traffic circle on that one corner is
24 certain to slow down the long lines of
25 ferry traffic and can back of the
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 56
1 northbound traffic on Main Street. Trying
2 to get into the circle, which will clearly
3 block the exits and entrances of this
4 project. In fact, there are usually lines
5 to get into that intersection already and
6 backed up past the proposed entrance. The
7 DOT Traffic circle project was studied
8 without knowledge and consideration of
9 this project. Therefore, a new unbiased
10 traffic study is in order and should be
11 required. This developer has a history of
12 changing his mind and not doing what he
13 says. Please note that at 123 Sterling
14 Street at Greenport, the last project this
15 developer built, the final approval was
16 contingent on 5 Affordable Housing units,
17 which are yet to materialize despite
18 completion of construction over a year
19 ago. This developer went to great efforts
20 to try to exclude the agreed upon
21 Affordable Housing units from the
22 building and ended up isolating unused
23 Affordable Housing sections behinds walls
24 to separate them from the rest of the
25 building. Like First Class and Third
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 57
1 Class. He also originally agreed to allow
2 public access to the waterfront which
3 gained him concessions and support, but in
4 the end he just changed his mind. By the
5 way, he also claimed at a Village
6 meeting I attended that the 123 Sterling
7 project would be in character with the
8 neighborhood and fit it. Please drive by
9 if you are not familiar with it. There is
10 an abundance of medical space already in
11 this Town. I know some medical space that
12 has sat vacant for over a year with no
13 prospects. The existing zoning will allow
14 for other uses that no doubt will be
15 coming into play. If Mr. Pawlowski builds
16 this project, what will the next owners
17 envision? As you are aware, the
18 property is zoned RO Residential District.
19 The legislative intent of RO is very
20 clearly defined. "The purpose of
21 Residential Office District is to provide
22 a transition area between business areas
23 and low density residential development
24 along major roads, which will provide
25 opportunity for limited non-residential
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 58
1 uses in essentially residential areas. "
2 Please note the key phrases "low density
3 residential development. " This project
4 conforms to none of this. There are
5 limits defined that are consistent with
6 the stated purposes, such as residential
7 uses are restricted to one family detached
8 dwellings. Office space is limited to
9 overall 3, 000 square feet. The number of
10 apartments shall be limited to the maximum
11 of six apartments. So it ' s clear that by
12 intent all the provisions of RO Zoning
13 Code specifically restrict and limit the
14 size of any buildings to comply with the
15 stated purpose. I am pretty good at math.
16 Please help me understand how a three
17 mixed use building, 15, 000 square feet of
18 residential space and 30 residential units
19 from anything that this code specifically
20 allows? One would have to jump through
21 hoops to interpret any of the language to
22 allow the density and scope of this
23 project. The code was clear, it should
24 never allow a project of this scope in the
25 Town. I have no problem with building
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 59
1 affordable houses on the site. It would
2 be very desirable and appropriate. I can
3 easily get behind it, if done in
4 consideration of the neighborhood
5 community and especially the recipients
6 with density. This corner is not the
7 backyard of nimbyism. It ' s the front
8 yard. The corridor to the Village of
9 Greenport and Orient. Allowing
10 Mr. Pawlowski to build a mixed use, three
11 building complex with 15, 000 square feet
12 of commercial space, packing in 30 units
13 above some of which would be 350 square
14 feet is a misguided use to address our
15 Affordable Housing crisis. It' s clear
16 that the legislative intent of the RO
17 Zone is never intended to produce such a
18 dense mixed use travesty. If Affordable
19 Housing is really the priority, let' s
20 really look around and make whatever land
21 use changes are necessary in order to do
22 away with the commercial spaces and
23 produce something that makes sense for
24 everybody in the community. Especially
25 those who will end up living here.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 60
1 Something to be proud of. I am sure the
2 community of this Town can all get behind
3 that. Thank you.
4 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
5 Would anybody else like to address the
6 Board?
7 MS. DELUCA: Good evening, Chairman
8 and Members of the Planning Board. My
9 name is Marina DeLuca. I am environmental
10 associate and a full-time resident of East
11 Marion. I appreciate the opportunity to
12 provide comment on this proposal.
13 (Inaudible) . We have been involved in the
14 review of this project since inception and
15 in addition to comments that we have
16 previously submitted to the record,
17 primaries area of concern that I would
18 like to address this evening. So the
19 gentleman who spoke before me, spoke a lot
20 of the content that I had written out. So
21 I will not repeat and exact as per his
22 testimony, I would like to second it and
23 try and paraphrase a couple of additional
24 things. He clearly pointed out the intent
25 of this zone is for low density
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 61
1 residential only. Non-residential uses.
2 Environmentally sensitive balanced
3 development. In addition, within the
4 Zoning -- give me one second. I condensed
5 a list of the permitted uses, single
6 family dwellings, meeting halls, Bed and
7 Breakfast, home offices, galleries, small
8 businesses that are limited to 3, 000
9 square feet. And following that,
10 permitted by Special Exception via the
11 ZBA, there are restaurants, funeral homes,
12 apartments over offices, and conversion of
13 current property into apartment buildings.
14 Following that, 280-38, states that the
15 number of apartments shall be limited to
16 six apartments when a building is being
17 converted. The proposed action before you
18 this evening is a four, 10, 900 square foot
19 campus style buildings. Each containing
20 three offices on the ground and ten
21 apartments above. 40 units in total.
22 While there are no direct stipulations, we
23 ask that you consider the additional
24 context of this zoning. Small businesses
25 are limited to 3, 000 square feet. There
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 62
1 is a limit to six apartment buildings
2 following a Special Exception approval.
3 We believe that the scale, density and
4 character of this project wildly exceeds
5 the intent of the zoning. Even if the
6 project is scaled down to three buildings,
7 we still believe that the density proposed
8 far exceeds the development that this zone
9 was intended for. We ask that the
10 Planning Board consult the Zoning Board or
11 others who have the authority to determine
12 if this truly reflects the overall intent
13 of the Zoning. I just ask that you look
14 at this in context with the other
15 information provided by the code. The
16 second area that I would like to address
17 this evening, this project receive a
18 positive declaration pursuant to the State
19 Environmental Quality Review Act. And I
20 apologize. This is going to be a little
21 bit dense. If you have any questions on
22 clarifications, just let me know. The
23 purpose of SEQRA is to create a detailed
24 and transparent review process where the
25 entire scope of an action will be fully
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 63
1 understood at the beginning of the review
2 process. This project as it has come
3 before different boards and land use of
4 the Town, has had different names,
5 different site plans, and submissions and
6 alternatives. And currently up until the
7 beginning of this meeting, it was unclear
8 if there were two different site plans up
9 for review or site plan would have a
10 negative declaration imposed on it, how to
11 move forward with each site plan in
12 particular? And how the Board would make
13 that determination of which proposal in
14 front of them would move forward with.
