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An artist rendering of the proposed development. FILE
In a walk-on resolution at the conclusion of its meeting on Tuesday, June 11, the Southampton Town Board voted 4-1 to deny a change in zoning that would have allowed the Liberty Gardens 50-unit affordable housing complex to go forward.
The vote came two days after the expiration of a 45-day extension for the Town Board to issue a findings statement and determination on a zoning change that town officials and the developer of the proposed complex had agreed to in April.
The findings statement, prepared by the town’s planning administrator, sets forth a detailed description of the issues that led to the board’s determination, Supervisor Maria Moore said after the meeting.
The proposal, which was to be constructed on 5 acres of a 9-acre property owned by the Southampton Full Gospel Church just off County Road 39, has drawn opposition over multiple concerns. Liberty Gardens was proposed to comprise 25 units of affordable workforce housing and another 25 units for disabled and/or elderly veterans. The latter group prompted concerns from some officials and residents about the potential for those with mental health challenges, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorder, to be housed there, as well as about calls for emergency services at the site. Critics also cited increased traffic on an already congested County Road 39.
Concern For Independent Living, which does business as Concern Housing, planned to purchase the portion of the property that it wanted to use for the development, and the church was to maintain its current use once the land was subdivided.
“For me, the location has always been problematic in terms of the ingress and egress onto the property,” Supervisor Maria Moore said at the meeting. “Some of us met with the applicant to propose alternative locations, but they not were not deemed workable for them.” After the meeting, she said that County Road 39 “is a dangerous and overcrowded roadway, and the added housing density in that location is contrary to the town’s zoning regulations and Comprehensive Plan.” The applicant also failed to adequately address plans for wastewater treatment and “only provided the town with a nonbinding letter of intent,” she said. “It never secured a legally binding right to have its wastewater treated.”
The town, said Councilman Michael Iasilli, has taken several steps to create affordable housing, the scarcity of which is “at the top of the list” of significant challenges the community faces.
“We have been serious about affordable housing, and we will continue to be,” he said. Nevertheless, “our region faces a significant water quality crisis and all of our development aspirations must be balanced and well thought out.”
In reviewing a final environmental impact statement, “I grew concerned that not enough has been done to adequately address a wastewater management system as it pertains to this plan.” Adoption of the FEIS, he said, was “rushed through” in December, at the behest of then-Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, “without enough contemplation on the adequacy of the wastewater treatment plan,” among other issues.
Iasilli also cited concerns about traffic. “Let’s consider alternative sites that make sense,” he said. “Because of the imperative that exists to move ahead on affordable housing, I want to see something like this go ahead.”
“We are tasked with looking at the facts and determining if this project is right for this location,” said Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara, who noted that she is the daughter and granddaughter of veterans. “That’s it. Who the project is for shouldn’t even enter into the equation, but the applicant has made that the focal point, knowing it’s really hard to say no to our nation’s heroes. The findings as prepared take out the ‘who’ and focus on the ‘why,’ as they should. I’m not saying no to housing for veterans, I’m saying no to a project that doesn’t fit in the proposed location.”
Councilman Bill Pell, who said that his experience as a firefighter influenced his opposition to the project as proposed, said that Liberty Gardens is “a good idea, but it’s in the wrong place.”
Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni was alone in his opposition to the findings statement’s conclusions. “This is a mixed income, supportive affordable living development,” he said. Half of its 50 units would be earmarked for veterans, he added, observing that of around 2,900 veterans in the town, “about 50 of them are actually on our housing waiting list.” He is “unapologetically in support of veterans,” and the applicant “has done everything that the town has asked them,” he added.
Ralph Fasano, Concern for Independent Living’s executive director, issued a statement after the board’s vote. “It is deeply disturbing that today, in the same week our nation celebrated the 80-year anniversary of our heroes storming the shores of Normandy, the Town of Southampton sent a clear message to American veterans: thank you for your service, but you can’t live here,” he said. “Despite good faith efforts to address all legitimate traffic, water treatment and logistical issues, the town chose to meet without any public notice so they can overrule their own planning department and reject this proposal to increase affordable housing and support veterans without allowing Concern or any project advocates to be present to rebut inaccuracies. We will be reviewing all our legal options.”
Fasano also said that “we have a very definitive plan for wastewater management that has been supported by the Suffolk County Water Authority and Health Department,” and that the traffic study in the FEIS “shows minimal traffic impact.”
Frances Genovese, a Southampton resident who described herself as a concerned citizen and who has been a vocal critic of the Liberty Gardens proposal, said on Tuesday that “this has been a five-year fight to clarify what this development really was. It was misrepresented from the start, and we are grateful that the board was finally able to see the inappropriateness of the site and of the consequences of building it there.”
