HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB-05/15/2023 PH 1
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1 TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK
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3
TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
4 PLANNING BOARD MEETING
5 RE : STRONG ' S STORAGE BUILDING
DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
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9 Southold, New York
10 May 15 , 2023
6 : 00 P .M.
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F^Y'� 13
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James H . Rich III , Member
16
Martin Sidor, Member
17
Pierce Rafferty, Member
18
Amelia Jealous-Dank, Member
19
20
Heather Lanza, Planning Director
21
Mark Terry, Assistant Planning Director
22
Brian Cummings , Planner
23
Jessica Michaelis , Senior Office Assistant
24
25 James Squicciarini , Deputy Town Attorney
MAY 15, 2023 2
1 STRONG ' S STORAGE BUILDING
2 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Good
3 evening. I would like to welcome
4 everyone to this Public Hearing for
5 Strong ' s Storage Buildings also known As
6 Strong ' s Yacht Center . The purpose of
7 this hearing is for the Planning Board
8 to gather comments about the draft
9 Environmental Impact Statement , also
10 known DEIS for this project . The DEIS
11 was required by the Planning Board on a
12 New York State Environmental Quality
13 Review Act , SEQRA, to evaluate the
14 effects this project might have on the
15 community and environment . This
16 document must follow and answer the
17 final scope which outlines all the
18 potential impacts . No decision will be
19 made tonight . This is not a referendum.
20 It is for gathering information and
21 comments . The next steps after tonight
22 will be to continue this hearing on June
23 5th and we will gather and accept
24 written comments through July 10th.
25 Once the written comment period is
MAY 15, 2023 3
1 closed, a Final Environmental Impact
2 Statement also known as FEIS is
3 prepared. After the FEIS is completed,
4 the Planning Board prepares a final
5 statement . This is where the Board
6 states their findings about whether or
7 not the impacts have been mitigated.
8 The findings must be supported by the
9 FEIS . The last step is a decision of
10 the project by the Planning Board. This
11 decision will be made by resolution at a
12 public meeting at a future date after
13 the findings statement has been
14 completed. The decision must align with
15 the Board ' s finding . This is a large
16 and complicated project and I would
17 personally like to thank the entire
18 staff at Southold Town Planning Board
19 led by Ms . Heather Lanza and Mr . Mark
20 Terry for a tremendous amount of work
21 that they have done on this project .
22 This is only the first hearing on the
23 DEIS , as we anticipate this hearing open
24 and to continue on June 5th . And again,
25 I said it before , the written comment is
MAY 15, 2023 4
1 open now until July 10th . Tonight the
2 following topics will be covered by the
3 applicant ' s consultants and they have
4 asked this order to be adjusted a little
5 bit . Construction, related impacts and
6 schedule and details they will begin
7 with. Followed by traffic , noise . And
8 if we have time, unavoidable impacts .
9 And then the following meeting, June
10 5th, the following will be covered by
11 the applicant ' s consultants ; water,
12 ecological services , air quality.
13 Project alternatives and their impacts .
14 The reason that we ' re splitting up the
15 testimony of the consultants , is that
16 the DEIS contains a large amount of
17 technical information on every one. We
18 want time for every one to get a chance
19 to speak. If you look at it , it ' s like
20 three major volumes thick. We will
21 start with the applicant ' s and their
22 consultants and the Board ' s traffic
23 consultant . You can expect that would
24 take about an hour . After they ' re done ,
25 everyone else will have a chance to
MAY 15, 2023 5
1 speak. You may speak on any topic
2 covered in the DEIS . Comments should be
3 limited to the Draft Environmental
4 Impact Statement and the impact of the
5 project. Most helpful comments , are
6 those of which address the reason,
7 rather than whether you are for or
8 against it . Please remember that this
9 hearing is not about the people who are
10 proposing this project . Personal
11 comments about the applicant should be
12 avoided. This is not a referendum on a
13 Strong Family business . We respect them
14 highly and I hope every one else will .
15 As a courtesy to everyone wishing to
16 speak, if someone has already said what
17 you wanted to say, there is no need for
18 you to repeat it . We have handouts for
19 you that describe the protocol that we
20 will follow for this hearing and also
21 the process and steps going forward for
22 this application . Please, we have
23 already received many written comments .
24 All will be entered in our record and
25 reviewed the same way as we hear
MAY 15, 2023 6
1 testimony tonight . If you have already
2 sent written comments to the Planning
3 Board, it is not necessary you read them
4 tonight, it is not you read them
5 tonight . I would ask that everybody
6 remain respective of opposing thoughts
7 and feelings . We would like to give
8 everyone who wishes to speak a chance .
9 So please keep your comments as brief as
10 possible . If you ' re in agreement with
11 the previous speaker, you can just state
12 your name and address and voice your
13 agreement . At 8 : 00 o ' clock we ' re going
14 to take a ten minute recess and at 9 : 30 ,
15 we ' re going to adjourn until June 5th .
16 So before -- Jess , do you want to read
17 some of the ground rules?
18 JESSICA MICHAELIS : Yes , I think
19 we ' re going to ask the technical
20 consultants to address the Board, first .
21 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Okay.
22 Fine . Charles , did you want to speak
23 first momentarily?
24 JESSICA MICHAELIS : Please just
25 state your name for the record before
MAY 15, 2023 7
1 you speak?
2 CHARLES CUDDY: My name is Charles
3 Cuddy. I represent the applicant . This
4 application is for two units that will
5 store boots . The two units that we ' re
6 talking about are 49 , 000 and 52 , 000
7 square feet . These units are to be
8 placed behind the existing building at
9 Strong ' s . As you may know, this is a
10 Marine District . In the Marine II
11 District, you can have all sorts of
12 storing of boots and that is exactly
13 what is planned. Ultimately, the boots
14 are to come in the inlet . There will be
15 80 plus boats at this site . They will
16 be stored in these two buildings . They
17 will come in the Fall . They will leave
18 in the Spring. We don ' t anticipate that
19 they will interrupt any use of the
20 inlet . And tonight, we ' re here to hear
21 your comments on our EIS . Thank you.
22 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
23 you, Charles .
24 DOUG ADAMS : Good evening members
25 of the Board. My name is Doug Adams . I
MAY 15, 2023 8
1 an Engineer and Partner at Young
2 Associates . Offices in ' Riverhead, New
3 York. The later section 3 talks about
4 construction and the proposed need and
5 the construction schedule and briefly
6 summarize what is going on with that .
7 The proposed excavation is needed for
8 this project . It is required in order
9 to construct the proposed similar
10 buildings to the similar elevation that
11 are already there in the bulkhead. That
12 elevation is around elevation 10 . And
13 the vessels that are going to be
14 serviced and utilized here are large and
15 can ' t be moved with traditional moving
16 trailers that can move steep grades and
17 what not . So they will be using what is
18 called a "travel lift . " Basically a
19 giant cradle for large boats and it just
20 can ' t navigate elevations and grades
21 with a great change . So the elevation
22 of the buildings need to be very similar
23 to that of the existing building . The
24 project area is about 6 1/2 acres and
25 includes about a 1/2 acre in the
MAY 15, 2023 9
1 Residentially Zoned of the property and
2 about 6 in the MII portion. As Charles
3 said the buildings are permitted in the
4 MII District . And with certain market
5 for large boat owners that currently use
6 waters for recreation. In terms of the
7 construction schedule activities , the
8 proposed project has a construction time
9 of over a year . About half of that time
10 would be preparing that site .
11 Performing the grading and necessary for
12 construction of the buildings necessary.
13 Phase One would be the -- first part
14 would be excavation, which takes about
15 half the time . Phase One of the
16 excavation would be about 123 , 000 cubic
17 yards of material that have to leave the
18 site . That will take about 5 to 6
19 months . Using Mill Road to the west of
20 the property, and a haul road that would
21 be constructed specifically to deal with
22 that large amount of material . Keeping
23 the activity and trucks away from the
24 main entrance and at northern part of
25 the residential area. Phase Two will be
MAY 15, 2023 10
1 removing about 12 , 000 , or a tenth of the
2 total yardage and would take only about
3 a month. Utilizing Mill Road, which is
4 conventionally known as the entrance to
5 the Strong property. Construction of
6 the buildings will take about another
7 six months . A little more specifically,
8 the first thing that would have to
9 happen on the site is tree removal and
10 grubbing and construction of that whole
11 road to prepare this property. For the
12 other activities , that ' s only going to
13 take about two weeks . The excavation
14 Phase One , as I said would be 5 to 6
15 months . This would be the bulk of the
16 excavation activity, including over 900
17 of the material required to excavate --
18 needed to be excavated to complete the
19 project, which as I said before would
20 utilize the haul road. The second phase
21 of excavation would just take a few
22 weeks , if not four weeks . It would
23 basically get rid of the last 10% , as I
24 mentioned before . As it can ' t use the
25 haul road because now we ' ll be down to
MAY 15, 2023 11
1 the elevation of , you know, getting to
2 the elevation of where the buildings are
3 gonna be . The next item would be the
4 onset of the retaining wall
5 construction. That should be about
6 three weeks . This would include the
7 beginning of the construction part of
8 the wall . Part of the retaining system
9 for the excavation is going to be the
10 buildings themselves . So these phases
11 will have some overlap . Then there ' s
12 excavation for drainage installation,
13 and other infrastructure, but the
14 drainage is probably the bulk of what
15 would need to be excavated. It ' s a --
16 it ' s a pretty large drainage system.
17 That would be about eight weeks . And
18 then the remaining construction phase
19 for the buildings would be approximately
20 six months . So that includes the onset
21 of the retaining wall . So as soon as
22 the major part of the excavation is
23 done, we move into starting construction
24 of the retaining wall , and the
25 buildings . And that ' s about six months
MAY 15, 2023 12
1 as I said. At that point, the
2 construction activity is moving along at
3 a normal pace with normally anticipated
4 construction activity, and the schedule
5 is expected to be -- expected to be more
6 than halfway through at this point .
7 Some other information that I just
8 wanted to point out is the overall work
9 week would be Monday to Friday, 7 A.M.
10 to 5 P .M. for the excavation phases .
11 The overall work week of Monday to
12 Saturday, 7 A.M. to 7 P .M. , with less
13 truck activity on Saturdays during the
14 construction phase . This is largely due
15 to Saturdays are typically reserved for
16 maintenance of equipment, and sort of
17 getting ready for the work week again .
18 And the hours of operation would be
19 reduced for daylight savings . Next,
20 we ' ll have our other consultant come up
21 to talk about some of the traffic that ' s
22 related to that construction .
23 RON HILL : Good evening . My name
24 is Ron Hill . I ' m a principal with the
25 firm Dunn Engineering Associates , 66
MAY 15, 2023 13
1 Main Street, Westhampton Beach, New
2 York. As has been stated, the proposed
3 project is to build two dry storage
4 buildings . One of 52 , 500 square feet .
5 One of 49 , 500 square feet . The
6 buildings will be winter storage for the
7 yachts averaging 60 feet in length, with
8 a maximum of footage of 85 feet . The
9 completed project will result in the
10 addition of 13 new employees . Will
11 generate most of the new traffic for the
12 site . Some of the new traffic will also
13 be generated by the work that ' s done on
14 those boats while they ' re in storage .
15 There ' ll be regular deliveries of
16 materials that are common to the boat
17 yard now. Carried by the same vendors
18 that do, or occasionally be larger
19 deliveries . Like an engine or something
`20 that won ' t come in with a regular
21 vendor . It will be a regular delivery.
22 These will be somewhat infrequently
23 because we ' re not -- there ' s not that
24 many boats being worked on all the time .
25 Yachts of this size will ride by water.
MAY 15, 2023 14
1 They ' re just too big to transport over
2 the road. In the Fall , over a period of
3 several months , the yachts will be
4 delivered to the site by the owner or
5 his crew. And some will be picked up by
6 Strong ' s employees , and will be brought
7 to the site . In Spring, the reversible .
8 Other than the new employees arriving in
9 the morning and leaving in the
10 afternoon, the new buildings will
11 generate little new other traffic . The
12 new traffic that is expected to be
13 generated was analyzed at intersections
14 required by the Town. The amount of
15 traffic the completed project will
16 generate will be small and no negative
17 impact is expected. The construction of
18 the project will create more traffic
19 with varying degrees when the project is
20 completed itself . The amount and type
21 of traffic , the project will generate
22 will vary by construction phase .
23 Clearing and grubbing on the site
24 expected to take two weeks will begin
25 December 1st and go to mid December .
MAY 15, 2023 15
1 During this phase, it ' s expected to
2 utilize approximately nine workers and
3 generate 4-30 yard trailers of debris
4 each day. Phase Two or Phase One, I
5 should say, of the excavation,, will
6 consist of the excavation of 135 cubic
7 yards of material . This will generate a
8 total of 8100 30-yard truck trips .
9 That ' ll be -- the material being.
10 JESSICA MICHAELIS : Excuse me,
11 please don ' t speak if you ' re not at the
12 microphone . Thank you .
13 RON HILL : The material being
14 removed is 100 and 35 , 000 cubic yards .
15 The number of 30 yard truck trips that
16 will be generated is 8100 . 8100 in.
17 8100 out during this Phase One
18 construction . The final 1 , 212 cubic
19 yards of excavated material . That will
20 be during the first two weeks -- that
21 will be during the first two weeks of
22 May. Following the major excavation,
23 trucks will haul -- 400 of the trucks
24 will be used for that, and 30 yard
25 trucks . 400 coming in and going out .
MAY 15, 2023 16
1 With that schedule over the 10 hour day,
2 we expect 40 trucks per day . Monday
3 through Friday. Four trucks in, and
4 four trucks out each hour . Following
5 the excavation and grading, retaining
6 wall will be constructed and drainage
7 will be installed. This will occur over
8 a 6 to 8 week period. During this
9 period, up to six trucks will deliver
10 material for this work to the site each
11 day . At the same time, the drainage and
12 the sanitary is going in, the building
13 construction will start with the
14 foundation work. And trucks of various
15 sizes will bring material . For
16 instance, in the beginning with the
17 foundation, there ' ll be concrete trucks .
18 Later, there ' ll be larger delivery
19 trucks pulling in the steel for the
20 frame, and the siding . And then will go
21 electrical , plumbing and that kind of
22 thing. During the construction, that
23 will be the period when the most
24 employees will be used. And that will
25 vary between 20 and 60 workers per day.
MAY 15, 2023 17
1 They will generate the bulk of the trips
2 during construction other than the
3 trucks . The employees will come from
4 contractors yards . Many of them
5 transported by van or in trucks that
6 they ' ll use on site . It ' s anticipated
7 they ' ll generate a maximum of 40 trips
8 in, 40 trips out of the site each day
9 during the construction. The trucks to
10 remove material from the site, bringing
11 construction material to the site. We
12 use a designated project truck. That
13 route will consist of West Mill Road,
14 Cox Neck Road, Sound Avenue , Northville
15 Turnpike, Old Country Road and the Long
16 Island Expressway. The traffic was
17 analyzed at the two -- the two heaviest
18 construction periods . And traffic will
19 be the highest. And that was during the
20 Phase One excavation. During the Spring
21 and Winter to analyze for the Spring
22 months . And then in the Summer, when
23 the building construction is going on .
24 And we had more employees on site, as
25 well as , some truck. The traffic was
MAY 15, 2023 18
1 analyzed at the intersections identified
2 by the Town, and no traffic impacts were
3 identified by this capacity analysis .
4 The concerns regarding the potential
5 impacts of trucking materials to and
6 from the site, special investigations
7 were held. Arching companies were
8 contacted to determine whether excavated
9 material could be removed by barge . The
10 the barge is necessary to do this kind
11 of work require . Require a 10 foot
12 draft at low tide . The Mattituck Inlet
13 only has a 5 to 7 foot draft . In
14 addition, there are sharp turns in the
15 inlet that barges will not be able to
16 navigate because of the their draft and
17' their width. Barging material out does
18 not appear feasible . Studies were also
19 performed to determine what the damage
20 of project trucks may cause roads they
21 used. The study was done by Tri-State
22 Planning Engineering and Survey. It is
23 intended -- appended to the Traffic
24 Impact Study. The study was also done
25 during -- using Federal Highway
MAY 15, 2023 19
1 Administration, New York State
2 Department of Transportation, Equivalent
3 Signal Axle Load Procedures . The study
4 indicated that only West Mill Road would
5 experience a significant amount of ware
6 reducing its life expectancy by 11% .