15 Ultimately, while we recognize that the
16 developer is adjust their project based on
17 public comment, the review process has
18 become decreasingly (inaudible) . The
19 purpose of SEQRA was to provide a clear
20 effective review process, rather than a
21 current horse trading between the
22 developer as to which plan may be the best
23 option. This strategy doesn't allow for
24 effectiveness and allow for public comment
25 because nobody understands what exactly
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 64
1 we ' re reviewing. Due to the size and
2 scale of the density and visibility and
3 complexity of this project, will not only
4 urge the Planning Board to (inaudible) we
5 believe it is am undeniable necessity.
6 Upon review of the SEQRA handbook, there
7 are a few significant points that I would
8 like to bring to your attention this
9 evening. First, in Section 617 of 7-1, to
10 require an environmental impact statement
11 for proposed action, the lead agency must
12 determine that the action may include the
13 potential or least significant adverse
14 environmental impact. Two, to determine
15 if an environmental impact statement is
16 not required for an action, the agency
17 must determine either that there will be
18 no adverse environmental impacts or that
19 the identified environmental impacts will
20 not be significant. The comparative
21 assessment should be clear, detailed and
22 incorporated into a draft environmental
23 impact statement. This is why we believe
24 that it ' s imperative that the Planning
25 Board issue a positive declaration on this
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 65
1 proposal. Thank you very much for your
2 time and consideration of these comments.
3 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
4 Just to clarify a couple of things. We
5 are working on the second plan. The plan
6 has showed mitigation. You had stated you
7 were not sure which plan we' re working off
8 of, we' re working off of the second plan
9 that the applicant has downsized and
10 mitigated. Just to be clear.
11 MS. DELUCA: Many of the notices
12 are still listing it as a four building
13 proposal.
14 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: As we hear
15 everyone tonight, we can put more
16 conditions on these -- our requests from
17 them. If not, it would go to a pos dec if
18 they are not willing to do what we want
19 them to do.
20 We have someone that we will bring
21 in on Zoom now.
22 MS. DECRUZ: Hello. Thank you for
23 taking my opinion. So I also agree with
24 needing a traffic study and an
25 environmental impact study before anything
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 66
1 -- any okay is given for this project.
2 And I second Paul Henry' s motion -- or I
3 third it actually. I thought he did a
4 really good job speaking about many of the
5 things. What I just want to bring up is,
6 the idea that we do need Affordable
7 Housing but I think many developers or
8 some are saying, I am going to do
9 Affordable Housing and then it gets --
10 yeah, let' s do it and things get rushed
11 through. And that is sort of -- you know,
12 sort of a sneaky way of trying to get your
13 plan through. And I am not just talking
14 about Paul, but anyway. I think that the
15 Town since -- we have a Comprehensive
16 Plan, but I know that the Town of Southold
17 was talking about perhaps doing a
18 moratorium on more developing and planning
19 and building. And Affordable Housing to
20 me, 350 square feet, how many people here
21 would want to live in 350 square feet?
22 You can do it for a while but if you have
23 a job here, a partner or a boyfriend or a
24 girlfriend, you can't live in 350 square
25 feet. Affordable Housing needs to be
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 67
1 designed so that people can grow into it.
2 Like so one bedroom or a bedroom should be
3 apart of Affordable Housing and a studios.
4 But this is not a plan that really works
5 for people. And I do think we need
6 Affordable Housing. I think we should
7 really look at what we need and how we
8 want to do it, so that it does work. It
9 should be put on the table and looked at
10 in a larger sense. Thank you for
11 listening.
12 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Would anybody
13 else like to address the Board? Yes, sir.
14 MR. O'NEILL: Hello. My name is
15 Jerry O'Neill. I live on Bailey Avenue.
16 I just want to start by echoing a lot of
17 the sentiments. I heard them, but I think
18 it ' s important that you hear them from
19 everyone. I am a little disappointed that
20 we were not able to get a letter
21 (inaudible) regarding the beginning of
22 this project, back in ' 21 when the initial
23 plans of the project -- the original site,
24 there was no buffer. There were 174
25 parking spots. The minute that it was
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 68
1 suggested that we need a buffer, then
2 those parking spots were eliminated and we
3 went from 174 down to 120 . So we now have
4 a buffer. So we have had mitigation since
5 Day 1 of this project. Regarding the
6 parking spots, we all know the numbers,
7 how do we need 174 parking spots?
8 Somebody said we need a buffer, how did we
9 lose 50 parking spots if they' re not
10 required? 5 for the office people. 1. 5
11 for the residents. What medical office is
12 going to have 5 people in it? And this is
13 a workforce environment. The traffic
14 during the first part of the day and end
15 of the day is going to be bad enough. And
16 by the way, I apologize. I didn't start
17 off by saying, we do appreciate the Board.
18 Everyone recognizes the need for
19 Affordable Housing. We want to do it .
20 Along the other lines, we look at
21 alternatives. In Mattituck, there was a
22 nice proposal to have four dwellings. No
23 commercial. And it accommodated a family.
24 If that went into this space and that is
25 something that could be accommodated, that
FEBRUARY, 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 69
1 would be a home run. And that would
2 eliminate commercial traffic. The point
3 of this -- and we have heard a traffic
4 circle and the statements on why. There
5 are a lot of issues outside the Town of
6 Southold with transportation. And once
7 again, whether you disagree or agree, the
8 traffic circle that is going to do it, I
9 think it should be a full size traffic
10 circle to accommodate the traffic and the
11 flow. Certainly the size and the
12 apartments that everyone has highlighted,
13 they are not for family. More importantly
14 somebody eluded to, they' re for seasonal
15 workers. We' re not looking for transient
16 workers in our neighborhood. We would
17 like to see families. The location is the
18 worse location as a practical. I won't
19 repeat what much was said by others, but
20 you have to acknowledge, this is a
21 developer. And he has a right to make an
22 appeal. That is his business. If you
23 talk about Affordable Housing and doing
24 the right thing, there has to be a middle
25 space. And I don't think that particular
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 70
1 space will accommodate businesses, whether
2 commercial or retail, in that quantity.
