A proposal to develop the last stretch of farmland in Tuckahoe will be the subject of a public hearing before the Southampton Town Planning Board on Thursday, April 23.
The 29-lot cluster subdivision, known as Rosko Farms, is proposed on two parcels totaling 34.235 acres on Magee Street, just south of the Long Island Rail Road tracks. So far, the project has met no resistance in the pre-application phase, and Planning Board Chairman Dennis Finnerty does not foresee any problems with the application moving forward, noting that it is not on environmentally sensitive land and that all roads within the subdivision will be private, leading to little or no increase in traffic in the area.
“It is the last of the agricultural tracts in Tuckahoe,” he noted, however. “When I was growing up, you would drive in that area and there were potato farms for as far as the eye could see, and now, as far as I know, it is the last undeveloped tract in the area. It is the end of an era.”
The plan calls for 28 single-family homes split between two lots on Magee Street and Tuckahoe Lane. The larger of the two lots, owned by Constantine Rosko of Water Mill, sits at 195 Magee Street and totals about 21 acres, according to town documents. The other property, which abuts the Rosko property and stretches west to Tuckahoe Lane, measures about 13 acres and is owned by Kamicutico LLC. The Long Island Rail Road tracks mark the northern border of both lots.
The combined properties could accommodate up to 34 homes, according to current zoning, which calls for approximately 1-acre lots. The application calls for 29 lots and 28 single-family homes, less than the maximum allowed, but leaving an approximately 1.5-acre reserve by allowing smaller house lots. As part of the proposal, the applicants would create some designated park space within the subdivision, including walking trails and open space.
In March, the Planning Board requested more information about traffic in the area, and it commissioned a local engineering company, Dunn Engineering Associates of Westhampton Beach to draft a report focusing on local traffic patterns and potential impacts.
According to Mr. Finnerty, the report was necessary for the application to move forward in the State Environmental Quality Review Act process.
“It is pretty much a standard subdivision,” Mr. Finnerty said on Tuesday morning. “There are really no controversial issues. It is in accordance with zoning, there are no overlay districts and it is not environmentally sensitive, so I don’t really see a lot of controversy.”
The public hearing is scheduled at 7 p.m. at Southampton Town Hall during the regularly scheduled meeting of the Planning Board.
Erin McKinley on Apr 21, 2015