7 Other roadways would experience less
8 than 2 % loss of life expectancy. The
9 owner has pledged to inspect and repair
10 the deficits in West Road and Cox Neck
11 Road daily during trucking operation .
12 In addition, he will work with the Town
13 to repair any damage done during the
14 construction. Noise and vibration
15 studies were also conducted regarding
16 trucking operation, as well as , other
17 non-on-site operations . They will be
18 covered by Mr . Sean Harkin in the next
19 presentation. Potential mitigation
20 measures were also proposed. An
21 alternate of retaining 13 , 000 cubic feet
22 of material on site by spreading the
23 excess material to a height of no more
24 than 1 foot on an unused and lightly
25 vegetated portion of the property . West
MAY 15, 2023 20
1 of the excavation is also being
2 considered. This would result in a 100
3 reduction in the excavation activity .
4 Consideration was also given to Walton
5 trucking route using Bergen Avenue
6 rather than lower Cox Neck Lane between
7 West Mill Road and Sound Avenue .
8 Reducing the speed limit on West Mill
9 Road, Cox Neck Road, from 35 miles an
10 hour to 25 miles an hour during the
11 duration of the construction could be
12 also considered. Truckers will be
13 instructed to go no more than 30 miles
14 an hour. Even if the speed limit is not
15 changed. We also suggested considering
16 re-striping West Mill Road and Cox Neck
17 Road to provide 10 foot wide travel
18 lanes , increasing the shoulders that are
19 there . West Mill Road and Cox Neck Road
20 will be monitored daily to detect rough
21 surfaces and potholes . They will be
22 repaired immediately by the applicant .
23 Flaggers will be used for maintenance
24 protection, traffic at locations where
25 the roadway curves or an intersection
MAY 15, 2023 21
,u 1 where project trucks may be required to
2 cross the road center line . I have
3 attempted to cover the important aspects
4 of the traffic study. The study;
5 however, covers much more and in greater
6 detail that would be impossible to
7 convey in this short presentation. I
8 should direct your attention to the
9 written report for more information and
10 detail . Thank you .
11 DOUG ADAMS : Just a quick point of
12 clarification . I think Ron misread --
13 JESSICA MICHAELIS : I 'm sorry, can
14 you just state your name again?
15 DOUG ADAMS : Doug Adams , Civil
16 Engineer, partner at Young Associates .
17 Ron had mentioned 8100 trips in and out
18 during Phase One . It ' s 4100 trucks
19 trips in and out on Phase One and 4100
20 in and out on Phase Two of the
21 excavation phase .
22 SEAN HARKIN: Good evening, Mr .
23 Chairman and members of the Planning
24 Board. My name is Sean Harkin . I ' m a
25 Senior Acoustic Consultant at
MAY 15, 2023 22
1 SoundSense, LLC , with offices at 39
2 Industrial Road in Wainscott, New York.
3 Tonight I will be providing an overview
4 of the noise and vibration impact
5 analysis we completed for the project .
6 I ' ll begin -- I ' ll cover each
7 individually. So I ' ll begin with the
8 noise impact analysis that we performed.
9 Acoustic greetings were collected at the
10 project site between April 14 , 2021 and
11 May 23 , 2021 , to quantify the existing
12 background sound levels without exit --
13 without existing vehicle traffic and
14 were collected at two sites at the
15 Strong ' s Yacht Center property. Using
16 the existing background sound levels , as
17 well as , existing traffic data provided
18 by Dunn Engineering, a model in an
19 acoustic modeling software called Sound
20 Plan was constructed. The model was
21 constructed to develop a model for
22 existing sound levels for a wider area
23 of evaluation using the existing vehicle
24 traffic . Once the existing conditions
25 model was complete , additional acoustic
MAY 15, 2023 23
1 models for the proposed development and
2 various construction phases were
3 generated to evaluate the impact of
4 construction activities , and the
5 additional park traffic on local roads .
6 Construction analysis showed that as
7 expected, there are acoustic increases
8 in noise level at nearby residents ;
9 however, there are no requirements
10 within the Town of Southold noise
11 ordinance regarding maximum permissible
12 sound levels during construction
13 occurring between 7 A.M. and 7 P .M.
14 Monday to Saturday. Additionally, the
15 New York State Department of
16 Environmental Conservation does not
17 provide recommendations for construction
18 noise since its impacts are temporary.
19 Regarding additional truck traffic ,
20 although there are additional increases
21 in sound levels , which would exceed
22 outdoor New York State Department of
23 Transportation overall recommendations ,
24 all receivers with windows closed are
25 expected to meet New York State
MAY 15, 2023 24
1 Department of Transportation recommended
2 criteria for interior sound levels .
3 Department of Transportation Guidelines
4 are instructive only and are not
5 requirements since the increases are
6 only temporary during construction .
7 These increases are only during the
8 construction period. Since tree
9 clearing and excavation are proposed to
10 start in December, and early winter, it
11 is anticipated that most residents would
12 have windows closed during this time,
13 and not be spending significant time
14 outside. Thereby reducing the potential
15 impact . Should be noted, that all
16 traffic noise models were constructed
17 using the Federal Highway
18 Administration ' s Traffic Noise Model
19 Methodology used inside the sound plan,
20 acoustic modeling software. This does
21 not account for any further mitigation,
22 such as, disengaging jake breaks or
23 using trucks , which may be quieter than
24 the standardized model , which would lead
25 to the model being completed as a
MAY 15, 2023 25
1 conservative model , and anticipated to
2 be an over prediction of truck noise .
3 To reduce the impact of construction
4 activities , the applicant has committed
5 to the following mitigation measures .
6 Construction activities would be limited
7 Monday to -- Monday to Friday, 7 A.M. to
8 5 P .M. , as Doug noted. In accordance
9 with the Town of Southold noise
10 ordinance , no work would be completed on
11 federal or state holidays . Work times
12 during the excavation phase would be
13 limited 7 : 00 to 5 : 00 Monday to Friday.
14 During the construction phases or work
15 on Saturdays -- Sorry. During
16 construction phases , work on Saturdays
17 and after 5 P .M. Monday to Friday, will
18 only include vehicle and machinery
19 maintenance and planning . No such
20 maintenance or planning would be
21 completed on federal holidays , state
22 holidays or on Sundays . All vehicles
23 which require the use of a backup alarm
24 will use a white noise backup alarm
25 instead of a single tone alarm.
MAY 15, 2023 26
1 Although reaching the same overall
2 loudness to be compliant with OSHA
3 criteria, the white noise alarm allows
4 for a lower differential to background
5 sound levels , by distributing the sound
6 level across a wider range of
7 frequencies . Instead of having all the
8 sound energy at one singular frequency.
9 This helps to decrease the perception of
10 the backup alarm. All truck drivers
11 will be instructed to disengage all
12 jake-brake mechanisms once turning onto
13 Cox Neck Road from County Road 48 . And
14 all dump trucks utilized will be Tier
15 Four Certified by EPA standards .
16 Although the tier -- although the Tier
17 Four Certifications do not have a noise
18 component , sound level data was
19 collected of a sample Tier Four dump
20 truck and demonstrated that there may be
21 expected reduction ranging from 11 to 22
22 DBA compared to standardized information
23 from the Federal Transportation
24 Authorities Transit Noise and Vibration
25 Impact Assessment Model . Published in
MAY 15, 2023 27
1 2018 . These are significant reductions .
2 A difference of 10 DBA is typically
3 described as half of the perceived
4 loudness . While 20 DBA would typically
5 be described as one quarter of the
6 perceived loudness . Therefore, an 11 to
7 22 DBA reduction would be quite
8 significant compared to the standardized
9 criteria used for the evaluation.
10 Regarding post construction noise
11 levels , anticipated noise sources at the
12 proposed buildings were evaluated.
13 Under the proposed plan site generated
14 noise is predicted to be compliant with
15 the Town of Southold Noise Ordinance .
16 And increases in sound level are
17 anticipated to be no greater than four
18 DBA, which falls under the criteria for
19 no impact per the New York State DEC .
20 Alternative plans including an
21 alternative site plan and alternative
22 truck route plan were also evaluated.
23 Although the review of the alternative
24 site plan was also found to be compliant
25 with the Town of Southold noise
MAY 15, 2023 28
1 ordinance in its completed state, it
2 resulted in higher sound levels during
3 construction due to the fact that the
4 construction area is no longer
5 excavated. Since the proposed plan
6 included excavation and created a
7 natural acoustic barrier around the
8 project site , this reduced projected
9 sound levels associated with the
10 construction site predominantly to the
11 west and to the north one excavation was
12 complete . With the excavation phase no
13 longer occurring in the alternate, the
14 natural barrier is eliminated.
15 Resulting in additional noise exposure
16 during the construction period for a
17 greater number of residents . In a
18 review of the alternate excavation truck
19 route, which included routing return
20 trips down Bergen Avenue instead of down
21 the southern part of Cox Neck Lane,
22 there was a benefit associated with
23 routing those truck trips down Bergen
24 Avenue for the residents on the southern
25 part of Cox Neck Lane . No significant
MAY 15, 2023 29
1 acoustic impacts were anticipated for
2 residents on Bergen Avenue as a result
3 of the alternate truck route . I ' ll now
4 switch to the Vibration Analysis portion
5 of the work that we completed. During
6 the review of the DEIS submitted
7 previously in December of 2021 , concerns
8 were raised by the Town of Southold
9 Planning Board and the New York State
10 Historic Preservation Office regarding
11 potential damage to historic structures ,
12 and nearby residents from construction
13 at the project site, as well as , truck
14 traffic on local roads . Since New York
15 State does not have specific vibration
16 criteria, recommended criteria from the
17 Federal Transportation Authorities ,
18 Transit, Noise and Vibration Impact
19 Assessment Manual were used. I ' ll refer
20 to this as the FTA Guidelines .
21 Additional data from the State of New
22 Hampshire Department of Transportation ' s
23 ground vibrations emanating from
24 construction equipment were also
25 consulted. Refer to these as the New
MAY 15, 2023 30
1 Hampshire Guidelines . FTA Guidelines
2 included peak particle velocity or peak
3 vibration levels in the ground.
4 Recommendations to avoid structure
5 damage for four categories of buildings ,
6 ranging from reinforced concrete, steel
7 or timber . Down to buildings extremely
8 susceptible to vibration damage . To
9 evaluate possible damage to historic
10 structures , Category Four , buildings
11 extremely susceptible to vibration
12 damage was used to evaluate impact to
13 historic structures . To evaluate impact
14 to residential structures , Category
15 Three, non-engineered timber and masonry
16 buildings was used. In addition, ground
17 born routine squared or RMS velocities ,
18 which is -- so what we ' re saying in
19 average. In velocity decibels were
20 evaluated for potential impact to nearby
21 residents . To evaluate predicted
22 vibration -- vibration readings of a
23 Peterbilt 389 2020 edition dump truck
24 were collected on August 2 , 2022 . To
25 evaluate measured vibration levels as a
MAY 15, 2023 31
1 result of trucks passing on West Mill
2 Road, and at the Mattituck Creek Tide
3 Mill located at 5575 West Mill Road and
4 at the Frame Water Tower located at 5670
5 West Mill Road. Existing vibration
6 measurements showed that the peak
7 particle velocity in an RMS velocity
8 measured due to dump trucks is equal to
9 or below existing vibration levels ,
10 which were also measured with existing
11 traffic present . However, all the
12 vibration levels were significantly
13 lower than the reference data that is
14 included in the FTA Guidelines .
15 Specifically vibration levels measured
16 on West Mill Road of the dump truck
17 passing were only 9 . 20 of the reference
18 values in the FTA Guidelines , which is a
19 very significant reduction . This
20 reduction is expected due to Long
21 Island ' s unique sandy soil structure,
22 due to its formation from a passing
23 glacier. The reference values that are
24 in the FTA Guidelines are reflective of
25 the entire country, which have a much
MAY 15, 2023 32
1 different soil structure and thereby
2 much different vibration transmission
3 patterns . Although measured vibration
4 levels are significantly less than the
5 standardized guidelines , A conservative
6 approach was used with both the FTA
7 Guidelines , reference vibration levels ,
8 as well as , the FTA Guidelines
9 methodology for predicting impact, with
10 a typical soil structure . This model
11 was made even more conservative with
12 information from the New Hampshire
13 Guidelines which had suggested
14 alterations to the FTA Guidelines
15 methodology for more efficient vibration
16 transfer . Analysis using the FTA
17 guidelines method along with the
18 corrections made from the New Hampshire
19 Guidelines resulted in worst case
20 scenario, minimum distances from roadway
21 surfaces , to avoid damage to historic
22 structures of 17 feet from the road
23 surface for damage -- for historic
24 structures , and 11 feet from the road
25 surface for damage to residential
MAY 15, 2023 33
- 1 structures . For recommendations for
2 interior vibration levels , those had a
3 minimum distance of 79 feet from the
4 road surface . However, using the
5 measurements that were collected near
6 the project site , these distances would
7 be reduced to 2 feet from the road
8 surface, to cause damage to historic and
9 residential buildings , and a minimum
10 distance of 29 feet to exceed
11 recommended interior vibration levels
12 from truck traffic . On West Mill Road
13 and Cox Neck Road, although there are
14 some structures within 79 feet of the
15 road surface, no structures are closer
16 than 29 feet , likely that the actual
17 distance for potential interior
18 vibration disturbance, which is not the
19 same as 'damage, is somewhere between
20 these two numbers . Regarding exposure
21 to historic structures . Sorry.
22 Reviewing storage structures provided by
23 PW Grosser, along with the truck route
24 from Mattituck through Riverhead, there
25 was only one historic structure that was
MAY 15, 2023 34
1 closer than 17 feet from the roadway
2 surface . This is the Water Tower and
3 building located at 3380 Westmore Road,
4 which is 12 feet from the road surface .
5 Once again, although the threshold for
6 damage is likely between the 17 feet
7 calculated through the FTA Guidelines
8 and the 2 feet calculated through the
9 measurements collected near the project
10 site, the 17 feet was used for a
11 conservative analysis . To address the
12 potential impact, the following
13 mitigation measures have been
14 implemented. A vibration monitoring
15 plan has been developed, which will
16 provide alerts to the acoustic
17 consultant and the construction
18 management team should vibration levels
19 approach the damaged criteria. Arrival
20 and departure times for trucks to be ,
21 loaded or leaving the site will be
22 logged to correlate any measured
23 vibration alerts . If it is confirmed
24 that an exceedance is due to the
25 operation of a truck associated with the
MAY 15, 2023 35
1 construction, truck operators will be
2 required to reduce speeds near the Water
3 Tower and buildings , so that vibration
4 is reduced. All drivers are to be
5 notified of any speed restrictions .
6 Should two alerts confirmed due to truck
7 vibration occur on the same day, the
8 trips are to be halted until additional
9 data can be collected and further
10 mitigation can be implemented. In
11 addition to vibrate -- in addition to
12 vibration due to truck traffic ,
13 vibration due to construction equipment
14 was also evaluated for the FTA
15 Guidelines . The highest minimum
16 distances from construction equipment
17 were found to be 42 feet to cause damage
18 to historic structures . 27 feet to
19 cause damage to residential structures
20 and 146 feet to exceed recommended in
21 indoor vibration levels . All nearby
22 residents and historic structures exceed
23 those distances with the closest
24 structure, a distance of 171 feet from
25 the edge of the construction site .
MAY 15, 2023 36
1 Although there are no impacts or
2 anticipated impacts , the applicant has
3 agreed to implement vibration monitoring
4 measures during construction to ensure
5 that vibration levels do not exceed the
6 recommended criteria. This includes
7 deployment of three vibration monitoring
8 terminals near the construction area .
9 Notification -- if an exceedance is
10 measured to the construction manager and
11 acoustic consultant , verification of the
12 type of exceedance within the vibration
13 monitors , cloud hosted portal , should
14 the cause of the exceedance be linked to
15 construction activities , construction
16 should be halted immediately until
17 appropriate measures . Such as operating
18 fewer pieces of equipment near the
19 construction boundary or moving
20 construction activities away from the
21 construction boundary, can be
22 implemented. The only exception to
23 halting the construction would be if it
24 presents a life safety issue for the
25 construction workers or if it would
MAY 15, 2023 37
1 result in an unsafe structure at the
2 time of halting the construction. In
3 each of these cases , construction should
4 only be continued until such time as all
5 workers would be safe and that all
6 structures are stable and would not be
7 in danger of collapse . Thank you.
8 CHARLES CUDDY: The last item is to
9 be transferred into the final hearing in
10 June 5th. The alternatives and impacts
11 will include the unavoidable impacts .
12 Talk about it at that time . So there ' ll
13 be no further comments from the
14 applicant .
15 JESSICA MICHAELIS : Thank you,
16 Charles .
17 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Jess ,
18 I 'm gonna ask you to read some comments .
19 JESSICA MICHAELIS : Thank you .
20 Please be respectful , and remain quiet
21 while others are speaking . This hearing
22 is recorded and for a clean record at
23 all times , please refrain from
24 applauding, calling out or making any
25 other noises . Each person may only
MAY 15, 2023 38
1 speak once . You can line up at one of
2 the podiums . State your name first .