3 So I do thank you for your time and
4 comments. One last comment, going through
5 the mitigation proces, started off with
6 four buildings and no buffer. That was a
7 negotiation. I hope that we can wipe the
8 slate clean and figure out what you want
9 to do with that. So I appreciate the
10 Board' s time and thank you.
11 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: And just
12 for the record, if I did say "retail", I
13 misspoke. Would anybody else like to
14 address the Board? Yes, sir.
15 MR. BERSEN: My name is David
16 Bersen. I live at 508 Sterling Place.
17 Most of where Eddie Galinski used to
18 live and Joe Rose and people that we love
19 and miss. I think of them sometimes
20 thinking about this disaster evolving at
21 the end of the street. Being the kind of
22 person that I am, last week, I took my
23 ruler out and I walked down Knapp Place
24 with my ruler. Measuring the width of
25 what Knapp is as we know it now. Knapp
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 71
1 Place is one block -- two blocks long
2 really. East and westerly direction,
3 from Main Street to Bailey. Knapp Place
4 is the street itself, maybe 32 feet long.
5 My ruler only went to 14 feet. The
6 little kid that I am with a ruler. So I
7 am not being totally accurate. I guess
8 it' s around 30 feet. The width of the
9 cars, most of which we know on the
10 east-end and like to have big vehicles.
11 So most of the width of the big vehicles,
12 the Ford F-150 ' s and so on and so forth,
13 about 6 feet. So if you' re going to --
14 that leaves you maybe 20 feet for two cars
15 to pass by. From my understanding, cars
16 will not be able to -- when they exit this
17 facility on the North Road, won' t have to
18 make a right turn. Thereby going onto
19 Bailey Avenue, which is also about 30 feet
20 wide or going pass Bailey Avenue and
21 making a right turn on Knapp Place, and
22 pass the four feral cats that we take
23 care of that are living on the street. So
24 the point being is that, if I had my way,
25 I would have speed bumps on every road in
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 72
1 Greenport and Southold because people are
2 going way too fast. And the fact of the
3 matter is, if people are going to egress
4 on the North Road and going to the right
5 and they are in a rush to get some place
6 else, they' re in Greenport. You got three
7 hours. We gotta go to dinner. We got to
8 go to Claudio' s . Maybe to Captain Dave' s
9 boat. Take a boat ride. We only got a
10 little bit of time. We got to get their
11 quick. No one that I know is going to pay
12 attention to the two basketball courts.
13 One of which belongs to this family on the
14 corner and one which belongs on Knapp
15 Place, with some little kid out their
16 dribbling while some guy from Dubougen or
17 wherever he is coming from, driving down
18 that road from 35 miles an hour, while he
19 should be going 10 miles an hour. This is
20 a disaster. We all know it. We all need
21 to accept it. The other disaster is
22 unfortunately because we all know each
23 other in this community, my character is
24 not that great. I will be the first to
25 admit it. When you are a contractor and
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 73
1 you leave burn bridges behind you
2 consistently, now I have been in meetings
3 in Greenport where Mr. Pawlowski is
4 promoting his Sterling 123 Harbor project.
5 I have heard him. Not necessarily tell
6 what I consider to be the truth, to people
7 including the Mayor of Greenport and Board
8 of Trustees. You create a story about
9 yourself that acts as baggage. No matter
10 how well intention this man might be. The
11 fact of the matter is, that his history is
12 questioned by everybody who has watched
13 him. And that unfortunately adds to the
14 whole equation here, why I am not willing
15 to accept this. His allies have thrown
16 out this nimbyism thing. I mean, I lived
17 in Greenport for a year before I found
18 Janet' s house. The community of people
19 that live there year-round, God bless them
20 all. If we thought that this developer
21 had some integrity or acted with some
22 integrity, there would be less resistance
23 now. The fact of the matter is, he has
24 created his own legacy. He' s getting a
25 lot of push back from people who might
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 74
1 ordinarily be in favor of this project. I
2 hate to make it about that. We' re past
3 the elephant in the room as far as I am
4 concerned. Thank you very much for all
5 your time. I haven' t had dinner either by
6 the way.
7 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
8 We have someone on Zoom. Jess, can you --
9 MR. DINIZIO: I am James Dinizio.
10 I used to live at 39 Sound Road, which is
11 the road that goes directly up to the
12 North -- to 67 Snips. Grew up in
13 Greenport all my life. I was born in that
14 hospital. I currently live at 209
15 Providence Street in Stafford, Virginia.
16 I was involved with the Town for almost 35
17 years on the Zoning Board, on various
18 committees. I was a councilman for 9
19 years. I am going to try not to accuse
20 anybody of anything because none of that
21 belongs here. And I am pretty sure that
22 each one of you are professional enough to
23 understand where that comes from. I am
24 going to say, I pulled out of that road a
25 million times. I ran my business out of
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 75
1 my house and I was back and forth. The
2 hospital was one of my biggest customers.
3 So you know, I am very familiar with
4 traffic there. I never had a thought
5 about having to wait all that long there.
6 The Town made mistakes that, you know,
7 would have helped out that corner, but
8 that is all water around the bridge. I
9 can remember when that corner on Soundview
10 -- Sound Avenue, Sound Road and Main Road.
11 There used to be a gas station there. And
12 I am sure there is plenty of oil. The
13 material that every (inaudible) Zoning
14 Board, they wanted to build a shopping
15 center basically. We turned them down.
16 For several reasons. The least of which,
17 it would destroy the Village of Greenport.
18 So there sits a foundation. All of that
19 dirt that you see there, that is all
20 topsoil from that property. And that
21 property was cleared to no trees except
22 between Knapp Place and that property.
23 There is a right-of-way. I am saying
24 this, because you have to look at this
25 historically. You can't say, this is an
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 76
1 application by someone who just happened
2 to come in. He looked at the Zoning Code
3 -- and the plan by the way, that we just
4 approved some two-three years ago after a
5 10 year study that you all worked very
6 hard on. This property survived that. No
7 one stood and said we do not want anything
8 here. So someone comes along. You can
9 call him a developer. I will just call
10 him an investor in the Town. And trying
11 to give the Town what they want. You can
12 have some Affordable Housing and medical
13 offices. That is what our code says. So
14 I am just hoping that you will take that
. 15 in context. They' re not making any more
16 RO property. Any marine property. The
17 more you take away, the less you will take
18 away of what we need. The Comp Plan says
19 we need Affordable Housing. The community
20 is getting older. Having say that, I am
21 70 years old myself. The more you get
22 older, the more you need medical
23 specialists in your area. That property
24 back when we zoned that property RO was
25 there specifically for the hospital. The
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 77
1 hospital is still going to need that. An
2 older person can' t travel to Stony Brook
3 or Riverhead. I think he is being more
4 than cooperative with the Town then
5 playing ball with the Town. Just try to
6 alleviate some of the problems. Traffic
7 is traffic. It' s going to be there
8 forever. I can tell you, I have never had
9 to wait 10 minutes on Sound Avenue. Maybe
10 during the summer. But not 365 days of
11 the year. We should move on. I am not
12 really happy with the size of the
13 apartments either. I don't know how a
14 doctor is going to be able to say there
15 because he' s going to make too much money.
16 Nurses too. But the Affordable Housing
17 were not meant for you to stay there all
18 the time. Just to get a leg out. Get a
19 job. Get some promotions and move out.
20 Let someone else move in. That is what
21 affordability is . Just one more thing,
22 the Town is in a business of buying
23 density. Density is houses. It ' s people.
24 We saved 8, 000 acres of land. The land is
25 going to be so extensive, we' re not going
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 78
1 to be able to afford to pay the right
2 people the right amount of money and
3 they' re going to leave. I didn't leave
4 for any of those reasons. I can just tell
5 you that. So listen, I urge you and I
6 think the relevant committees in the Town
7 have urged you to move this project along. -
8 It' s an important project. There is not
9 much more RO in the Town. If you are all
10 concerned about the development, you might
11 want to look across the street because
12 that is even more density. You can put a
13 hotel up there, amongst other things.
14 Thank you for listening to me. I hope you
15 are all well and stay well. Thank you.
16 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
17 Would anybody else like to address the
18 Board? Yes. We have to give the
19 applicant some time to answer the
20 questions. Anybody else want to speak?
21 MR. DWEYER: Good evening, Chris
22 Dweyer from Planning Associates, 437 South
23 Country Road, Brookhaven. When the
24 developer approached our office to prepare
25 plans, the roundabout was not even
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 79
1 conceived at the time, as far as we were
2 concerned. So I just wanted to state for
3 the record, that when that came known to
4 us, plans were prepared in a manner to
5 make it a very safe access and egress from
6 the site. Certainly with restrictions.
7 We have on good authority that the project
8 is very viable. Fully funded. The
9 property actually is starting to change
10 hands in order to make the roundabout
11 possible. I just wanted to address some
12 of the site civil matters that were
13 mentioned to the Board. The stormwater is
14 fully contained on the site. So no water
15 runoff is going to the freshwater wetlands
16 that is located to the west. The plan is
17 sensitive to the wetlands. It stays away.
18 It requires buffers. As mentioned
19 earlier, there is a foundation that was
20 part of our survey. We noted that to be
21 concrete. No other type of material. We
22 also -- I just wanted to address the
23 parking. We always had problems. We had
24 setbacks. The parking was reduced as the
25 gentleman had said earlier. There was
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 80
1 different floor plan changes. It was a
2 direct correlation. Those problems were
3 based upon the standards. All the
4 lighting will be dark sky compliant. All
5 the fixtures will be down. The Town of
6 Southold has one of the most stringent
7 design standards that we know of and this
8 project will be designed in full
9 compliance with those standards as well.
10 That is all I have as far as -- I just
11 wanted to make a few statements.
12 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Okay. Would
13 you guys like to speak? Martin? Paul?
14 Paul, please just address the Board.
15 Please everybody respect his comments.
16 MR. PAWLOWSKI: Paul Pawlowski, I
17 am the owner of 360 Main Road. I am going
18 to start off by trying to address some of
19 the questions. As far as the site itself,
20 the only thing that has been done on that
21 site is a three foot knee wall roughly
22 100x300 . The dirt that is piled up, is
23 from that foundation. As far as utilities
24 having asbestos, _ I am not sure if they' re
25 talking about polls, but that site has
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 81
1 never been developed, besides that
2 foundation. And that is a poured
3 foundation done. A long time ago. The
4 fill is from the site. That site itself
5 is very high compared to the other
6 surrounding properties. Just in terms of
7 worrying about hazardous waste or anything
8 like that. If the Board wants to throw in
9 any sort of mitigation if they would like,
10 no problem whatsoever. But it has never
11 been developed. These apartments will be
12 100% towards workforce housing. Not 100 .
13 None of that. Every apartment there will
14 be considered and guided by the Southold
15 Town Code and workforce housing code when
16 it comes to affordability. This isn' t
17 just for one year, two years . This is
18 forever. It' s a 1% growth per year. I
19 never said $1700. You can go back to the
20 minutes. The average will be around
21 $1500. There is -- we' re proposing 30
22 apartments. Again, apartments. Roughly
23 15 will be 500 square foot. Another 10 or
24 7 will be above 400 square foot. The
25 studios will be anywhere from 351 to 400
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 82
1 square foot. I am not trying to argue
2 anyone' s opinions or preference, but I
3 have lived in a 350 square foot studio.
4 It was very sizable. I lived in a 600
5 square foot apartment. I lived in
6 Mattituck in a house. I understand the
7 difference of quality of life. And
8 considering what the intent of this
9 project, I would -- I could assure you if
10 I bring you through those apartments when
11 complete or affordable apartments at 123
12 Sterling, no one would disagree about the
13 quality of life. The size and how they
14 are finished. This is an apartment. This
15 is apartments based on the affordability
16 guidelines that I have no say in. I could
17 literally make these apartments
18 (inaudible) . After many years of going
19 through hell on plans. "Hey, Paul, can
20 you look at this property? Yeah. Would
21 you like to do Affordable Housing? Yeah,
22 why not. " Showing that I am trying.