3 Direct all your comments to the
4 ( inaudible ) . Limit your comments to
5 three minutes . A tone will sound after
6 2 minutes and 30 seconds . To alert you
7 that you have 30 seconds remaining . A
8 second tone will sound at 3 minutes to
9 let you know that your time is up. We
10 appreciate your adherence to this time
11 limit. If three minutes is not enough,
12 you can submit the rest of your comments
13 in writing . You have until at least
14 July 10th to do so . Written comments
15 have the same weight as verbal comments .
16 After you ' re done speaking, please write
17 your name on the sign in sheet . Those
18 attending via Zoom will be in invited to
19 speak after all in-person attendees have
20 spoken .
21 On Zoom, you may raise your hand
22 and if you ' re on the telephone, please
23 use *9 . The Board plans to keep the
24 hearing open until the next public
25 meeting, June 5th . If you do not have a
MAY 15, 2023 39
1 chance to speak tonight, you will be
2 able to do so either in person or on
3 Zoom at the June 5th meeting . Written
4 comments can be submitted in the
5 Planning Board Office or via e-mail .
6 Thank you .
7 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thanks ,
8 Jess .
9 So I guess we ' ll start on the west
10 side . State your name , and then after
11 you finish, please write your name
12 legibly. So we have it for the record.
13 JOEL KLEIN: My name is Joel Klein.
14 I live in Mattituck. In my opinion, as
15 an environmental professional with more
16 than 40 years of experience writing and
17 reviewing environmental impact
18 statements , many of the conclusions in
19 the DEIS are either not supported by the
20 accompanying data or actually
21 contradicted by the data collected by
22 the applicants consultants . Evidence of
23 this is indicated in the detailed
24 comments I am submitting tonight . For
25 example, the DEIS states that during the
MAY 15, 2023 40
1 six month long excavation phase of the
2 project, a total of 4500 quote "total
3 trips by 22 wheel haul trucks will be
4 made along West Mill and Cox Neck Roads
5 and Sound Avenue . That is not true . -
6 The DEIS never uses the term round trip.
7 The Board required the DEIS to use the
8 Institute of Transportation Engineers
9 methodology to count trips . The
10 preparers of the DEIS should have known
11 that the ITE defines a trip as a one way
12 movement . As a result, the DEIS implies
13 that construction traffic volumes will
14 be half of what they will actually be .
15 The real number of haul truck trips will
16 be more than 10 , 000 . The DEIS assumes
17 that each truck hauling sand will be
18 filled to its maximum 30 cubic yard
19 capacity . It also states that each
20 truck has a maximum permitted loaded
21 weight of 107 , 000 pounds . However ; the
22 geo-technical report in the DEIS
23 indicates that most sand from the
24 project site weighs 3100 pounds per
25 cubic yard. Based on that information,
MAY 15, 2023 41
1 each truck will be able to carry only 24
2 cubic yards of sand. Not 30 . Without
3 exceeding the maximum allowable weight .
4 This will require more truckloads per
5 day, as many as , one every 6 minutes , 10
6 hours a day, 5 days a week. For 6
7 months or longer . The DEIS also
8 downplays traffic impacts in another
9 way. The traffic study includes a
10 number of tables in very small type
11 listing traffic count data according to
12 the FHWAs 13 truck size categories .
13 However; the DEIS lumps all trucks
14 bigger than pickups into a single heavy
15 truck category. Doing so, allows the
16 DEIS to say that project truck traffic
17 will not add significantly to existing
18 traffic . However; if one looks only at
19 semi-tractor trailer traffic , it turns
20 out that the project will cause an
21 approximately 8 , 000% increase in semi
22 traffic on West Mill Road. On the basis
23 of the traffic analysis alone, the DEIS
24 cannot be used as a basis for assessing
25 project impacts . The underestimating of
MAY 15, 2023 42
1 traffic impacts also means that the
2 project ' s schedule impacts the
3 pedestrians and bicyclists , road damage
4 impacts , noise impacts , vibration
5 impacts , impacts the historic
6 structures . Air quality impacts and
7 impacts on emergency response times have
8 all been underestimated. Thank you.
9 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
10 you, Mr . Klein.
11 MS . LOUIS HARRISON : Evening,
12 members of the Planning Board. Louise
13 Harrison, Save the Sound. I live and
14 work in Peconic . Thank you for holding
15 this hearing . We hope you ' re pleased by
16 the level of community support here
17 tonight, for your important work. The
18 simplest and most obvious feature of
19 this proposal , is there is no room for
20 it on the site without imposing severe
21 unmitigated adverse environmental
22 impacts . Your decision will be
23 consequential . At stake are the
24 integrity of Mill Road Preserve,
25 wildlife, Mattituck Creek, the clean
MAY 15, 2023 43
_j
1 water productive maritime resources . We
2 also highly value, and much more . As
3 Lead Agency, you need to reach a
4 decision that ' s legally sustainable .
5 The good news , the public has
6 scrutinized this DEIS and is here to
7 offer insight . Save the Sound stands
8 with save Mattituck Inlet in its
9 criticism of the proposal and of the
10 DEIS . The DEIS obscures what it should
11 illuminate . It strains credulity. For
12 example, do you really believe that a
13 stormwater system emptying rainwater
14 from giant metal rooftops into dry wells
15 is superior to a forest ' s ecosystem
16 services? Because tree leaves give off
17 water vapor? DEIS in this way, portrays
18 forest loss as a win. The DEIS is
19 deceptive about the extent of future sea
20 level rise inundation on the site . And
21 remember , rising seawater lifts
22 groundwater along the shore .
23 Groundwater intercepting septic and
24 stormwater systems could affect
25 Mattituck Creek ' s water quality in only
MAY 15, 2023 44
1 a few years . The DEIS misapplies
2 Southold excellent coastal policies .
3 Gives erroneous treatment to the
4 Endangered Species Act . Downplays the
5 adverse effects on our public investment
6 Mill Road Preserve in favor of private
7 gain . Ignores that Southold ' s native
8 forests are the Town ' s best places for
9 replenishing clean ground water and
10 delivering untainted water to our creeks
11 and bays . You can ' t -- you just can ' t
12 rely on this document . Please require
13 the applicant to provide access to DEC ' s
14 wildlife units so they can verify
15 presence or absence of endangered
16 species on the property. A DEC
17 Incidental Take Permit may be required.
18 Please request to the applicant consider
19 public purchase of the property ' s native
20 coastal Oak Beach Park Forest, and
21 please prepare the final EIS yourselves
22 using your own consultants . Thank you .
23 Save the Sound will submit detailed
24 comments before the period -- comment
25 period closes .
MAY 15, 2023 45
1 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
2 you, Louise . Harvey?
3 MR. HARVEY ARNOFF : Harvey Arnoff .
4 I live on Sound Avenue . I used to sit
5 up there as a Town Attorney with you
6 guys . I ' d like to just deal with
7 something a little different . I ' m not
8 being technical tonight. Let ' s be real .
9 What this application is about is
10 sacrificing the good of many . The very,
11 very few. Now, we have where we live 80
12 trucks a day. Go outside and take a
13 look at the truck. Take a look at the
14 truck that ' s out there and ask yourself ,
15 would you want 80 more trucks than go
16 buy your house regularly to be in front
17 of your house . During -- let me point
18 this out . During peak travel times .
19 7 : 00 to 5 : 00 . School buses . Nobody
20 mentioned that . Nobody mentioned the
21 fact that could be -- they could be put
22 at risk. The school buses are there
23 every day. Five days a week. That ' s
24 what they ' re doing . We have something
25 that I did not read before . They ' re
MAY 15, 2023 46
1 talking about reducing the speed to 30
2 miles an hour . That ' s gonna invite
3 people passing on a double yellow line .
4 I presume as we go through life . Now,
5 this is gonna continue for six months .
6 Approximately 14 , 000 trips in front of
7 our house . Is that what you want? Is
8 that what you want to see this Town to
9 do? Now, there ' s a simple solution to
10 some of this . At least I think it is .
11 This all could be done at night . If in
12 fact, the Board would bend in some way.
13 There is no way that this works in the
14 daytime, that this works for our
15 community. It could be done at night .
16 It may require some manipulation of
17 code . It may require some manipulation
18 otherwise . And it may cost , oh my God,
19 the applicants some more money . Let him
20 use some of the substantial money that
21 he ' s getting for all the sale. Thank
22 you .
23 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
24 you for your comments . Sir?
25 BOB DELUCA: Good evening,
MAY 15, 2023 47
1 Mr. Chairman, members of the Planning
2 Board. My name is Bob DeLuca. I live
3 in Southold Town and I serve as
4 president of group for the East End.
5 Nearly 40 years experience in Land Use
6 Impact Assessment, civic engagement
7 across the region, I ' m here tonight to
8 urge you to ultimately deny this
9 application. It is simply impossible
10 for this proposal to responsibly meet
11 the environmental review and mitigation
12 requirements imposed on it and you,
13 under the State Environmental Quality
14 Review Act and your own Comprehensive
15 Plan . More specifically, given the
16 ongoing development under the current
17 zoning , the fragile coastal nature of
18 this parcel, the project ' s adjacency to
19 preserve land, its direct impact on
20 nearby residences , the vulnerability of
21 the site to future impacts and sea level
22 rise , the extreme nature of site
23 preparation required and the proposals
24 inescapable impacts associated with
25 160 , 000 tons site generated sand and
MAY 15, 2023 48
,- 1 gravel , twisting through winding
2 residential roads from Mattituck, and
3 all points west . Quite simply, at some
4 point, you have to ask, what were they
5 thinking with this application? But
6 don ' t take my word for it . The Planning
7 Board need only look to its own files to
8 see that when a similar proposal for two
9 very large boat storage buildings was
10 attempted on this site two decades ago,
11 the Board clearly indicated the proposal
12 was unacceptable due to its extensive
13 excavation, its intrusion into
14 residentially zoned areas , its massing
15 of proposed structures , its vulnerable
16 coastal location along the waterfront .
17 That was June 8th of 2000 . Fast
18 forward. 20 years , in the Planning
19 Board can see nearly identical concerns
20 raised by the Suffolk Planning
21 Commission . In its review of April of
22 2020 . Extensive excavation, increased
23 flooding and storm surge vulnerability.
24 Increased runoff and wastewater
25 management issues . The risk of
MAY 15, 2023 49
1 repetitive economic loss for both of the
2 buildings that are proposed, but even
3 more important is the Town ' s
4 Comprehensive Plan, a decade in the
5 making and now the duly adopted planning
6 policy of this Town. Among its many
7 goals , the Comprehensive Plan is
8 unambiguously clear . The Town is to
9 support the protection of soil and
10 geologic features . Exactly the opposite
11 of the soil and features that this
12 project will erase, if it proceeds .
13 It ' s also the Town policy now to protect
14 upland habitat and trees . Exactly the
15 opposite of the 600 trees destroyed, if
16 this project proceeds . And this Town
17 policy to preserve the quality of life
18 in residential neighborhoods . And I ' m
19 sure you ' ll hear more about that from
20 others . At the end of the day, the
21 Planning Board cannot make decisions
22 that are inconsistent with its duly
23 adopted Comprehensive Plan . And if they
24 are , what was the point in preparing it?
25 In summary, the subject proposal is
MAY 15, 2023 50
1 essentially a more intensive
2 reincarnation of an already failed
3 project that the South Hold Planning
4 Board had the good sense to reject more
5 than two decades ago. As such, it would
6 be an incredible step backward for the
7 Planning Board to further entertain this
8 proposal . And before this applicant
9 needs -- And before that , this applicant
10 needs clear direction that there is no
11 path forward here . And that the this
12 direction must come sooner rather than
13 later . Enough is ultimately enough .
14 Thank you for your time .
15 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
16 you . Yes?
17 MARIA FASULO: Hi . My name is
18 Maria Fasulo, and I 'm a homeowner in
19 East Marion. But I am a boat owner, and
20 have the pleasure of actually having our
21 boats being serviced and cared for by
22 Strong ' s for the last 20 years . I ' ve
23 also worked with other marinas in this
24 area . And I can tell you there ' s not
25 even a ounce of how -- the difference of
MAY 15, 2023 51
1 how good Strong ' s is versus any of these
2 other marinas . One of the reasons I
3 like to use Strong ' s is because they ' re
4 a family business that is not gonna be
5 taken over by national companies that
6 really take advantage of situations of
7 boat owners . We have no recourse . I
8 take -- even though I keep my boat in
9 Greenport, I take it to be serviced from
10 Mattituck. And one of the reasons I do
11 that is because the work is done right.
12 They care about the customer . They care
13 about the boat . And one of the reasons
14 we all enjoy being out here on the North
15 Fork is because of the water . Whether
16 you look at it or whether you ride on
17 it . And boating is a critical part of
18 keeping the value of our community. And
19 I believe that Strong ' s with its
20 commitment to the Town, to its
21 community, will do the right things .
22 And that ' s one of the reasons they ' ve
23 done as much as they have trying to make
24 sure this application is done properly.
25 I believe that with the right research
MAY 15, 2023 52
1 and with the right community input,
2 things can get done to help the owners
3 of boats . Having inside storage is
4 really critical to keep the value of
5 your boat also. It ' s very tough winters
6 and it actually takes away the value of
7 our boats when they have to live through
8 the winter outside . So keeping it
9 inside, being able to get work done over
10 the Winter, so you don ' t lose valuable
11 time in the Spring . So you can actually
12 get out on the water and enjoy it . This
13 is about enjoying what ' s mostly around
14 us out here . And that ' s the water . And
15 I believe Strong ' s helps us to do that.
16 And does it in a very positive way . I
17 understand where everybody comes from,
18 but I appreciate the chance to hear it
19 from this side .
20 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
21 you for your comment . Yes?
22 DEBORAH WETZEL : Good evening to
23 the Chairman and the Southold Town
24 Planning Board. My name is Deborah
25 Wetzel . I 'm speaking tonight on behalf
MAY 15, 2023 53
1 of Karen Testa. She ' s President of
2 Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons . This is
3 an organization that rescues , rehabs and
4 releases turtles . Dear Southold Town
5 Planning Board. I ' m writing to express
6 my opposition to Strong ' s Yacht Center
7 development project . I believe that the
8 Draft Environmental Impact Statement
9 does not adequately address the
10 mitigation efforts to protect the
11 eastern box turtle . The box turtle is
12 listed as a New York State species of
13 special concern . According to table
14 five of the DEIS , the box turtle has
15 been observed on site . And is expected
16 to be found in any one of the vegetated
17 upland habitats of the project site.
18 The study states in order to minimize
19 potential impacts to the turtle . Sweeps
20 and surveys for turtles will be
21 conducted prior to commencement of
22 clearing, grading and excavation
23 activities . And any observed turtles
24 will be relocated to areas that will not
25 be disturbed. Silt fencing or other
MAY 15, 2023 54
- 1 barriers will be installed around work
2 areas to prevent turtles from returning
3 to construction areas . These statements
4 are misleading and inaccurate and a
5 danger to the eastern box turtle
6 survival and therefore, should not be
7 considered mitigation for the adverse
8 impacts of this proposed development .
9 All species of native turtles , including
10 eastern box turtles , hibernate
11 underground from October through May.
12 They live in underground burrows and in
13 tree stumps . Every New York species of
14 turtles nest on land and dig their
15 undetectable nests . Approximately 6 to
16 12 inches underground. Eastern box
17 turtles are elusive by nature, and their
18 camouflage makes it almost impossible to
19 find them in a natural setting .
20 Therefore, sweeps and surveys should not
21 be considered mitigation to the adverse
22 impacts of this proposed development .
23 Fencing and other barriers will not stop
24 the eastern box turtle strong instinct
25 to return to its nesting and feeding
MAY 15, 2023 55
1 habitat . Turtles will instinctively
2 travel along a barrier perimeter to find
3 a weakened spot or small opening . If
4 turtles cannot find an opening, they
5 will likely dig under the proposed
6 fencing or worse , become entangled
7 leading to injury and possible death .
8 Turtles will also follow the fencing
9 line, which could lead to public
10 roadways and vehicular traffic leading
11 to injury and possible death .
12 Therefore , fencing and ( inaudible )
13 should not be considered mitigation for
14 the adverse impacts of this proposed
15 development . For all of the above
16 stated reasons , the proposed mitigation
17 efforts of conducting sweeps , surveying
18 and installing barriers to protect the
19 eastern box turtle are ineffectual and
20 absurd . They should not be considered
21 mitigation for the impact -- for the
22 adverse impacts of this proposed
23 development . Please use your authority
24 to reject the DEIS and find a better
25 alternative . Sincerely, Karen Testa .