23 Listen I am a developer. I want to make a
24 return on money. It will be about a 40
25 return on a $7 or $8 million dollar
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 83
1 investment. Nothing great. That is all
2 factual. I can prove it. I was
3 approached that we needed Affordable
4 Housing, by Town Board members, that this
5 is a good project. Why do I bring that
6 history up? This is not about me rolling
7 in -- I am excited about it. I believe
8 in the Comprehensive Plan. I believe some
9 of the questions were medical use, I
10 have letters of intent from NYU. From
11 Stony Brook University. Whether they are
12 under that or their primary doctors, what
13 have you. I have medical tenants on both
14 portions. There is definite need. Why
15 you see some vacant, because they are not
16 close to us. Medical offices next to the
17 hospital, in hope, that are not even in
18 the code. We are proposing medical
19 offices that will be built, and God forbid
20 it ' s not. Play devil' s advocate. That is
21 my issue. My expense and will never be
22 used (inaudible) . There will never be a
23 24 hour vet or any sort of that stuff.
24 The goal is medical space that is similar
25 to other areas of Southold Town. So I am
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 84
1 comfortable doing whatever the Board wants
2 to protect that use over time. Not one
3 thing on this property will take away from
4 the Village or downtown. As far as -- I
5 touched base on the intent and the use and
6 the lease and things like that. Even
7 though it' s by code, we will do. Whatever
8 fair housing requirements, we will do.
9 Affordable aspect and the use on the first
10 floor. I do need to touch base on -- I am
11 a big believer. I live in Mattituck. I
12 went to school in Mattituck. It ' s
13 important that a Town Board and staff,
14 important who they work with and giving
15 approvals to. 123 Sterling. I brought
16 that property from the people that
17 received that permit. The same people
18 that demo' d a building, a delipidated
19 business that could not survive for over
20 10 years was out of business. I bought
21 the property with a permanent intact to
22 build A, B and C. Taking that permit --
23 it ' s not just a permit. The permit came
24 with a Supreme Court order stipulation
25 saying A, B, C and D, is what you can do
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 85
1 with this property. And if you want to
2 change anything, you need to go to the
3 Neighborhood Association, the Board, to
4 make any modifications. So I could have
5 started the day after I closed. I didn't .
6 I met with the Neighborhood Association
7 and spent two years of my life -- two
8 years, that' s a lot. To change and modify
9 to some of the things that I wanted and
10 the Neighborhood Association -- all of us
11 couldn' t agree more. Two years it
12 started. I could have started Day 1 . A
13 year into it, I put the foundation in and
14 were not getting anywhere with the
15 Neighborhood Association. I spent a
16 million dollars on the foundation. So
17 we' re entitled to build this. We could
18 have started on Day 1 . We have spent two
19 years of effort with the Neighborhood
20 Association, the Town Board. Even got a
21 mediator to get involved to help make this
22 project better than what was approved. We
23 built what was approved and modified with
24 the approval of the Town Board and the
25 Neighborhood Association. We set income
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 86
1 limits. We didn' t have to. We did what
2 we could to improve. We believed in a
3 better outlay. The outcome was a little
4 better than what the court stipulated.
5 The aesthetics were improved. The
6 mediator they wanted me to work with, I
7 worked with. And everything I am saying
8 can be justified by fact, by record.
9 Talking to anyone at the Town Board. So
10 it ' s not false. Everything that Paul
11 Henry said was a lie. Okay. Everything.
12 Paul Henry owns the property touching
13 mine. Called me the day I submitted the
14 conceptual and told me he likes my
15 project. Okay. I didn' t buy his
16 property because he wanted me to buy it.
17 Anyway. So every aspect of 123 Sterling
18 we tried to improve on and make changes.
19 We made changes on stipulation that were
20 okay with everybody. When Paul Henry
21 says -- he said my name and so I am saying
22 his name. When he says he put a Third
23 Class citizen or the workforce housing,
24 this property not only came with a
25 stipulation. The floor plan was laid out
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 87
1 in 2007 . I couldn't adjust anything.
2 Nothing in that floor plan changed from
3 2007 to current. Just so happens the
4 workforce housing is on the third floor,
5 on the same hallway as all the other
6 condo' s on the third floor. They are
7 finished equally as nice. You can walk
8 through there. We went to the end -- to
9 make sure it wasn' t about a market rate of
10 Affordable Housing. We finished them to a
11 T. They' re amazing. We did everything
12 that was asked us from the Town Board and
13 Neighborhood Association. We sold it
14 based on all the approvals that were
15 agreed on. So the New York State Attorney
16 General approval. Okay. We sold it to a
17 company that is still abiding what we got
18 approvals for. Whether they sell them or
19 not, it has nothing to do with me. I sold
20 it December 29, 2021. This is public
21 record. What we got approval for is what
22 is for sale now. People don't realize
23 that it took 8 months to get in their name
24 with the Attorney General. That was
25 December 29th. 8 months later. I am
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 88
1 talking about my reputation. What they do
2 with it, is their decision. But it is
3 nice, because I thought about it, it was
4 sold to people who were honoring the
5 people and what we agreed on. What' s
6 going on over and what ' s happening in the
7 world, not my business. But I take
8 exception to the fact that people don't
9 understand -- the gentleman walking down
10 the road, he never saw Sparky' s . Sparky' s
11 square footage is bigger than the building
12 we built and took over every square inch.
13 Never saw what was there. Now reputation,
14 it ' s bite. If anything has to do with my
15 reputation, talk to me. I think a lot of
16 the things that have been said shouldn' t
17 have been said. I wouldn't do it if I
18 were the person sitting here. None of you
19 know. No. No. You didn' t --
20 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Paul --
21 MR. PAWLOWSKI: No. No. You didn't
22 interrupt anybody that was talking. I
23 want to go further. Here is the thing.
24 The reputation is on quality of life,
25 medical use, what happens if it ' s vacant
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 89
1 or not. Every single commercial property
2 we own has a 98% occupancy rating. 980
3 and I can prove it by fact. One of the
4 buildings that I own is around the circle
5 in Riverhead. Every single one of them
6 the business was out of business before we
7 went in and worked with the Town Board' s
8 and Planning Board' s . I am not this big
9 developer. I have six or seven projects.
10 And I would gladly bring anyone that ius
11 against my reputation to meet my tenant
12 and meet the neighbors and see what we
13 have done. I didn' t -- the Town Board
14 maybe legally they can't, but they should
15 take into reputation. Considering the
16 fact that I was approached to do this
17 project. I didn' t volunteer and run out
18 there and buy it. Before I even closed on
19 it, I had a Town Board work session asking
20 me for support. Met with the Affordable
21 Housing Committee a dozen times. I felt
22 the need to say in response to some of the
23 questions. Let' s get back to why we ' re
24 here. We' re here because we ' re proposing
25 a project and yes, human nature, every
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 90
1 neighbor should be concerned. Whether
2 they agree with the project with it 500 or
3 0 . They are here because they should be.
4 I am here because I was approached to do
5 it and I believe in the project. There is
6 some money to be made. Nothing to change
7 the tide. Not worth this headache to be
8 honest. The medical use will be built.
9 If not, it will only be something that I
10 properly maintain. East Hampton has 600
11 workforce housing units, roughly. We have
12 49 and they are all spoken for. This is
13 the only project in Southold Town that has
14 the viability of connecting to a sewer and
15 have workforce housing, unless you put in
16 a Peconic Landing and ask them to give you
17 some land, of this magnitude. If we' re
18 going to make a dent in these goals, this .
19 property yields nothing. It ' s 120 . Over
20 17 months we have been at this. 17 months
21 ago, the buffer was at code. We increased
22 the buffer based on mitigation efforts.
23 We can do 40o medical and 60o apartments.
24 We ' re not in here to completely over
25 develop. We have listened. We understand
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 91
1 exactly what a DEIS is and what SEQRA is .
2 Not only have we listened, we have
3 voluntarily resubmitted. Nothing is not
4 transparent. People are passionate about
5 it . They read about it. They have the
6 Laserfiche. Everything is in front of us
7 for 17 months now. And we have done
8 everything to mitigate, that if it goes
9 down any further, you know, we can work
10 with anything -- we can't do the project.
11 We feel -- if you can switch to the
12 picture, this project has sizable buffers.
13 For instance, when you' re driving, headed
14 east, there is over an acre before you see
15 the first building from Main Street. That
16 is an acre. Put that in perspective. 500
17 of this is landscaped. The buffers will
18 be greatly improved. The parking will be
19 hidden. The buildings look like beautiful
20 buildings. Whether you believe in them or
21 not, look at the building and compare them
22 to other buildings. We' re doing
23 everything we can to make this property
24 work for the Comp Plan. Work for the
25 Planning Board. Work for the need. For
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 92
1 doing everything we can. We don' t have
2 much more room to reduce density. When
3 you facture in, merit, property rights,
4 Town Code, Comprehensive Plan goals, the
5 building need, workforce housing need,
6 professional development during and after
7 -- it doesn't get better than this . So
8 when someone says, let ' s do it somewhere
9 else. Somewhere else doesn't have the
10 capability of a sewer. We' re collecting
11 all the storm runoff. We ' re 10% . So it ' s
12 -- and listen, I will go on the record to.
13 And this might be the craziest thing. If
14 the roundabout doesn't happen, we won't do
15 this project. Okay. That is on the
16 record. We were sitting here before.
17 People were breaking it up. If it doesn't
18 happen, we will completely go back to the
19 drawing board. Mind you though, something
20 is happening on this property and it ' s not
21 a threat. Whether it ' s for me or sell
22 something. It ' s a 4 point something
23 residential lot. So let' s look at the
24 facts there. We will go back to the
25 drawing board and this is stated publicly,
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 93
1 and we will mitigate whatever need if that
2 roundabout doesn' t happen. There is no
3 secret. We believe in that roundabout.
4 We already approached the DOT. It ' s the
5 -- the budget has been approved by the
6 DOT. It ' s going to happen. What' s nice,
7 it ' s actually going to coincide at the
8 same time. Meaning, we have the- rest of
9 this year in approvals. Then it ' s going
10 to be 8 months to build. And mind you on
11 that reputation, I will say, nobody will
12 build this quicker and better than I will.
13 And that is not to be cocky. But I can
14 prove that in every project that I have
15 done. That one down in Sterling, that
16 building was built in 9 months. And
17 people don' t even know how that happened.
18 This is nothing. And that is a big thing
19 on reputation. How will it be maintained?
20 How will it be made? The lady that bought
21 her house down the road, I agree. I don' t
22 want trucks. Luckily, let ' s talk about
23 construction. We' re on the North Road.
24 Not one truck needs to go down that road.
25 The only time that will happen is when
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 94
1 we' re connecting to the sewer. Past that,
2 we have a luxury of doing this property
3 from the North Road. And we already said,
4 no, we don't need to by law. So we have a
5 project here and you the Planning Board
6 have something to think about. Are you
7 going to say, no. Are you going to ask for
8 a pos dec? Pos dec, we all know what that
9 is . We have done that work. This traffic
10 study was done by one of the largest New
11 York State Traffic Engineers on Long
12_ Island. A part of this study was done on
13 Labor Day Weekend. And the DOT can' t
14 discount -- you can't discount the DOT
15 study on a roundabout and what goes on in
16 that area. You have a study that is
17 extremely inclusive. Then you have our
18 project. We know our parking. And you
19 put that information in real time, you' re
20 not going to get a better traffic. I know
21 that. I have done traffic studies on
22 every project that I have done. This one,
23 we never had the luxury of a proposed
24 roundabout, which will be prepared for
25 that. I am not saying it will just be
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 95
1 safer. It will be dramatically safer.
2 And if you' re going to talk about
3 roundabouts, look at the roundabout in
4 Riverhead around the hospital. Have you
5 ever stayed there more than one second?
6 Never. Go there tomorrow. Go there Labor
7 Day. Go there in July. It' s a very big
8 traffic mitigator. Very good. Whether
9 he' s wrong or --
10 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Excuse me.
11 MR. PAWLOWSKI: It' s a 5% update.
12 Everyone talks emotionally and says there
13 thing. I want to bring this down to
14 reality. We' re at a 5% . We have done
15 everything to be better environmentally
16 speaking. Low density, huge buffers. I
17 love driving down the North Road and
18 seeing the farms, whether it' s Mattituck,
19 Cutchogue or Orient. This is not that.
20 Not anything like that. And we will
21 greatly improve our scenic vista and the
22 gateway into the Village of Greenport.