MAY 15, 2023 56
1 President of Turtle Rescue of the
2 Hamptons . Thank you.
3 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
4 you .
5 PAUL PAWLOWSKI : Good evening .
6 Paul Pawlowski . Mattituck resident. I
7 wanna speak in a more practical way.
8 There ' s been a lot of technical data put
9 forth and -- and that ' s all very, very
10 important , but maybe it ' s not all
11 negative. As a Norfolk town, don ' t we
12 wanna support a working waterfront?
13 Especially one that ' s been there for
14 many, many years . And hopefully for
15 many more to come . Isn ' t that the whole
16 point of most of that inlet? As a
17 working waterfront? Don ' t we want to
18 support new jobs? Don ' t we want to
19 support that truck that ' s out there?
20 That truck actually lives on that road
21 that most of these 4500 trucks are gonna
22 travel . Environmentally, is an indoor
23 storage better than outdoor? I could
24 see a lot of other things done at that
25 property that would be much more
MAY 15, 2023 57
1 significant impact environmentally
2 speaking, if Strong ' s weren ' t the
3 applicant before us . And that ' s not a
4 scare tactic . That ' s just reality.
5 Indoor storage of 100 , 000 square foot
6 roughly, that ' s not a lot of boats in
7 the real world. It ' s just not . There ' s
8 many more boats on in that inlet as we
9 speak. And when you ' re factoring
10 regular boats that are being trailer in
11 over many years to come versus ones that
12 are coming by water, there ' s gonna be a
13 lot more traffic over the next 50 years .
14 ( Inaudible ) at by road and just simply
15 maybe that person that owns their boat,
16 didn ' t put the gas in right or things of
17 that nature . If there ' s an issue with
18 gas or oil indoors , it ' s noticed
19 immediately. And the one thing we could
20 all agree on if you go to their marinas ,
21 they ' re fairly clean boat traffic again.
22 100 , 000 square foot sounds like a lot .
23 The boats they ' re talking about, we ' re
24 talking, it could be 60 boats . It could
25 be 80 boats , but that ' s the boat traffic
MAY 15, 2023 58
1 is -- you won ' t even notice in the real
2 world. In the practical sense, you just
3 won ' t . And luckily, and while this is
4 one of the headaches for this
5 construction project, but when it comes
6 to boat traffic , it ' s pretty close to
7 the inlet in the south . It ' s not
8 further to the south. So that long term
9 speaking is , is better than if it was
10 further to the south. Removing sand and
11 soil , it can be done clean. It can be
12 done as with good practices . But yes.,
13 and I agree, I wouldn ' t want that many
14 trucks going by my house . But we ' re
15 trying to work a waterfront or not
16 myself . I ' m not even, I don ' t work
17 there . I have nothing to do with this
18 application . Thank God. But the truth
19 is , the truth is , you know, it can be
20 done right . And there ' s been a lot of
21 technical terms , but the environmental
22 impact can be done right . The water
23 runoff will be better and you could just
24 have a two minute conversation on that
25 compared to coming down the hill into
MAY 15, 2023 59
1 the creek . Removing trees is a concern
2 and it should be , and soil and sand.
3 But let ' s put this in practical sense .
4 This is a 32 acre piece of property and
5 they ' re looking to develop roughly two
6 acres . Just over two acres , 100 , 000
7 square foot of buildings . That ' s the
8 equivalent of adding a 3 , 000 square foot
9 garage on a one acre piece of property.
10 So, no -- no, it ' s 70 . So yes , there is
11 that annoyance of trucks going by and
12 construction and there ' s never a perfect
13 application .
14 JESSICA MICHAELIS : Yes . I ' m
15 sorry.
16 PAUL PAWLOWSKI : So I just wanna
17 say, I hope the short term concerns
18 don ' t outweigh the long term goals of
19 improving and creating a working
20 waterfront . Good luck .
21 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
22 you for your comments .
23 PEGGY LAUBER: Good evening . I ' m
24 Peggy Lauber , President of North Fork
25 Audubon Society in Greenport . This
MAY 15, 2023 60
1 proposal would directly destroy a
2 natural bluff and directly or indirectly
3 destroy all acres of a pristine coastal
4 Oak Beach Forest classified as rare by
5 New York State. The proposal would
6 eliminate about five acres of the forest
7 outright, and degrade the entire
8 remaining eight plus acres through
9 collateral impacts of forest edge
10 effects and fragmentation. This forest
11 contains prime bird and wildlife
12 territory, including habitat for dozens
13 of New York State protected, endangered,
14 threatened, special concern and other
15 species . The project will create
16 negative impacts on the neighboring Mill
17 Road Preserve, Mattituck Creek,
18 Mattituck in Long Island Sound and the
19 East End as a whole . Oak and Beach
20 Trees and other native trees are of
21 special ecological importance in
22 supporting entire ecosystems of
23 organisms . Both above and below ground.
24 The DEIS addressed the environmental
25 impact on one endangered bird species ,
MAY 15, 2023 61
1 the Piping Plover, and states that they
2 live over half a mile away on Breakwater
3 Beach, who would not be adversely
4 impacted. But their foraging area
5 extends up Mattituck Creek and even
6 beyond. And besides the Piping Clover,
7 there are 13 other birds of protected
8 status documented in the area . We ' ve
9 calculated actually a total of 89 bird
10 species that would be impacted by this
11 permanent loss of nesting foraging and
12 hunting habitat . Just to give you an
13 idea, we just tabulated them. This is
14 the Audubon Birds of America Book. This
15 is how many species we ' re talking about .
16 So this area is on the Atlantic Flyway,
17 an important stopover corridor , for
18 millions of birds that migrate annually
19 along the Eastern U. S . from Canada to
20 the Caribbean and South American backs .
21 So they ' re passing through and stopping
22 over . The DEIS State said 122 species
23 of plants exist on the site, but there ' s
24 no analysis of how many of these are on
25 the New York State list of endangered
MAY 15, 2023 62
1 and otherwise protected plants . It also
2 mentions one species of New York State
3 protected Salamander that could be
4 impacted by this project . However ,
5 there might be up to six species . It
6 doesn ' t address the hundreds of species
7 of butterflies , moths , bees , turtles and
8 bats that may live in the Coastal Oak
9 Beach Forest . We urge the Town and
10 Strong ' s to consider an alternative to
11 preserve this Coastal Oak Beach Forest
12 and connect it to the neighboring Mill
13 Road Preserve . Thank you.
14 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
15 you for your comments . Sir , please
16 state your name .
17 STEVE BAKTIDY : My name is Steve
18 Baktidy. I ' ve been in Mattituck for
19 over 50 years . I live on Mattituck
20 Inlet and been doing -- my family ' s been
21 doing business with the Strong family .
22 My dad, with Jeff ' s father, and me , with
23 Jeff and my son, as well . So three
24 generations on three generations . But
25 I 'm not here to talk -- I 'm here to talk
MAY 15, 2023 63
1 about the Strong brand. Everybody keeps
2 saying about --
3 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : I don ' t
4 mean to cut you off , but the Strong
5 brand is not what we ' re talking about
6 here . We ' re talking about a project .
7 STEVE BAKTIDY : All right .
8 ( Inaudible ) was a disaster before the
9 Strong ' s went in and took it over.
10 Mattituck Inlet Marine as well was a
11 disaster. Everything -- everything that
12 they touch, they make beautiful . They -
13 make it nice . They make it proper and
14 they bring value to the community. So
15 in no doubt in my mind that if he does
16 this project . He ' s gonna make it look
17 beautiful . And he ' s gonna bring value
18 to the area and to the property. So
19 that ' s all I have to say. Thank you .
20 MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III : Thank
21 you for your comment .
22 THERESA DILWORTH: Hi , good
23 evening. My name is Theresa Dilworth.
24 I live in Mattituck . Off Sound Avenue .
25 I 'm a Board member and the Treasurer of
MAY 15, 2023 64
1 the North Fork Audubon Society . And I ' m
2 also head of the Trail Maintenance
3 Subcommittee, where we maintain the
4 trails of a 55 acre County Park in
5 ( inaudible ) County Park where the
6 Audubon headquarters are located
7 tonight. I want to talk about bats . We
8 do have an 80 page set of comments that
9 we ' re going to submit in writing. Where
10 we talk about 20 or so endangered birds
11 and other species . But tonight , I 'm
12 gonna talk about bats . Before I get
13 into the discussion, I want to just
14 briefly talk about the different levels
15 of protected status under Federal and
16 New York Law. The different categories
17 of conservation status . So the first
18 status is extinct . Extinct means that
19 the species no longer exists anywhere in
20 the world. The second status is
21 endangered, which is defined as of high
22 risk of becoming extinct . The third --
23 the second -- the second is threatened,
24 which is high risk of becoming
25 endangered. So that ' s Level Two. Third
MAY 15, 2023 65
1 is special concern, which is high risk
2 of becoming threatened. And the fourth
3 is the high priority species of greatest
4 conservation need, which is high risk of
5 becoming special concern . So the one
6 I ' m gonna focus on is endangered, which
7 is the highest level of risk of
8 extinction . So the DEIS says there ' s 20
9 species of mammals at the site, of which
10 four are bat species . And that none of
11 the bats are endangered. The DEIS
12 consultant did not make any on-site
13 visits to check for bats . I made
14 on-site visits and I find -- I found
15 nine species of bats , not four . In
16 fact, I found all nine bat species that
17 are known to live in New York State .
18 And how did I find these bats? I have a
19 bat detector . Actually, we had two of
20 them. They plug into the charging port
21 of an iPhone . There ' s a microphone
22 here . You hold it up and it can detect
23 the ultrasonic sounds that bats make .
24 They ' re called echolocation calls . They
25 are beyond the range of human hearing.
MAY 15, 2023 66
1 So this device can pick up the call .
2 And every species of bat has a different
3 call . In terms of the' frequency pitch
4 volume, timber, the length of the call ,
5 the frequency of the repetitions , the
6 time of the length, the time between
7 repetitions , etcetera. So this device
8 can detect the species of bats
9 automatically. I mean within seconds .
10 Through the logarithms and the
11 technology that it has . And also it
12 records the sonogram. So you can look
13 at them physically. You can look at
14 them on a chart . You can see the shape
15 of the sonogram, etcetera . It ' s very
16 similar to the technology used in the
17 Merlin Bird Identification App . For
18 those of you who are knowledgeable about
19 bird watching. There ' s a very similar
20 app, which is actually free that you
21 just hold up . You just hold it up, you
22 record and it will tell you what bird
23 species you ' re listening to. So it ' s
24 very similar to that .
25 JESSICA MICHAELIS : Thank you,
MAY 15, 2023 67
1 Theresa, your time is up.
2 THERESA DILWORTH: Oh, ok. I just
3 want -- we will have more details in our
4 report .
5 KEVIN BYRNE : Hi , my name is Kevin
6 Byrne . I live in Mattituck. And I ' m
7 also the Commissioner and Chairman of
8 the Mattituck Park District . And I ' m --
9 want to talk a little bit . I understand
10 this is a very controversial issue in
11 our community . I just want to mention a
12 few things . One is that, as far as , I
13 know, no one or no agency or company or
14 anything, owns more property on the
15 Mattituck Inlet than the Mattituck Park
16 District . And as Chairman and
17 Commissioner, I am tasked and with the
18 responsibility along with my fellow
19 commissioners to protect and preserve
20 them. ( Inaudible ) That ' s fine . Well ,
21 with the exclusion of Mr . Deegan
22 officially . Thank you for interrupting .
23 Thank you . It is our responsibility to
24 maintain, protect and preserve that
25 inlet. And in that regard, as I
MAY 15, 2023 68
1 mentioned, I believe we have the most
2 property on the Mattituck Inlet of any
3 person or agency or company. Probably
4 the second highest amount of property on
5 the Mattituck Inlet is owned by Strong ' s
6 Marine and the Strong ' s family . So they
7 have an equal , almost nearly equal
8 interest and concern for the
9 preservation of the Mattituck Inlet .
10 Along with some of my fellow
11 commissioners , it ' s just about two years
12 ago now, I attended a meeting here at
13 Town Hall where the discussion was the
14 Mattituck Inlet and the condition and
15 the need for remediation of several
16 major problems with the Mattituck Inlet .
17 We know there ' s a run-off problem. We
18 know the Inlet is being polluted by
19 runoff water coming down and draining
20 into the Inlet . We know that the Inlet
21 has issues with its bottom. It needs to
22 be dredged. We also know that there ' s
23 need for soil testing and other things
24 to determine the actual condition of
25 that Inlet . And I just want to say
MAY 15, 2023 69
1 that, you know, this is a controversial
2 issue and there ' s a lot of information
3 on both sides . I would ask you to
4 consider what was mentioned earlier,
5 about the history of the Strong ' s
6 family. The way they ' ve dealt with the
7 Inlet. The way they ' ve handled their
8 properties on the Inlet . And I would
9 also remind you or point out to you the
10 Save the Inlet and Save the Sound
11 people, that if you decline this
12 project, if you decide to not approve
13 it, you will have done nothing to Save
14 the Inlet . Thank you .
1-5 KEVIN WINES : Hi, good evening . My
16 name is Kevin Wines . I ' m originally
17 from Mattituck and current employee at
18 Strong ' s Marine . First, I wasn ' t gonna
19 even comment about it, but I ' ve heard
20 the word "natural cliff . " The area that
21 they ' re looking to excavate was put
22 there by the State . It ' s not original
23 to the area. So don ' t go there . But
24 the reason I really wanted to talk was
25 when I went to high school in Mattituck,
MAY 15, 2023 70
- 1 looking for career and jobs , and I felt
2 I had to go to greener pastures and move
3 on. Because it was not that many
4 opportunities for young people to grow
5 and raise a family. I joined the
6 military after college . And then worked
7 for the Federal Government, which I
8 helped -- I had a very secure job. Once
9 my family became pregnant, I wanted to
10 move home . I wanted to move back to
11 where I water skied and where I sailed
12 and fished and did all those things , and
13 raise my son in that area . And so we
14 have the same upbringing. I had a hard
15 decision because how do I move home when
16 I have such a secure job? Doing some
17 research on Strong ' s , the decades that
18 they have been in business prior to me,
19 the generations that their family has
20 owned and run the business , and the
21 sheer amount of times that they have
22 grown. They started with one property.
23 And now I ' ve lost track. Okay . There ' s
24 a lot . But that speaks to the longevity
25 of Strong ' s and the longevity of where
MAY 15, 2023 71
1 this project can lead. And most
2 importantly, it provides jobs for
3 someone like myself to move back to this
4 area and raise our children and raise a
5 family where we can afford to live .
6 Affordable Housing is great , but it
7 means nothing if we don ' t have a job and
8 a career to sustain that livability.
9 And that ' s why I ' d like to say. Thank
10 you .
11 PAUL ROMANELLI : Evening . My name
12 is Paul Romanelli . I have a business in
13 Southold. I live in Cutchogue . Couple
14 of things . I tend to believe that stray
15 and feral cats out here probably kill
16 more birds in a month than land clearing
17 two acres would do . And there ' s never
18 really any criticism when a farmer
19 clears two acres of land for farming
20 because we all support farmers out here .
21 This is a business that is trying to
22 land clear to put up and grow their own
23 business , which really helps this
24 economy. We -- I don ' t think anybody
25 realizes how large the marine economy is
MAY 15, 2023 72
1 out here on all aspects . It ' s not just
2 rich people with boats . It ' s smaller
3 people with boats . They ' re creating 14
4 jobs . But that ' s just 14 jobs from
5 Strong ' s . Those boat owners , the people
6 that repair those boats , all live , work
7 out here . Those boat owners will visit
8 our stores , our restaurants , buy
9 supplies out here . So the economy from
10 that is much bigger . I also -- I ' m a
11 member of the North Fork Chamber of
12 Commerce and the Mattituck Chamber of
13 Commerce, as well as , the newly reformed
14 and revised Southold Business Alliance .
15 And we are a pro-business group with
16 still concern for what ' s best for the
17 Town, the environment and the economy.
18 Businesses can ' t be stifled for growth
19 purposes if it ' s done right . And
20 historically, this particular family for
21 four generations has done a tremendous
22 job of making sure that the marine
23 quality, the work they do, the repairs
24 they make are done in such a way that it
25 helps produce more work for all of us on
MAY 15, 2023 73
1 the east end of the island. And I wanna
2 make sure that everybody understands the
3 short term effect of clearing this land
4 and those trucks will help improve in
5 the long term the Mattituck Inlet and
6 the businesses that are there, as well
7 as , the businesses that go through here .
8 Thank you very much.
9 JAMES HINSCH : My name is James
10 Hinsch . I live in Laurel . I ' ve known
11 this Strong family for over 40 years .
12 They ' re people of integrity with a
13 commitment to the North Fork and its
14 maritime history . They ' re ambitious
15 people . They ' re not reckless people .
16 Every project that they have undertaken
17 has improved the physical plant where
18 they employ collectively over 150 people
19 in approximately nine locations
20 throughout Long Island. Jeff and Ree
21 raise their family here in Mattituck .
22 They live on Mattituck Inlet . Like so
23 many others enjoy what it has to offer
24 for recreation. They can be seen
25 kayaking and boating on the same inlet
MAY 15, 2023 74
1 with their children and grandchildren
2 throughout the year . The project is
3 ambitious , and it will temporarily
4 inconvenience the neighborhood. The
5 property is zoned for this usage .
6 There ' s no need for any . special
7 variance . The Strong ' s have done
8 everything that the town has asked them
9 to do and more they have taken into
10 consideration the disruption that their
11 project will cause temporarily and have
12 committed to minimizing that to the best
13 of their ability. Yacht storage for
14 vessels of this size is currently going
15 on at this facility. This is not a new
16 use . The Town ' s own local waterfront
17 plan calls for expanded use at this
18 location . One of the .Strong ' s concerns
19 about the future of our community is a
20 properly trained workforce . Jeff has
21 been in communication with our local
22 school districts to encourage students
23 to consider a career in the marine
24 industry. Many of our youth need to
25 leave Town to seek employment. This
MAY 15, 2023 75
1 project will result in more better
2 paying jobs in our community. There
3 will be an increase in revenue for the
4 Town, State and County . In terms of
5 property and sales tax collected. The
6 project will help ensure that this
7 location remains a working boatyard.
8 Over the last few years , we ' ve seen many
9 businesses on the North Fork, sell to
10 large out of town corporations . This is
11 one of our own family owned businesses ,
12 who are not selling to outside
13 interests , but see a need' in their
14 industry and want to expand their
15 capacity to meet that need. Thank you.
16 ANNE SHERWOOD PUNDYK: Hi , good
17 evening. My name is Anne Sherwood
18 Pundyk . I do want to thank the Planning
19 Department and the Board for all of your
20 extensive work, and in keeping with
21 that . I want to respect the those
22 efforts by having my comments address
23 the topic of the evening, which is
24 commenting on the DEIS , as opposed to
25 other things . So I live at 1185 West
MAY 15, 2023 76
1 Mill Road in Mattituck. Less than a
2 mile from Strong ' s Marine Yacht
3 Warehouse project . I have spent over 50
4 years translating the three dimensional
5 world into two dimensional images using
6 many different media, including
7 architectural drawings , photography,
8 digital tools , such as Photoshop . I
9 have a Master ' s Degree in Fine Art from
10 one of the country ' s leading art schools
11 and I work full time as a professional
12 artist . My painting studio is adjacent
13 to our home in Mattituck. So I first
14 visited the North Fork as a small child.
15 I 'm deeply sensitized to the qualities
16 of light, natural beauty and rural
17 character of the North Fork. I have
18 deep family roots . My great
19 grandparents and grandparents are laid
20 to rest in Orient . All right . I ' m
21 qualified to evaluate the physical
22 impact information presented in the
23 revised DEIS based on that . So the
24 conclusion in the DEIS that there will
25 be no significant visual impacts from
MAY 15, 2023 77
1 the project is not supported for several
2 reasons . The materials presented in the
3 DEIS are in key respects , poorly
4 prepared and omit information necessary
5 to determine the nature and full
6 significance of the visual impact of
7 this project, within the context of the
8 shoreline and community character of
9 Mattituck, as required by the final
10 scope of the DEIS . The information the
11 DEIS centers on, is the relationship of
12 the existing buildings to the proposed
13 buildings . Not the relationship of the
14 buildings to the project ' s natural
15 setting. For example , the DEIS states
16 existing buildings seven and eight would
17 effectively screen most of the proposed
18 buildings nine and ten from properties
19 to the east of the subject property.
20 Meaning, this is the view from the water
21 looking directly across . So that ' s the
22 view. So what they don ' t mention is the
23 gaping hole behind all of these
24 buildings , where the entire woodland
25 hillside has been removed. So that line
MAY 15, 2023 78
1 that you see now, would now go down like
2 this . So that ' s a visual impact and
3 it ' s very strong . Furthermore, in the
4 set of architectural drawings provided
5 by the developer, there ' s no elevation
6 showing the topography. The buildings
7 but no topography. We don ' t know
8 exactly -- We won ' t -- can ' t determine
9 visually what those the change in
10 elevation will look like . This is just
11 one example . I ' m outlining several more
12 in a detailed written response I ' ll be
13 giving, you know, later to the Planning
14 Board. And I do support the positions
15 that have saved Mattituck Inlet .
16 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
17 you .
18 TERRI BOYLE ROMANELLI : Hi . My
19 name is Terri Boyle Romanelli . I live
20 in Cutchogue , and I am here to ask the
21 Board to support this project and
22 support the businesses and economic
23 development in our community . And I ' m
24 going to read some of the goals from our
25 Comprehensive Plan that support our
MAY 15, 2023 79
1 economic development. And you will see
2 that this project with Strong ' s ,
3 supports all of them. Goal One ,
4 encourage new and facilitate the growth
5 of existing business sectors that pursue
6 stable and sustainable employment . We
7 know that Strong ' s does that . We ' ve
8 heard that from people before . My son
9 had a summer job there . They ' re great.
10 Two, promote economic development that
11 ensures an adequate tax base without
12 compromising the unique character of the
13 Town . We all know that we are an
14 agricultural and maritime town and we
15 have always been a tourist town . And
16 the tourists that they bring to this
17 community help our farms and our
18 businesses thrive . And we thank them
19 for that preserve and encourage
20 industries that support existing and
21 future agriculture and agriculture uses .
22 They certainly do that, and they are
23 very good stewards of the land as we
24 have all observed as community members
25 here . Preserve, encourage and continue
MAY 15, 2023 80
1 to support existing and future maritime
2 uses as an important business sector
3 within the Town ' s economy. And they
4 certainly do that. And I ' m asking the
5 Board to show your support for Strong ' s
6 and show you support for economic
7 development in our town that will enable
8 us to continue to thrive . Change is
9 inevitable . We are going to change and
10 we need to manage the change, but we
11 also need to respect the businesses that
12 have gotten us to where we are today and
13 have thrived. And we need to continue
14 to support them as they find new ways to
15 be profitable and bring jobs to this
16 community and bring additional
17 recreational opportunities for us , and
18 the tourists who come here to visit us
19 and help our community thrive . So I ' m
20 asking you to please support this
21 project. Thank you .
22 ANTHONY MARTIGNETTI : My name ' s
23 Anthony Martignetti . I own the old mill
24 and I 'm currently renovating it . I ' m a
25 direct neighbor of this project . Please
MAY 15, 2023 81
1 don ' t let my affiliation with trying to
2 lift the old mill call into question my
3 sanity . While I ' m very good friends
4 with some people who don ' t support this
5 project, I ' m also very good friends with
6 the Strong ' s and people that do . I know
7 this is a very tough moment for the
8 community, but I 'm actually here to
9 support the project . I think a lot
10 worse things could be going on there .
11 The first thing that I see is that there
12 was a hotel -- 200 room, which is what
13 it ' s zoned for . That would be 800 cars
14 a day coming in and out. This traffic
15 isn ' t a great thing, but there -- it ' s
16 only going to be six months of car
17 traffic and big truck traffic . It ' s not
18 great. I live at the top of the road,
19 but they ' re trying to do what they can.
20 Secondly, this is only winter storage .
21 If they were trying to add 60 more slips
22 and increase boat traffic , that would be
23 a very tough thing . That would also, in
24 fact, inflict a lot of damage on the
25 waterway itself , but these are boats
MAY 15, 2023 82
1 that are coming in once and out once .
2 Lastly, I own the two historical
3 buildings that people have spoken about
4 in the events . In the earlier
5 presentation . I happen to have the same
6 structural engineer and he assured me
7 that I am -not to be concerned about the
8 vibrations that are happening . And
9 lastly, I ' m very concerned about
10 Mattituck Inlet . A lot of you like to
11 look at it . I actually swim in it every
12 single day of the Summer . That also
13 might call into question my sanity.
14 But , I love it. My wife kayaks there .
15 I ride my bike up and down the road. If
16 we ' re really concerned with the runoff
17 and the storm drains of the, of the
18 Strong ' s buildings . There ' s a 24-inch
19 storm drain that is under the City ' s
20 control that runs straight out of a City
21 through my bulkhead. And every time it
22 rains puts all of the runoff off
23 Mattituck, off West Road. Straight over
24 my floating dock and into the water . It
25 pumps all the pesticides and all the
MAY 15, 2023 83
1 green grass , fake stuff that people use
2 on their lawns up and down the road.
3 That ' s really something we could talk
4 about if we want to talk about Save
5 Mattituck Inlet . Aside from that, I
6 know , that this is a very tough thing and
7 it was tough for me -- tough for me to
8 come to these conclusions , but I have
9 looked into it as deeply as I can.
10 Thank you.
11 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
12 you .
13 ANGELA DEVITO: Good evening . My
14 name is Angela Devito, and I 'm a
15 resident of the Town of Riverhead. And
16 I 'm here to plea with you this evening
17 to consider this project as a North Fork
18 project. The impact although it ' s only
19 for a brief period of time, six months
20 during the construction phases of this,
21 on the Town of Riverhead will be
22 considerable and perhaps they are some
23 of the unanticipated impacts that are
24 going to be discussed at another point.
25 Another date . The fact that you ' re
MAY 15, 2023 84
1 going to be having one truck on the road
2 every seven minutes means that in the
3 Town of Riverhead, every hour, there
4 will be seven of these trucks traveling
5 either on Northville Turnpike or on
6 County Road 58 . On County Road 58 , as
7 opposed to coming out of the Town of
8 Southold. There are 17 traffic lights
9 at a traffic circle , at a hospital site ,
10 that will have to be maneuvered by these
11 massive trucks with their massive loads
12 over time . The noise that will be
13 generated by them will not only disturb
14 patients in that hospital , but will
15 interfere directly with the ability of
16 ambulances to get patients that need
17 care to those hospital , to those
18 hospital services . The impact, we have
19 the largest school district on the North
20 Fork . We have 5500 students who are
21 bussed every single day. Starting at
22 6 : 10 A.M. in the morning . And going
23 through 5 o ' clock at night, our buses
24 are on the roads . The impact of having
25 these massive trucks who will have to
MAY 15, 2023 85
1 stop and come to halt at 17 traffic
2 lights as they travel through our town
3 is considerable . I would just ask at
4 this point , I looked at the DEIS very
5 briefly. Have to admit that . And we
6 were sort of an afterthought . A little
7 footnote in there and we ' re not the
8 impact on us and the impact of this
9 project should have been considered
10 across the towns as a -- and as I said,
11 as a Norfolk project . So I ' m asking
12 that there is a mechanism to do this ,
13 that it be put in place immediately.
14 And thank you for your time , and thank
15 you for holding this hearing .
16 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
17 you, sir . State your name, please .
18 JERRY ADLER: My name is Jerry
19 Adler. I ' m a resident of Mattituck. In
20 public venues , Mr . Strong speaks
21 eloquently as we -- as many of his
22 supporters have tonight, of his desire
23 to honor the maritime history of
24 Mattituck and Southold Town . And the
25 DEIS presents this project as a means to
MAY 15, 2023 86
1 ensure that tradition, which is a goal
2 also of the 2020 Town Comprehensive
3 Plan, and the Local Waterfront
4 Revitalization Program. This project is
5 the wrong way to go about it . It does
6 nothing to enhance the maritime
7 character of the town, the Hamlet or the
8 inlet, which were built around
9 commercial and the sport fishing and
10 small boat recreation by local
11 residents . Not storing multimillion
12 dollar yachts . The project comprises
13 two enormous sheds with no more visual
14 appeal or apparent maritime function
15 than warehouses . The boats they are
16 meant to service will be shut up inside
17 for half the year and sailing somewhere
18 else the rest of the time . Whether or
19 not they get built, yacht owners will
20 continue to buy, dock and service boats
21 at Strong ' s and at Strong ' s other marina
22 locations and store them for the Winter
23 wherever they store them now. Strong ' s
24 marinas are a thriving business .
25 Mr . Strong is not making a hardship
MAY 15, 2023 87
1 claim, but to the extent that revenue
2 from the yacht storage project is
3 necessary to subsidize the Strong ' s
4 company or might be in the future,
5 surely there are other less
6 environmentally destructive ways to
7 accomplish this . Public and private
8 entities including South Town, Suffolk
9 County and the Peconic Land Trust
10 routinely purchase properties or
11 development rights to preserve land in
12 its natural state or in agricultural
13 production. Why not extend those
14 initiatives to maintain shoreline
15 property for maritime uses? Enabling
16 Mr . Strong to achieve the goal of
17 ensuring the future of his property, the
18 character of the town, and his family ' s
19 legacy without digging up an entire
20 hillside in the process .
21 MS . SHELLY: My name is Shelly
22 ( inaudible ) . I live in East Marion and
23 as a North Fork resident animal lover
24 and all around nature lover . I am very
25 much against the destruction of
MAY 15, 2023 88
1 Mattituck Inlet and the community is
2 there against stealing the homes and
3 environment of many species of
4 endangered and soon to be endangered,
5 birds , mammals , reptiles , butterflies ,
6 bees , and against destruction of our
7 tree friends that supply us with fresh
8 clean air, shade and visual beauty.
9 Congestion will be created in one way .
10 One way out roads . That the general
11 public needs to communicate to for their
12 work, shopping and other needs . And
13 which will interfere with school buses
14 and getting the kids to school on time.
15 I was a bus monitor . And you have to
16 get them on time . You -- there ' s no
17 ifs , ands or buts . The benefits of life
18 and beauty in nature will be replaced
19 with a flat out big unsightly hole, pure
20 ugliness and total community chaos .
21 This action is nothing more than an act
22 of financial greed, personal gain and
23 lack of regard for humanity and
24 Mattituck wildlife land and community.
25 The Strong ' s should not be allowed to
MAY 15, 2023 89
1 destroy this site on Mattituck Inlet or
2 any other place on the north or south
3 shore.
4 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Please
5 stick to the project . Please .
6 MS . SHELLY : Thank you .
7 PHIL KARLIN: My name is Phil
8 Karlin . I ' m a commercial fisherman and
9 I ' ve been fishing out of the Mattituck
10 Inlet for 55 years . And I just want to
11 make one point about the creek in
12 Mattituck. It ' s been more productive in
13 the recent years than it was 50 years
14 ago . It was good then, but it ' s gotten
15 better even. With the runoff from. And
16 as far as the project goes , really not
17 gonna have much . And there ' s twenty
18 some odd -- full-time commercial
19 fishermen, ( inaudible ) on Strong ' s to
20 service our boats , store our boats . And
21 they ' re at -- we ' d have to travel 25-30
22 miles to get more . If we break down, we
23 have to get to . So it ' s very important
24 that this project goes through . And as
25 far as the impact on the surroundings ,
MAY 15, 2023 90
1 it ' s just a little bit of an area.
2 Plenty of woodland around Mattituck and
3 I love wildlife and I see it all over it
4 and it will move . I know around
5 Riverhead. We have acres and acres of
6 woodland and it ' s still productive with
7 wildlife and lizards and frogs and
8 turtles and everything . But it ' s
9 important that for us as commercial
10 fishermen to support our families . Help
11 dependent and Strong ' s has done a very
12 good job . So I appreciate them. Thank
13 you .
14 DAVE CHICANOVIC : Dave Chicanovic .
15 Local businessmen of a landscape
16 business , retail business out here .
17 Lived here all my life . Born and raised
18 and I listen to the comments that I hear
19 tonight. And I am just as much
20 concerned about the environment, water
21 and everything that everybody ' s talked
22 about tonight . As anyone -- my family
23 have preserved over 70 acres of farmland
24 in the process to help keep it the way
25 it was . Which was memories long ago
. MAY 15, 2023 91
- 1 that I remember what nice, beautiful
2 land we had out here and waterways we ' ve
3 got invaded. I call it invaded . I had
4 a lot of people that enjoy the beautiful
5 area that we have here . The reasons
6 they enjoy it, is the way we try to keep
7 it the same way. And if there ' s one
8 company that would do it, it would be
9 Strong ' s . Everything that I ' ve seen on
10 that seems very appropriate . That I ' m
11 sure there ' s gonna be hiccups and
12 problems . But if there ' s anybody
13 leading the charge, it would be them.