23 Right now, it is not a pristine woods.
24 It ' s none of that. It will be done with
25 traditional style buildings and meet the
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 96
1 code. It' s residential and nature and we
2 hit that. Our buffers are massive. So
3 it ' s interesting where we are at here
4 because we know what we need. We respect
5 the concerns. We have done everything to
6 come back to the drawing board with those
7 concerns. We didn't start it with high
8 density. We started it with 50% allowed.
9 Now we' re down like 150 . And we will keep
10 going within reason. Not because I am
11 some special person but because we do
12 listen. We have spent the last 17 months
13 listening. No DEIS is going to change
14 that. No project is perfect. This is a
15 really great project. What makes it even
16 better is the roundabout. And if that
17 doesn't happen, we will go -- we will
18 squash this plan and go back to the
19 drawing board. Okay. I firmly believe
20 that for this project, the RO and all
21 things considered, it' s a good project.
22 And I actually believe at the end of the
23 day, the Coerens in reality are not as bad
24 as the perceived reality. I am happy to
25 back up my reputation on every project
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 97
-- 1 that I have done and meet with anyone
2 individually. I am happy to go over the
3 facts. This has not been done fair. We
4 are all working hard. The staff, the
5 Board, the neighbors, obviously. But
6 let ' s not act like this is rushed because
7 it ' s far from it. And I don' t -- I am
8 saying that to the Planning Board because
9 you shouldn't feel like you have been
10 rushing. We have been working on
11 mitigating and coming to a better project.
12 No perfect project but a much better
13 project. For me, I would love to do this
14 project. You have the capability, the
15 management. We have the long term
16 affordability built in by code. We have
17 the potential tenants that might fill the
18 first floor. Whatever you need to
19 covenant the neighbors from medical uses,
20 dispensaries, whatever -- if they want to
21 create a list and hand that into you
22 within reason on what they don' t want in
23 that use, fine, nc I know -- I already
24 know the types of doctors that are going
25 in there. Primary, sports, therapy. You
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 98
1 name it. They are very viable and very
2 good tenants. I have not even been
3 approached by the local hospital, but
4 they will get first right. That is
5 another thing to think about. It will
6 help with some of their traffic going to
7 the hospital. So I simply ask for your
8 support. You have your job to do and I
9 respect any decision. But like I said,
10 you believe in the Comprehensive Plan that
11 you all worked hard on. You believe on
12 what this is actually producing. When
13 someone says that this will set a
14 precedent, I hope it does because you have
15 a local developer that wants to do it,
16 that was approached to do it. We don't
17 even need a variance. I hope this sets a
18 precedent. I hope in time this project
19 shows to be a good project. As far as
20 affordability, I get it, you make less
21 than $60, 000 a year. Who could afford
22 that. This project will cater to people
23 making between $70, 000 to $150, 000 per
24 household. Do you know how many people in
25 that bracket who can't afford to live
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 99
1 here? Do you know how many? I agree. I
= 2 am -- I agree with need more
3 affordability. Now that comes down to
4 basic math. We' re proposing workforce
5 housing. We' re not proposing low income
6 housing. Low income only works with
7 massive density. We don' t -- one we' re
8 not proposing and we do not have the
9 capability. So yes, we are proponents of
10 this category because it works with the
11 overall picture. It ' s about
12 sustainability and affordability to
13 develop. That is why this project is also
14 good. It will cater to a large group of
15 people who are still struggling. We know
16 that. Luckily it seems that first
17 responders and volunteers will get ahead
18 of the list. We look forward to working
19 with whomever to create a non-bias fair
20 housing guideline. People are already the
21 character of our community. We are here.
22 We have been here. We have not rushed
23 Heather or Brian or any of the Board
24 members. We will do whatever it takes.
25 There is nothing -- I will simplify this.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 100
1 A DEIS will not change one thing on what
2 we' re applying. So I guess that is the
3 challenge. We are happy to mitigate and
4 covenant as you see fit. And I thank
5 everybody for their time.
6 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you,
7 Paul. I want to make a comment before I
8 go on. As Chairman, I apologize to
9 everyone here. I should have stopped a
10 while ago. I know it ' s very emotional but
11 the personal comments made, I should have
12 stepped in and stopped them a while ago.
13 With that said, Martin are you going to
14 speak?
15 MR. SANDERS: My name is Carl
16 Sanders, and I made my thought kind of
17 clear last time. I said when I bought my
18 house, I knew somebody was going to build
19 something there. I am a Republican by
20 nature and I think everyone has the right
21 to build. When I look at this project,
22 initially, I didn't listen to everybody
23 fully. This was an opportunity for me to
24 what Paul had to say and what everyone
25 else had to say. When I look at the
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 101
1 project, he has every right to have this
2 project. And in my opinion, he has done a
3 lot of good mitigation. I know a lot of
4 my neighbors are going to hate me for
5 this. Me being selfish, I would love for
6 that to just be woods. When I look at the
7 first proposal, I said, oh, my gosh, it' s
8 huge. Then when I look at all the buffers
9 and what Paul has said, I think he has
10 done a very good job of mitigating the
11 issues that everyone complained about the
12 last time we had this meeting. I was
13 really super happy and this is me being
14 selfish, that the vacant lot behind me did
15 not become a road. I was -- I am only
16 opposed to this if that was going to be a
17 road. Now that is mitigated, that makes
18 me extremely happy. That is me being
19 selfish. To be honest, I don' t think a
20 lot of the concerns that really came
21 before the Board really merit this . Would
22 I like to be woods, 1000 . Would I like
23 this to be less dense, 1000 . To me
24 personally, I think it' s terrible to
25 attack somebody' s character without
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 102
1 actually doing their homework.
2 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you.
3 And Paul, I apologize. That was my doing.
4 I should have stopped that earlier. Yes?
5 Would you like to speak again?
6 MS. DELUCA: I am speaking on
7 behalf of myself as a resident of East
8 Marion. And I grew up here. So from the
9 time I was 3 years old, I have lived in
10 this community. Everybody learns this is
11 a little bit less project specific but I
12 think it' s important to the overall
13 discussion that has happened here tonight.
14 I grew up in a household with a parent who
15 does public advocacy work for a living.