14 I ' d be happy to support . I am also a
15 member or a committee member of the
16 Southold Tree Committee . They ' ve
17 reached out to us and they are going to
18 assure us that there ' s going to be
19 additional trees being put throughout
20 the Town of Southold, courtesy, because
21 of the impact that they ' re affecting us
22 one area . So you talk about getting rid
23 of some birds and things in one area .
24 They ' ll be coming to another area in
25 town. That ' s our mission . The Tree
MAY 15, 2023 92
1 Committee is to try to keep the way this
2 looked 40 years ago, the same today.
3 That ' s a problem. Fortunately with the
4 help of the Town Hall , we are getting
5 better funding and we ' re able to do more
6 tree plantings on a yearly basis , which
7 has been fantastic . But again, keeping
8 this area the way we want it , is a hard
9 job . Everybody wants to say "no, not in
10 my backyard or not next door . " Well ,
11 you know, the simple solution is like
12 buy the property, you ' ll keep it the way
13 you want it . If you want it that way,
14 it ' s zoned properly. They ' re going
15 through every hill and dale to get this
16 progress -- this project done and I
17 fully support and hope you do . Thank
18 you very much.
19 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Hey,
20 John .
21 JOHN SINNING: Hi , John Sinning.
22 I 'm a full-time commercial fishermen . I
23 fish out of Strong ' s Yacht Center . I
24 just wanna repeat what Phil said about
25 the support that Strong ' s has given to
MAY 15, 2023 93
1 the entire commercial fleet out of
2 Mattituck, including the five or six
3 guys that are in there, plus aquaculture
4 project that ' s in there . So indirectly,
5 Strong ' s , not only are they providing
6 jobs at the marina, they ' re running a
7 number of other jobs of commercial
8 fishermen, out of ( inaudible ) and like
9 other people have said here, I believe
10 that Strong ' s will do the right thing
11 with their property. They already they
12 already have . Thank you .
13 ERIC SCHIEBLER: So my name is Eric
14 Schiebler . I ' m a driver of all those
15 beautiful boats that we ' re talking about
16 bringing in and out of Strong. I drive
17 all those . And so very much like Kevin
18 here, I left New York a long time ago.
19 I was fortunate enough to have the
20 opportunity to come back home . And
21 being a captain, as many of you also
22 suffered from, we have seasonal business
23 out here in the north end, and in the
24 marine industries . And so Strong ' s have
25 been fortunate and -- have been kind
MAY 15, 2023 94
1 enough to offer me the opportunity to
2 work for them, but I ' m done in October .
3 So the impact not only to me but to
4 other crew members of all these
5 different vessels that -- that they ' re
6 ( inaudible ) over the winter time . It
7 creates far more than just ( inaudible ) .
8 It provides opportunities for so many of
9 us in the industry to extend our season .
10 A very important amount of money that we
11 don ' t otherwise see from November to
12 say, you know, March. If you ever
13 stepped foot on any of the properties
14 that Strong has , you can ' t stop and say
15 that they would intend to any of the
16 properties . Those properties are
17 absolutely beautiful . And the clientele
18 that they bring to their facilities are
19 -- you know, their they ' re higher-end,
20 you know, upper middle class . Happy
21 people . Bringing revenue to all of the
22 communities around here and add that
23 number of people from other places . I
24 mean, from Connecticut, from Rhode
25 Island . The indoor storage is very,
MAY 15, 2023 95
1 very hard to come by in this area . To
2 have that kind of facility, be able to
3 bring that revenue into the area, to the
4 restaurants , to the hotels , to the bed
5 and breakfast, all the different
6 facilities around. It just adds value
7 to the whole entire program. And again,
8 I can ' t reiterate the goodness of the
9 Strong ' s family. I can ' t imagine for
10 one second their intentions would ever
11 be to degradated Mattituck. There are
12 many generations here . And I have
13 nothing but good things to say about
14 them. Thank you .
15 SAL MESSINA: Good evening . My
16 name is Sal Messina. Just real quick,
17 for probably 25 to 30 years , I made a
18 living working on the Sound. Basically
19 with companies that supported many of
20 you got people here for years .
21 Northville Industries , Costco, Conoco
22 Phillips . Now it ' s United terminals .
23 Also as a liaison for the Coast Guard,
24 with spills , with environmental
25 incidences on both shores , Connecticut
MAY 15, 2023 96
1 and Long Island. You know, the Sounds a
2 rough place . It ' s tough out there .
3 Most of us just always think of it as
4 you know, that scenic sunset . But let
5 me tell you, when you ' re working out
6 there as even these guys know a fishman,
7 it ' ll kick you . And Mattituck Inlet was
8 always a place of restitute and solace
9 to come in . As soon as you hit those
10 that turn, it was always okay. We ' re
11 here , we ' re home, we ' re here . Mattituck
12 Marina was a great place to come with
13 the boats . 20 years later, I was hired
14 as a general manager when Strong ' s took
15 over . There were people here sitting
16 now that pretty much when that Marina
17 needed to build buildings . They did. I
18 dug up quite a few pictures in the
19 archives in the basement and all and
20 what it really consisted of the anchor
21 in next door, the old mill . And then
22 there was just one building, which was a
23 ( inaudible ) but as the boats got bigger
24 and as they needed to expand, Mattituck
25 Marina did so . And I just think that in
MAY 15, 2023 97
1 today ' s -- it ' s time the boats -- need
2 to expand and to do things safe .
3 Someone said before, to cradle those
4 boats and just put them in a building is
5 the right way to go . I know this
6 environmental thing is big. You always
7 hear it. Environmental , environmental ,
8 environmental . I understand that we
9 have to be sensitive . In the five years
10 that I was the GM there, the creek is
11 unbelievable . I mean Cornell has a clam
12 program that they said unheard of any
13 place else . The actual oxygen and
14 minerals and everything that flow
15 through that, that current there is
16 perfect for clams . We just finished a
17 two year kelp program. The kelp is
18 unbelievable . I couldn ' t , you know,
19 this big, this thick. So I ' ve seen more
20 runoff on the east side in horrible
21 storms . So I don ' t know -- I just
22 wanted to let that out that as time goes
23 on, there are different needs and
24 there ' s solutions to everything . So I
25 hope you guys will consider that .
MAY 15, 2023 98
1 STEVE MARESCT: Good evening . My
2 name is Steve Maresct . I 'm a boat
3 owner . I keep my boat at the marina in
4 there . I used to just -- use it for
5 winter storage, get my boat on the south
6 shore during the summer . I believe that
7 this is an appropriate use in with the
8 environment in nature . Marinas are
9 disappearing on the east end, either
10 through being sold to developers or just
11 you being priced out . Middle class is
12 being priced out and my particular
13 marina was bought up by some rich
14 person . It went up 2200 . Now I ' m
15 keeping my boat at Strong ' s Marina for
16 the Summer or well , I hope so. Hope that
17 this marina is able to expand, able to
18 maintain working people to maintain our
19 boats . Thank you .
20 STEVE BOSCOLA: Steven Boscola from
21 Mattituck . If you zoom in on that
22 picture right there, about 120 feet
23 north of those buildings right there is
24 our home encased in that , in the
25 Strong ' s property, which was residential
MAY 15, 2023 99
1 until somehow the zoning got changed.
2 That the town can ' t seem to explain.
3 However, our community is relying on the
4 Planning Board and the Planning
5 Department to take a careful look at
6 what ' s being proposed here . This is a
7 Town where we pass restrictions on the
8 ( inaudible ) hours you can use your leaf
9 blower because we value each other ' s
10 space and quiet enjoyment of our homes .
11 Yet this proposed project would upend
12 our lives and our neighbors lives for 12
13 months or more all day, five days a
14 week. And for what, who really benefits
15 the 15 jobs that were down to 11 , which
16 are now 13? What if they ' re actually
17 five? What if none? The DEIS doesn ' t
18 explain when these people will be hired.
19 Is it after the first building? The
20 second building? What if no buildings
21 get built and there are no jobs as
22 people on the Board have asked during
23 some of the work sessions? What will
24 these people do all Summer long when
25 these boats are gone? What are they
MAY 15, 2023 100
1 gonna do? Do they get laid off? Do
2 they go on Summer vacation? The DEIS
3 does not explain what these jobs are
4 actually gonna do, as you may recall .
5 We ' re 120 feet from this project . Our
6 initial concerns voiced to you in March
7 of 2020 have only gotten worse despite
8 Mr . Strong ' s best efforts to downplay
9 this project or even go so far as to buy
10 us out of our home . We ' ve read the
11 DEIS , sharpened our pencils and put
12 substantive comments . The misstatements
13 in this document . Some of the claims
14 made by the developer are not only
15 ludicrous , but they ' re also dangerous as
16 they disregard the fact that we ' re in
17 the middle of this project . Literally.
18 You ' ve heard tonight, people saying, oh,
19 if the vibration gets out of control ,
20 we ' ll stop and reassess . What happens
21 to the slope? There ' s no explanation .
22 The DEIS of a -- as was supposed to be
23 in the scope , prolonged delays in
24 excavation . Who stabilizes the slope?
25 Excess vibration will just stop work and
MAY 15, 2023 101
1 reassess . Well , how long will that
2 take? The DEIS needs to disclose what
3 that means for the slope stability that
4 is 100 feet from our home and feet from
5 other homes as well . Despite the
6 developer telling us you shouldn ' t have
7 built your house here . This has been
8 our same family home since it was built
9 over 52 years ago . Once again, before
10 the inexplicably changed zoning . I
11 think once you ' ve read all the comment
12 letters and heard all the testimonies , I
13 think you ' ll see that this project
14 merits rejection. Please keep in mind
15 that the community is watching this
16 project and there ' s extensive and
17 substantive support for you to reject
18 it . Thank you.
19 JAMES KAMINSKY : My name is James
20 Kaminsky. I ' m a lifelong resident of
21 Mattituck. I ' m a marine contractor . I
22 do marine electronics . I do work for
23 Strong ' s as a contractor . I want to
24 talk today about what these buildings
25 will do for the Town. Southold Town
MAY 15, 2023 102
1 historically has had a very seasonal
2 economy. In the Summer, there ' s lots of
3 work . Lots of jobs . In the Winter,
4 those jobs dry up. People are
5 scrounging to find work in the Winter .
6 These buildings will do exactly the
7 opposite . It will open up work for the
8 Winter . All the employees of Strong ' s
9 that they ' re going to hire, they will
10 have jobs . Contractors like myself and
11 others that come in and work there , will
12 have jobs in the Winter. We can expand.
13 We can hire more people. All right . No
14 one ' s talking about these benefits , but"
15 they ' re important and they ' re real . And
16 it ' s unfortunate that there ' ll be
17 consequences . And things to the
18 neighbors and such . But it ' s short
19 term. These buildings will be there for
20 decades . Giving jobs to the town for
21 decades . That ' s it .
22 BETH LEBOWITZ : Hello, Planning
23 Board members . My name is Beth
24 Lebowitz . I ' m a resident in Mattituck.
25 Right on the inlet and from the east
MAY 15, 2023 103
1 side and looking across the way. My
2 concerns regarding this development are
3 many. Most important are environmental
4 concerns shared by many neighbors . In
5 the community over the impact of the
6 demolition -of woods and hillsides . The
7 wood in the hillside is quite large.
8 It ' s got 90 year old trees in it. It ' s
9 not gonna be replaced by planting trees
10 in Mattituck itself , or even the 60
11 trees that the project has offered to
12 replant. We ' re talking about hundreds
13 of trees . But the main issue here for
14 tonight is that the -- significantly
15 these impacts are not acknowledged in
16 the DEIS . And I think that ' s very
17 important since we are looking at the
18 DEIS . The DEIS is also very inaccurate
19 about the zoning, and does not clearly
20 demonstrate that the project complies
21 with the zoning . I should note, on this
22 nerdy subject, that I was the Director
23 of the Zoning Division at the New York
24 City Department of City Planning before
25 I retired in 2019 . So I call myself a
MAY 15, 2023 104
1 Zoning Nerd. I also worked in the
2 Economic Development Division . Should
3 you think that all of us who are
4 concerned and opposed to this project
5 are simply anti development? The DEIS
6 is inconsistent in its description of
7 the applicable zoning because there is
8 no clarity on the size of the R-80 MII
9 portions of the of the lot . The
10 applicants bulk calculations are not
11 accurate . A serious underlying problem
12 is that the boundary between the MII and
13 R80 portions is uncertain . The zoning
14 maps accompanying the 1989 Southold Law,
15 one, show the boundary between the
16 maritime industrial and residential
17 districts was moved several 100 feet to
18 the west of the previous location away
19 from the edge of the existing bluff .
20 But there are no records of an official
21 action authorizing this change . And the
22 associated zoning map with meats and
23 bounds was never submitted to the
24 county. This issue needs to be
25 addressed and resolved as part of the
MAY 15, 2023 105
1 environmental review of the project .
2 Typically, applicants are required to
3 include with their proposal , an
4 application rectifying any zoning
5 mistakes or missing parts . Before a
6 SEQRA finding statement can be -- can be
7 issued, MII district rules in Section
8 280-54 of the zoning code -- Sorry .
9 State that the proposed development
10 should have direct access to marine or
11 tidal waterways . Given the site ' s
12 elevation , it doesn ' t and it is
13 therefore nonconforming with the intent
14 of the MII zoning. Instead, the site
15 will have to be intensively modified to
16 make it suitable for the proposed use .
17 Another issue there is lack of clarity
18 as to ownership of parcel , which is part
19 of the project parcel . This parcel is
20 not listed on the Town of Southold ' s
21 assessment role . The DEIS states that
22 the building height of the two
23 warehouses is 4588 inches measured from
24 ridge height to adjacent grade .
25 According to the zoning code, the
MAY 15, 2023 106
1 maximum building height in an MII
2 district is 35 feet . Therefore, these
3 buildings would be noncomplying with
4 your zoning.
5 JESSICA MICHAELIS : Thank you,
6 Beth . Your time is up .
7 BETH LEBOWITZ : Yeah, I will hand
8 in some more comments of the nerdy
9 ( inaudible ) .
10 JESSICA MICHAELIS : Thank you .
11 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Sir?
12 PAUL SICANSKY: Paul Solanki ,
13 Cutchogue . Five years ago, Strong ' s
14 Marina had completed many small
15 incremental cleanup improvements to
16 their recently purchased yacht center
17 marina . And were now ready to fully
18 realize their vision to offer complete
19 services , including expanded storage .
20 Satisfy their client demand. Five years
21 ago, Applicant, Strong ' s Marine was but
22 a building permit away from potentially
23 realizing return on the risk they took.
24 Investing in the purchase of expensive
25 property going for Marine II uses . Five
MAY 15, 2023 107
1 years later, they find themselves still
2 embroiled in the court of public opinion
3 concerning their exercise of private
4 property use rights , which have been
5 respected by most citizens since the
6 time of George Washington, with the
7 establishment of the patent office,
8 making the property stake official .
9 Some mistakenly believe that their
10 property rights extend for as far as
11 they can see or imagine. Indeed into
12 all this private property, backyards and
13 even how they use it . Please be
14 reminded that private property owners
15 have the rights to acquire property.
16 Exclusively deploy it for any legitimate
17 use and dispose of it as they see fit .
18 Further, be reminded that owners enjoy
19 the right and freedom to exercise their
20 property rights without harassment
21 through the 5th and 14th amendments to
22 the constitution . Five years in
23 counting to obtain a building permit is
24 excessive bureaucratic and very costly.
25 Just in the last two years , inflation
MAY 15, 2023 108
1 has run wild. Driving up the cost of
2 steel and other building and landscape
3 materials . Inflating the cost of labor
4 and services . And now the perverse
5 inflation of the cost of credit through
6 rising Fed rates makes it extremely
7 burdensome to finance any project under
8 Title Six DEC State Environmental
9 Quality Review. General Rule 617 . 3 ,
10 agencies must carry out the terms and
11 requirements of this part with minimal
12 procedural and administrative delay
13 where feasible for combined and
14 consolidated pre-proceedings and must
15 expedite all SEQRA proceedings in the
16 interest of a prompt review. Five years
17 and turning into six and possibly seven
18 cannot be construed as prompt . Five
19 years later, it remains this property
20 was approved for Marine II uses
21 accepting the environmental impacts of
22 that zoning class . Five years later, it
23 remains the decision on a legitimate use
24 of this property was made upon the
25 approval of its Marine II zoning class .
MAY 15, 2023 109
1 Five years later, it remains that this
2 building application satisfies all the
3 zoning guidelines . Five years later, it
4 remains that this building permit
5 request satisfies all Southold building
6 permit requirements without the need for
7 any variance request . Five years later,
8 it remains this improvement plan .
9 That ' s all existing Southold Town
10 ordinance in closing five years ago,
11 Strong ' s Marine operations were
12 evaluated in all aspects by marine
13 industry experts achieving an industry
14 wide coveted rating in the top 100 but
15 of 3500 . Marine is nationwide . Coming
16 in at Number Five, within the top 100 ,
17 they were recognized for their expertise
18 cleaned over four generations . The
19 Strong Family, respect for community,
20 respect for the sensitive environment .
21 They interact with on a day to day
22 basis . Additionally, they engage in
23 peer reviews on a regular basis .
24 Inviting 20 other marina managers from
25 around the country to their facilities
MAY 15, 2023 110
1 and provide feedback as to best
2 practices . Ron ' s marine team are among
3 the best of the best and the most well
4 suited to implementing this passive
5 marine tool storage improvement plan .
6 You can expect all valuable input
7 obtained from communication with the
8 community be leveraged and obtaining the
9 best result possible .
10 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Excuse
11 me, the initial plan was to take a five
12 minute break period. But it seems like
13 it ' s moving well . So we will continue
14 here . Sir?
15 JEFF PUNDYK: Thank you. My name
16 is Jeff Pundyk and I live on West Mill
17 Road, which is just down the road from
18 the Strong ' s proposed yacht warehouse
19 project. So that makes me an investor
20 in this project . In fact , the entire
21 North Fork is being asked to invest . We
22 would be investing our quality of life,
23 our public safety on local roads , our
24 climate resilience, our property values
25 and our future as this development
MAY 15, 2023 111
1 threatens to tip our delicate logical
2 balance. Professionally, I ' m a managing
3 director at Deloitte, which is the
4 world ' s largest accounting and
5 professional services firm. And at
6 Deloitte, we ' re trained to look at risk
7 versus report the risk of this project
8 are well documented. We hearing and the
9 DEIS does little to mitigate them. In
10 addition to the concerns about the
11 environment, the impact on Mill Road
12 preserve truck traffic during the
13 construction period, Fire safety; the
14 degradation of community character . I ' d
15 like to add a very real risk of starting
16 this project and not finishing it .
17 Given the threat of recession, rising
18 interest rates , supply chain issues ,
19 instability of banks , volatility of
20 demand for the service . There ' s the
21 risk that the project starts , but never
22 gets completed. Virtually all of our
23 clients , the leading companies in the
24 world are planning for these threats .
25 There ' s no mention of any of this in the
MAY 15, 2023 112
1 DEIS . In this scenario, we get all the
2 downsides of the project and none of the
3 upsides . We ' re left with a hole in the
4 ground. So let ' s look at the upsides as
5 outlined in the DEIS . According to the
6 DEIS , we can expect a few benefits .
7 You ' ve heard up to 11 jobs . But DEIS
8 not specify the nature of these jobs .
9 It ' s fair to assume that they are
10 seasonal and primarily low wage . Nor
11 does the DEIS guarantee that these jobs
12 will go to North -- a property tax is
13 one of the upsides of project. But the
14 project would be eligible for the tax
15 exempt tax exemption for 10 years . As a
16 result , the estimated increase in
17 property taxes for the first three years
18 would be about $32 , 000 , and year four
19 would be about $37 , 000 . These numbers
20 are roughly for three homeowners paying
21 tax . Just putting on my Deloitte hat,
22 balance sheet for this project is really
23 clear . The risks are outweighed. Thank
24 you .
25 MARK HAUBNER: Hi , Mark Haubner,
MAY 15, 2023 113
1 From the North Fork Environmental
2 Council . I thought it was gonna be last
3 and could talk till 9 : 30 . Maybe not .
4 Like there ' s only two points left that I
5 had on my list . So I ' ll not belabor the
6 other ones . There ' s no benefit to the
7 Town and its residence in destroying a
8 50 foot bluff in a flood hazard area .
9 Destroying 650 trees at a time in which
10 clean air is becoming a luxury. Suffolk
11 County is a non-attainment district for
12 the DEC for clean air . We never see
13 clean air in Suffolk County anymore. So
14 I 'm kind of concerned at the services
15 that the trees provide in filtering
16 pollution, as well as , providing oxygen,
17 as well as , the trucks and all the
18 vehicle traffic that we ' ve talked about .
19 The loss of contiguous habitat is much
20 more negative . Has much more negative
21 impact than anyone realizes . And I hope
22 that ' s part of the discussion within the
23 DEIS , among you as well . And the
24 footprint of the huge storage buildings ,
25 which are almost the size of Costco in
MAY 15, 2023 114
1 Riverhead. Adding impervious surfaces
2 and parking areas are gonna double --
3 more than double the footprint of this .
4 This project to over eight acres . More
5 than a quarter of the site and it ' s
6 going to increase stormwater runoff . I
7 know they ' ve got a stormwater management
8 system proposed to handle a two inch
9 rain event . ( Inaudible ) that we ' re
10 never going to see more than two inches
11 of rain. Climate change demands more
12 stringent stormwater controls ,
13 especially in light of the Florida ' s
14 recent 30-inch rain event in 24 hours .
15 We haven ' t seen a Category Three storm
16 in a lot of years . I would question
17 that . The calculations have been
18 already done for the runoff of that
19 hillside , pre-excavation and that the
20 Barren Hill is gonna provide a different
21 number than that . And I hope you ' re
22 accounting for those as well . Thank
23 you .
24 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Yes ,
25 sir? Good evening.
MAY 15, 2023 115
1 JOHN MCAULIFF : I ' m John McAuliff .
2 I live in Riverhead. I work with a
3 group called ( inaudible ) Watch, which is
4 trying to save the ( inaudible ) . We have
5 had a home in Riverhead for 30 years ,
6 but have many times come to the
7 Southold, to concerts and the vineyards .
8 And I was very glad to hear the old Mill
9 Inn as being resuscitated because it was
10 a favorite place as our sons were
11 growing up . I ' ve spoken before the
12 Planning Board, your counterparts in
13 Riverhead, and I see planning boards as
14 playing an absolutely essential role in
15 preserving the character of the East
16 End. All you have to do is look west of
17 Riverhead and some parts of Riverhead
18 even, but at least look west of
19 Riverhead and you can see a lot of
20 development that was all done for good
21 reasons . It was done because of the
22 jobs it was done with promises about
23 considering the environment . It was
24 always done because it was a step that
25 was considered forward. I think that
MAY 15, 2023 116
1 it ' s -- it ' s very important in this
2 project to consider not just the in
3 special interests of the owner of the
4 people that will have jobs there, but of
5 the larger community interest . And that
6 you see yourselves as playing a role of
7 the defenders , the protectors of the
8 East End. I have a deal for you. We ' ll
9 try and keep the jet cargo planes from
10 coming over your head. If you try and
11 keep the trucks from coming down our
12 roads and our traffic circles . Thank
13 you.
14 MARGE MCDONNELL : Good evening . My
15 name is Marge McDonnell . I live in
16 Mattituck. I live about a quarter mile
17 from the Mill Road Preserve . I walk by
18 near, in or around the preserve on
19 almost a daily basis year round. I know
20 the area very well . It ' s hard to
21 exaggerate the special and unspoiled
22 nature of this part of Southold. Right
23 on the Mattituck Inlet and covered in
24 forest . There is an astonishing variety
25 and abundance of wildlife in this area.
MAY 15, 2023 117
1 Every single day, I see it . Turtles ,
2 snakes , turkeys , raccoons , rabbits ,
3 deer, possum, hedgehogs . All make this
4 area their home . And the bird life is
5 staggering. To listen to the bird song
6 on a Spring morning is to . be in awe . It
7 is a gift . That unspoiled natural
8 environment is why the Town in 2002 , saw
9 fit to spend roughly $900 , 000 in today ' s
10 money, to establish the Mill Road
11 Preserve . At the time, the Town Board
12 said "the purchase will serve to
13 continue the sense of openness , special
14 to this area of the Hamlet of Mattituck
15 specifically and the Town of Southold in
16 general. " Clearly, the Town was making
17 this entire area a priority for
18 protection for the enjoyment of the
19 whole town . The Strong ' s property is
20 directly adjacent to and contiguous with
21 the preserve . It is in fact one
22 ecosystem. There is no reasonable
23 expectation that the boat storage
24 project will not significantly
25 negatively impact the preserve .
MAY 15, 2023 118
1 Contrary to what they say in the DEIS .
2 Changes to the forest, the microclimate,
3 arrival of invasive plants , the negative
4 impact of light penetration, as a result
5 of the removal of the forest .
6 Disruption to the habitats , nesting
7 areas and environments of all these
8 creatures . Not to mention, the sheer
9 chaos and destruction of a massive
10 construction project is utterly
11 inconsistent with the stated intent of
12 the Town regarding preservation of this
13 area . In closing, I have a request of
14 the members of the Planning Board.
15 Please , before you make any decision
16 about this project, if you have not
17 already done so, walk the Mill Road
18 Preserve . Park at the trail head and
19 walk in. See it . Listen to it,
20 experience it for yourselves . I believe
21 that will help inform your decision. I
22 know it has informed mine . Thank you .
23 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
24 you . Yes?
25 RICK GAINOU: Hello . My name is
MAY 15, 2023 119
1 Rick Gainou . I live Mattituck. I don ' t
2 know if anybody remembers , we ' ve talked
3 about the commercial fishing and
4 pleasure boats of Mattituck Inlet, but
5 it was an industrial section at the
6 north end of the inlet years ago. As
7 full storage tanks and a stone yard next
8 to it. So for years and years and years
9 that stone had to come in and it had to
10 go out . Somehow it went out in trucks ,
11 semi trucks . Straight dump trucks ,
12 anchor , trailers for the oil .
13 Distributed trucks for the road, oil and
14 to and behold, the roads are still
15 there . And I don ' t know of any houses
16 that fell down. So trucking went on
17 there for years and years and years .
18 Nobody probably remembers it . And six
19 months of trucking is not gonna destroy
20 the roads . I was in the road paving
21 business for 40 years . Anything that
22 the trucks do to the roads can be fixed.
23 The trucking route -- I don ' t know if
24 it ' s been finalized, but you have empty
25 trucks go one way, full trucks go
MAY 15, 2023 120
1 another way. So they ' re not passing one
2 another on the two lane roads . And the
3 speed limits would have to be enforced.
4 Truck drivers are professional truck
5 drivers . I ' m a Class a license holder
6 myself . When we stop for school buses ,
7 we pay attention to what we ' re doing .
8 And this whole project can be done
9 without any deaths or destruction to
10 anyone , as far as I can tell . I was
11 also like to talk about economics .
12 That ' s not part of the deal . United
13 States economy is built on capitalism,
14 free enterprise . I ' d like to talk about
15 free enterprise for a minute if I could.
16 There are five principles to free
17 enterprise . One is free to choose your
18 business . The Strong ' s bought the
19 Mattituck Marina and Shipyard that was
20 once a thriving dealership for yachts
21 and service yard. And sort of went into
22 decline from previous owner . The
23 Strong ' s have refurbished the marina.
24 Their sheds are full . They would like
25 to build more sheds so they can store
MAY 15, 2023 121
1 more boats there . Mattituck Inlet is
2 the only service yard. The next one
3 closest is Glen Cove Brewery Yard in
4 Glen Cove . So in between Northport,
5 there are no real service yards , just
6 boats . So that certainly feels a need
7 for the boating community of which I am
8 a member and a licensed captain in the
9 last 10 years . The second pillar of
10 free enterprise is the right to private
11 property. This ( inaudible ) in question
12 is zoned for what the Strong ' s would
13 like to do . That ' s another reason that
14 they should be allowed to do what they ' d
15 like to do . Third, principle of free
16 enterprise is profit motive . The
17 Strong ' s have a profit motive . It ' s a
18 business . Anybody who ' s had a business ,
19 they try to maximize their profit .
20 These buildings will help them store
21 more boats , which will help them
22 maximize their profit . Fourth pillar is
23 competition. Other marina store boats
24 not real close to us . That ' s why this
25 is a needed project and it ' s just to
MAY 15, 2023 122
1 keep their marina competitive with
2 others in the Long Island Sound, New
3 England area . And the final pillar
4 of -- Am I done? How many beats? How
5 many beats is that speeding? I 'm fine.
6 Thank you very much .
7 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
8 you .
9 BOB VANBOURORDE : Good evening,
10 Jim. I ' ll adhere to your original
11 comments about the Strong Family. 50
12 years ago, this month was when we moved
13 out here . So I call myself a
14 transplant, not a native . We bought the
15 farm between Chikan ( phonetic ) and John
16 Bauer. ( Inaudible ) have a greenhouse
17 operation. I ' m a big believer in
18 property rights . I know that this
19 project would be First Class . I feel
20 that it will be an asset to Southold
21 Town and the impact . I think will be a
22 lot less than most people fear . People
23 have an aversion to change . Nobody ever
24 wants change . 50 years ago, life was a
25 lot simpler . I could have put up the
MAY 15, 2023 123
1 gate 50 years ago . We wouldn ' t have the
2 problems that you guys got headaches for
3 I 'm sure tonight . So, anyway, I ' d just
4 like to say that there ' ll be a lot of
5 trucks going up and down the roads . But
6 in a short period of time, it will be a
7 memory and it will be history.
8 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
9 you .
10 ERIC MCCLURE : So, good evening .
11 My name is Eric McClure . I ' m a resident
12 of Mattituck . In 2003 , my wife and I
13 purchased a home in Mattituck. And in
14 the Spring of 2004 , I purchased a boat
15 from Strong ' s Marine, which I had
16 winterized and serviced, stored at
17 Strong ' s every Winter . But then in
18 November of 2014 , I sent an e-mail to my
19 service manager at the end of the season
20 to inform him that I would not any
21 longer be storing my boat and having it
22 winterized at Strong ' s , because of the
23 enormous impact that Strong ' s Water Club
24 from which I lived directly across Long
25 Creek, was imposing on our neighborhood.
MAY 15, 2023 124
1 Specifically, our residence and my
2 neighbor ' s residences with excessive
3 music and excessive -- an excessive
4 number of events . And Mr . Strong
5 e-mailed me after I had e-mailed my
6 service manager to say that he was sorry
7 that I would not be using their services
8 anymore. He explained that they had
9 taken steps to try to mitigate the noise
10 by aiming the speakers back toward their
11 property. I think that lasted for about
12 two weeks . If you go over there now,
13 you ' ll find the speakers aimed directly
14 across the water at me and my neighbors .
15 He said they took decibel readings to
16 see to make sure that they were not
17 exceeding the noise levels . And I have
18 probably 300 recordings with a decibel
19 meter and an iPhone of the excessive
20 noise . Well above the noise ordinance
21 in the Town of Southold being generated
22 from their property from which they held
23 about 90 live music events last year .
24 So if that is Strong --
25 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Sir,
MAY 15, 2023 125
1 excuse me . This is a DEIS review --
2 ERIC MCCLURE : With all due
3 respect, sir , I ' m getting to that . So
4 if that is an indication of the
5 mitigations that you can expect at
6 Strong ' s Yacht Center to the concerns
7 raised in DEIS , I think we are all in
8 for some great disappointment . The
9 project is going to remove six acres of
10 old mature hardwood forest . More than
11 630 trees , which cannot be replaced.
12 They won ' t be replaced. This town has
13 dedicated itself to really preserving
14 its environment and buying back
15 development rights , trying to preserve
16 the environment in this town, and has
17 done an admirable job of that . This
18 project would run directly counter to
19 that type of thinking in this town. And
20 would destroy habitat needlessly for the
21 comfort of climate controlled yacht
22 storage. So given my unique
23 relationship to Strong ' s operation,
24 having lived across the water from it
25 for the last 10 years with after they
MAY 15, 2023 126
1 acquired it, I am deeply, deeply
2 concerned about the impacts of this
3 project. And absolutely convinced that
4 the mitigations will not be adequate to
5 address the issues raised. Thank you .
6 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
7 you . Cooper?
8 DOUG COOPER: Good evening, ladies
9 and gentlemen, Doug Cooper, Mattituck .
10 Many of my comments have been already
11 spoken . The gentleman just shortly
12 before who spoke of the oil terminal and
13 down on Neagle Drive around the corner
14 from Strong ' s . I remember that when it
15 was in operation and there was often
16 trucks , many trucks carrying fuel oil
17 out . It would come in by and be trucked
18 out with no detriment to the roads . To
19 speak of occasional maintenance . And
20 sand and gravel had a yard there .
21 Again, they would come in by ship and go
22 out by trucks and the traffic has been
23 going on for many years . And even
24 today, everybody who gets fuel oil
25 delivered to their homes . Every trucks
MAY 15, 2023 127
1 -- again that went on the roads . It
2 wasn ' t that many years ago either . Had
3 to be 60 years ago . I can barely
4 remember it that much of that land up
5 there was farmed and where the preserve
6 is , that was all farmland, much of it .