16 Land use and zoning and all those things.
17 And when you' re the child of that, you
18 grow up and learn about it. And in
19 comparison to most of my years, SEQRA,
20 what Board does what, is very limited for
21 most people, most Americans. They don' t
22 learn it in school. Nobody know what
23 zoning is. I was very lucky to be raised
24 in a household to have that. I am just
25 going to give you guys an example on what
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 103
1 has happened on the South Fork. I believe
2 it was Southampton who approached an
3 individual landowner. And they had a
4 parcel. It was the old Riverhead raceway.
5 The Town wanted the race track to go away.
6 So they asked the developer to create a
7 project. The initial project that they
8 asked for was two golf courses and a
9 conference center. And later on, public
10 organizations started paying attention to
11 this and started saying this is way too
12 big. Most of that property was
13 undisturbed. It was a (inaudible) not
14 only the developer get dragged around for
15 months by the Town, by doing what they
16 were requesting to do. Part of this
17 happened because there was a lack of
18 SEQRA. SEQRA is not strictly an
19 environmental impact statement. That is
20 not all that it means. Part of the point
21 is to create a clear public dialogue. I
22 am very well versed in looking at project
23 files and things like that. Looking at
24 this file is impossible to determine if
25 we' re looking at a project that is three
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 104
1 buildings or a project that is four. A
2 lot of the questions that are being raised
3 is because of the lack of clarity in the
4 overall process. Not just a question if
5 it ' s a good project or not. It ' s hard to
6 get to --
7 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: I am sorry to
8 interrupt. You' re repeating what you said
9 earlier. This is all being recorded. So
10 if you want to continue, you can talk
11 about the items. But also, just to
12 spearhead, your examples of Riverhead, I
13 would like to keep to this project and
14 what is going on here. This project.
15 MS. DELUCA: Okay. Then I would
16 just like to get some closing statements
17 in regards to this. The importance of an
18 environmental impact statement is so that
19 everybody can see all of the aspects of
20 this project, including the mitigation
21 measures. To have a clear assessment of
22 what we' re looking at. And part of the
23 reason that so many people react -- I
24 mean, you guys don' t always get a room
28 full of people. There were two projects
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 105
1 before this, that I think somebody had one
2 positive comment on. A lot of people have
3 concerns, that something somewhere isn't
4 working. My last comment was based on a
5 speaker that said just push it through. I
6 am a young person. This is my taste on
7 how government works. The biggest thing
8 that anybody is asking for and you have
9 done a great deal of due diligence.
10 Nobody is taking away from that. But
11 we ' re trying to say, use things that are
12 available to take time in the
13 considerations under the full scope of
14 everything. And I understand that if the
15 Board choses that a positive declaration
16 may not be the way especially at this
17 point, but so often we are told, just push
18 it through. And then we see what the
19 world is turning into. As a young person,
20 it ' s hard to watch. So I recognize all of
21 the hard work that you guys do everyday.
22 I know that I am just a young
23 twenty-something with an opinion. But I
24 think it ' s really important to think about
25 the legacy that is going to be left here.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 106
1 And this project specifically, it could be
2 a really good one. But it would help if
3 somebody could see the full scope of
4 things and have in writing, and everybody
5 had a clear understanding of what is in
6 front of them. It makes it much easier
7 for people to look at a project. That
8 does have a good legacy. It ' s great. All
9 those things the point being, SEQRA can
10 address that and be used in that way. I
11 just want to reiterate the importance of
12 it. I hope the Board will consider that
13 and attest to everybody in this room,
14 including myself, the developer, the
15 public, everybody. I think that is what
16 everyone is looking for.
17 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Thank you
18 very much. Martin?
19 MR. FINNEGAN: I will be brief.
20 Just a couple of things here. I believe
21 the Board is very well versed with SEQRA.
22 I think with the help of the staff and the
23 Town attorney, we are here this evening
24 because of your adherence to SEQRA. You
25 as a Board have taken the opportunity as a
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 107
1 task and not lost in the confusion of what
2 is before you. I think we have a project,
3 very well detailed, plans. This Town is
4 very lucky to have Laserfiche. Every
5 document that has ever been available, is
6 there. We are completely code compliant.
7 We have met every bulk schedule
8 requirement, 50o buffer. It is as
9 mitigating as can possibly be. This is
10 the second Public Hearing. We have one
11 before the Zoning Board of Appeals. We
12 have heard it all. This has been going on
13 for a very long time. I am asking the
14 Board to closing the record and taking
15 up the comment period, so we can move
16 into the next phase. Your analysis of
17 this. I would ask you to consider
18 closing the record and concluding the
19 written comment period as soon as
20 possible so we can continue this process.
21 I thank you for your time and
22 consideration. Just review our request
23 with a negative declaration. I think
24 the applicant made it very clear, we are
25 open to any conditions if the Board
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 108
1 wanted to address.
2 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Okay.
3 Again, I would just like to close this up
4 and thank everybody. I know this was
5 emotional. What I would like to do is
6 close the hearing -- look for a motion
7 to close the hearing and leave time
8 for written comments until
9 March 1st.
10 MEMBER SIDOR: Motion.
11 MEMBER RICH: Second.
12 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Motion by
13 Martin. Seconded by Jim.
14 Any discussion?
15 (No Response) .
16 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: All in favor?
17 MEMBER JEALOUS-DANK: Aye.
18 MEMBER RAFFERTY: Aye.
19 MEMBER RICH: Aye.
20 MEMBER SIDOR: Aye.
21 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Aye.
22 Opposed?
23 (No Response. )
24 CHAIRMAN WILCENSKI: Motion
25 carries. Thank you. Have a great evening
FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 109
1 everyone.
2
3 (Whereupon, the meeting of the
4 Southold Planning Board concluded at this
5 time. )
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FEBRUARY 6, 2023 PLANNING BOARD 110
1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N
2
3
4 I, JESSICA DILALLO, a Court Reporter
5 and Notary Public, for and within the State
6 of New York, do hereby certify:
7 THAT the above and foregoing contains
8 a true and accurate transcription of the
9 meeting held on February 6, 2023, and were
10 reported by me.
11 I further certify that I am not
12 related to any of the parties to this action
13 by blood or by marriage and that I am in no
14 way interested in the outcome of this matter.
15 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto
16 set my hand this 6th day of February, 2023.
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19 J ssica DiLallo
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