7 Things change and that ' s all that is
8 happening . Now, I am a strong believer
9 in property rights and if the property
10 is zoned for this , it should be allowed.
11 Yes , there ' s gonna be some mitigation
12 and controls on it . That ' s
13 understandable . But it should be
14 allowed to continue . The Harbor is the
15 only safe harbor from Port Jeff or
16 further east or further west around to
17 Greenport on Long Island. It ' s a
18 working harbor . It ' s important for the
19 fishermen . Important for the community .
20 I strongly urge this project . Thank
21 you .
22 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
23 you . Sir?
24 FRANK UTAH : My name is Frank Utah.
25 I ' m a full-time resident and business
MAY 15, 2023 128
1 owner in Mattituck . I ' ll go back to
2 what my thoughts were . Very sad to hear
3 that the Planning Board doesn ' t want to
4 hear comments from public about the
5 veracity of the applicants and the
6 contractors and developers because I
7 think that should weigh a lot . But
8 we ' ll put that aside and go to the facts
9 of the project . We ' re just not looking
10 to make this into a personality thing
11 have -- something that ' s legitimate .
12 But we ' re not -- we ' re trying not to
13 make this into a personality attack.
14 Okay.
15 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Well ,
16 let ' s get to the facts because other
17 people would like to speak.
18 FRANK UTAH: So according to a few
19 conversations that I ' ve had with several
20 people in Mattituck that I ' ve known for
21 many, many years . My family ' s been here
22 probably since the early fifties . We
23 owned several homes throughout Southold.
24 And I ' ve learned that the original
25 owners of this property have filed and
MAY 15, 2023 129
1 were approved for similar storage
2 buildings in the past . The buildings in
3 questions are landward, which is not
4 said in social media or papers . They ' re
5 not what the water edge. The sand that
6 is to be removed by these dump trucks
7 from what I understand -- ( inaudible ) I
8 see shaking heads . If that ' s not true,
9 I ' d love to have a conversation with you
10 about that the trucks needed to remove
11 the sand will be one time as opposed to
12 several of the projects in Southold
13 would have been or will be approved.
14 Creating constant traffic and noise .
15 The Strong Family for the past 65 years
16 has been stewards of the marine
17 community and surrounding waterways
18 causing no negative impact to our
19 environment to date that I ' m aware of .
20 Of any of the elders that I ' ve spoken
21 to, this is true . Also for several of
22 the communities in which the Strong ' s
23 own marines . Although Mill Road is long
24 overdue and I know that this has already
25 been said, overdue for repairs . The
MAY 15, 2023 130
1 Strong ' s have agreed to partner with
2 Southold Highway Department and repair
3 of Mill Road. Any damage that can be
4 occurred. This project is within the
5 zoning. I know this has been repeated
6 zoning guidelines and requires no land
7 use changes and has received a
8 non-jurisdictional letter from the DEC .
9 So if this project is to be denied, so
10 should so many others that will require
11 land use chains , such as several hotels ,
12 battery storage facilities and many
13 other proposed buildings in our
14 community. Especially those on Oregon
15 Road, which was deemed a Greenway years
16 ago to preserve the natural landscape
17 and serenity of our farmland. Like to
18 remind everybody, COVID has changed many
19 things and many aspects of all our daily
20 lives . Especially due to the influx of
21 many outsiders who have fled congested
22 areas for more serene way of life . At
23 what expense . And the most unfortunate
24 change COVID has brought in the absence
25 is the absence of common sense, as this
MAY 15, 2023 131
1 project compared to the other buildings ,
2 land use changes and constant traffic ,
3 is by far, comparison to detriment to
4 quality of life . Thank you .
5 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
6 you .
7 BETH DUMBLIS : Hi . My name is Beth
8 Dumblis . I live on the west side of the
9 inlet on point . I look at this project
10 very differently. I ' ve raised the next
11 generation of boaters . We use the yacht
12 center , but I do not have a yacht . I
13 have a 21 foot Ranger Tug that my
14 children and numerous children . They ' re
15 all in their twenties , all middle class
16 family kids that grew up in Southold and
17 Mattituck, use that boat every Summer .
18 The Strong ' s this year got it out early
19 for me . For one reason. My son is
20 going away for the entire Summer and I
21 said, please get that boat out early. I
22 know it ' s not a yacht . They did that .
23 All of these children have seen how well
24 Strong ' s has treated my children. That
25 is private property. No, I don ' t live
MAY 15, 2023 132
1 across from that, but I believe as a
2 private property owner, they have a
3 right do what they wanna do with their
4 land. I know if I want to build
5 something more in my property, it has to
6 conform to the Town ' s Code. I think
7 they are a good steward of their
8 property. And despite the fact that I
9 will never ever own a 70 foot yacht or
10 bigger, I feel that my family and all of
11 these 20 something kids all been treated
12 with respect by the Strong ' s . And I ' d
13 like this community to also treat them
14 with dignity and respect . Thank you .
15 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
16 you .
17 ANNE MURRAY : My name is Anne
18 Murray . I 'm a resident of East Marion
19 and I 'm also the Land Use Coordinator in
20 Southold for the North Fork
21 Environmental Council . I ' ll be very
22 brief . In the Draft Environmental
23 Impact Statement, the applicant stated
24 that he ' s responding to market demand
25 and the proposed project is designed to
MAY 15, 2023 133
1 attract large yachts . According to the
2 DEIS , it appears that in order to
3 accommodate boats of billionaires , the
4 residents of Southold must accept the
5 loss of a coastal bluff, the loss of a
6 forest of over 600 mature trees in the
7 5 . 5 acre area, and the destruction of a
8 wildlife habitat for birds , box turtles
9 and the endangered northern long eared
10 bat . We must endure months of heavy
11 traffic with trucks making over 9 , 000
12 trips , hauling sand and debris from the
13 site, over our already crowded roadways ,
14 which are sure to damage the roads and
15 pollute our air . According to a survey
16 recently conducted by the North Fork
17 Civics of Southold, residents value the
18 preservation of natural habitats , rural
19 character, farms and open space in
20 Southold. Their two big biggest
21 concerns right now are the cleanliness
22 of the bays and the sound and
23 overdevelopment . This project goes
24 against everything Southold residents
25 said they want . Thank you.
MAY 15, 2023 134
1 NICHOLAS DEEGAN : Yeah. Hi ,
2 Nicholas Deegan, a deputy chair of the
3 Mattituck Park Commission . And while we
4 had this on the agenda a few weeks
5 ago -- two months ago, and my colleagues
6 on the Board decided this wasn ' t a
7 position that they Park Commission
8 wouldn ' t get involved in . Take a
9 position . But this is personal for me
10 is that I prefer the habitat for the --
11 and the trees through the, you know, of
12 the cliff side . And I will echo at
13 McDonnell ' s that it is a special place
14 up there with the middle road there,
15 preserve . And it ' s the best kept
16 secret , I think inside the old town. So
17 I would urge the Board to look carefully
18 at this and say, you know, preserve the
19 habitat that we have because I think
20 that ' s far more important down the
21 years . People coming to visit . And
22 this is why they come out here or this
23 is like that , that you have there . And
24 then, you know, I think that be -- and I
25 have great respect for the Strong
MAY 15, 2023 135
1 Family. But I think their legacy would
2 be enhanced if they say the hillside
3 there, and found some other way to do
4 the project without it -- ruining the
5 hillside of all that oak trees . So
6 that ' s -- you know, I just hope you take
7 a careful look at the habitat, the
8 aspects of that that would be lost
9 forever. Thank you .
10 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
11 you . Yes , ma ' am.
12 TOGUI TERCHIN: Good evening . My
13 name is Togui Terchin, and I greet you
14 this evening from the Greater Calverton
15 Civic Association, as their president .
16 I ' m also the Land Use Coordinator for
17 Riverhead with the North Park
18 Environmental Council . So traveling the
19 20 miles or so from my place, I kept my
20 eye out to notice the size, the
21 condition and the shape of our roads .
22 Mindful of the natural beauty with
23 maintaining form -- focus on my duty to
24 navigate . I noticed several troubling
25 spots in the proposed tractor trailer
MAY 15, 2023 136
1 pathway, which have already been brought
2 forward by a few folks at the
3 microphone . I just want to draw your
4 attention to Route 58 , which is the -- a
5 retail corridor , and the very popular
6 one for folks on our entire North fork,
7 as well as , our South Fork, is the
8 intended pathway for these tractor
9 trailer trucks . They would have to go
10 around the rotary at the Peconic Bay
11 Medical Center. I know that was already
12 mentioned as well . But please do keep
13 that in your minds as you look at the
14 impacts of this EIS . And the other
15 troubling spot was the turn on
16 Northville Turnpike onto Sound Avenue
17 and the reverse . It ' s a very difficult
18 spot . I know that you ' re focusing on
19 your local roads here in Southold and
20 rightly so . Please do think about your
21 neighbors in and around Riverhead. As
22 the Planning Board, your task is risk
23 management and has already been, as has
24 already been mentioned, the intensity of
25 the tractor trailer trucks are not only
MAY 15, 2023 137
1 here but they ' re also with your
2 neighbors in Riverhead. And with the
3 flaws that have been revealed tonight in
4 the DEIS , I would ask that they, you
5 know, not be cured, but looked at and
6 scrutinized more deeply. And I finish
7 with a question, which is , is there a
8 way to support Strong ' s Marina with
9 alternatives to this currently very
10 controversial project? And I appreciate
11 your time . Thank you .
12 DENISE GOEHRINGER: How you doing?
13 My name is Denise Goehringer . I live in
14 Mattituck . I grew up on Bayview Avenue,
15 which backs up to this . Spent many,
16 many hours in this amazing woods that
17 we ' re considering destroying . , . I think
18 everybody said a lot what I was gonna
19 say, but what I don ' t think we ' ve said
20 is , once this project starts , it can
21 never be reversed. Never . Once that
22 sand comes out, and those trees come
23 down, we ' re destroying something that
24 can never , never be fixed. And I just
25 hope that that is taken into
MAY 15, 2023 138
1 consideration, and I understand that he
2 has property rights . And I think that ' s
3 wonderful . But trees are something that
4 we need -- everybody needs for oxygen,
5 which I think has been said, but it ' s
6 just concerns me . That once this
7 property -- if this was started, it
8 could never be reversed. I just think
9 that ' s something that really needs to be
10 taken into consideration. Thank you .
11 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Anybody
12 else wish to address the Planning Board?
13 Steve?
14 JESSICA MICHAELIS : If anyone on
15 Zoom would like to address the Planning
16 Board, you can raise your hand now.
17 STEVE MUDD : Good evening, Chairman
18 and the rest of the Board. My name is
19 Steve Mudd. I ' m with Mudd Vineyards
20 here in Southold. Listening to all the
21 concerns -- justified concerns tonight
22 on both sides of the aisle, I would
23 strongly recommend for everybody to
24 reconsider consideration . It ' s been
25 mentioned numerous times and tonight
MAY 15, 2023 139
1 this property is an accepted use . It ' s
2 owned for . I know we got -- everybody ' s
3 got a ways to go . I ' m here to support
4 this project . And all I ' m asking
5 everybody consider being more
6 considerate and see if we can get this
7 project completed. Thank you. Thanks ,
8 Steve .
9 RANDY WADE : Hi . My name is Randy
10 Wade . I ' m from Greenport and the
11 wonderful community that has looked into
12 this , and put out materials and has
13 convinced all of us on the North Fork
14 that this is exactly the opposite kind
15 of development we want . Just today I
16 saw in the paper that Suffolk County has
17 a new bike trails . It ' s like bike and
18 hike maps for different towns . And
19 people have talked about how very nice
20 Mr . Strong is , and how wonderful it is
21 that he ' s creating jobs , but we don ' t
22 have the housing for more jobs . But
23 what we do want to have is tourism.
24 That is not dependent on motor vehicles
25 and driving to your boat and driving
MAY 15, 2023 140
1 anywhere . And so this kind of looking
2 for places to hike and get there from
3 the train that could be the future of
4 tourism. And it ' ll help the downtown --
5 you know, economy of the businesses in
6 downtown. So I hope you reject this .
7 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
8 you . Have anybody else? Anybody on
9 Zoom, Jess?
10 JESSICA MICHAELIS : There was
11 someone. Go ahead, Steve Gessler.
12 State your name?
13 STEVE GESSLER: Yes . Steve Gessler
14 from Calverton . How are you? My
15 concern is , I would say all my concerns
16 have been raised by previous speakers
17 about this project . And I ' ll focus on
18 the roads and conditions of roads . Are
19 you going to partner with the Town of
20 Riverhead to repair the damage done to
21 the roads as these giant 22 wheel
22 vehicles are heading through Route 58 ,
23 around the traffic circle, by the
24 hospital? As others have mentioned.
25 And I should add, I 'm disturbed by the
MAY 15, 2023 141
1 idea that this nature preserve could be
2 damaged. I spent a lot of time there
3 over the past few years . It ' s pretty
4 unique to the North Fork and quite
5 unique to the State of New York, and of
6 that of the East Coast . I don ' t think
7 it ' s worth the damage to destroy this
8 place . And the idea that people think
9 or suggest that animals are simply gonna
10 go someplace else or birds are gonna go
11 to trees that are planted someplace
12 else, that ' s not based on science .
13 That ' s completely false. But I ' ll close
14 with , I hope this project doesn ' t go
15 forward. And I hope that you really
16 consider the implications on the Town
17 surrounding. It ' s not just an issue you
18 hear for your Town . You have to
19 consider your neighbors . Thank you for
20 allowing me to speak tonight .
21 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
22 you . Do you have anyone else, Jess?
23 JESSICA MICHAELIS : Diana Padilla?
24 DIANA PADILLA: Hi . My name is Dr .
25 Diana Padilla, and I ' m a professor at
MAY 15, 2023 142
1 Stony Brook University in the Department
2 of Ecology and Evolution . And I ' m an
3 professional Ecologist and have worked
4 in this field for over 30 years . And I
5 had opportunity to look at the forest
6 nearby the shoreline nearby and observe
7 the property from across the creek, and
8 looking at other people. And then I ' ve
9 I spent a lot of time reading the Draft
10 Environmental Impact Statement . And I
11 can ' t say that there ' s a great deal in
12 that Draft Environmental Impact
13 Statement that has me extremely
14 concerned. There ' s lots of things that
15 it just does not address that should be
16 addressed. It does not addressed sea
17 level rise . It does not address the
18 increasing amount of storm surge and the
19 increased amount of rainfall that we ' re
20 expected to see with ongoing climate
21 change . All of those things will impact
22 the models that they have for hydrology
23 and runoff and what ' s likely to happen.
24 Once that hillside is excavated and once
25 all those trees are removed, that site
MAY 15, 2023 143
1 will see increased flooding on a regular
2 basis . And these things are not
3 addressed. Other things that are not
4 adequately addressed, is that in many
5 cases , statements about mitigation, in
6 terms of planting trees or growing
7 plants are overstated at best . And in
8 other cases , just completely inadequate
9 for the kinds of things that this in
10 this project will do . And I strongly
11 urge the Planning Board to look
12 carefully at the Draft Environmental
13 Impact Statement . Look at the
14 evaluations that have been placed in
15 terms of its impact on the forest, on
16 organisms , on the shore and other
17 things . And take that into account
18 because natural resources belong to all
19 of us . They are a shared resource and
20 all of this will impact the quality of
21 the water in the creek. It will impact
22 the organisms that live there and impact
23 all of us in real ways . Thank you .
24 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Anyone
25 else in the audience wish to speak? Do
MAY 15, 2023 144
1 you have anybody else? Anyone else on
2 zoom? In the audience wish to address
3 this?
4 (No Response ) .
5 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : If not,
6 I ' m gonna ask for an adjournment until
7 June 5th, to discuss water, groundwater
8 modeling, ecological resources , air
9 quality and project alternatives and
10 also the unavoidable impacts , which we
11 had postponed from tonight.
12 Can we get a motion for
13 adjournment .
14 MEMBER MARTIN SIDOR: Motion to
15 adjourn.
16 MEMBER JAMES H . RICH III : Thank
17 you very much for everybody ' s input, and
18 we appreciate you coming here . We
19 appreciate your patience . Have a nice
20 evening.
21
22 (Whereupon, the meeting concluded. )
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MAY 15, 2023 145
1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N
2
3 I , Jessica DiLallo, a Notary Public
4 for and within the State of New York, do
5 hereby certify:
6 THAT, the within transcript is a
7 true record of said Board Meeting.
8 I further certify that I am not
9 related either by blood or marriage to
10 any of the parties to this action; and
11 that I am in no way interested in the
12 outcome of this matter .
13 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto
14 set my hand this day, June 20 , 2023 .
15
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17 Jessica iLallo )
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