Muttontown trustees OK land-use rule changes

Despite heated opposition from residents and threats of lawsuits, Muttontown officials have approved changes to the village code that they say will protect natural resources and improve planning.

The legislation -- which passed Tuesday night by a 4-1 village board vote with one trustee abstaining and another absent -- narrowed the definition of what constitutes freshwater wetland and required that a 50-foot natural buffer be established in subdivisions.

It also removed slopes with grades of more than 15 percent and wetlands as factors in the calculation of subdivision lot size. And it transferred from the planning board to the board of trustees the authority to waive a requirement that land in some subdivisions be reserved for recreation.

"We're trying to look forward in the future of the village and put in place subdivisions that take into account and appreciate these features," said Mayor Julianne Beckerman, who voted for the law, "not blindly carve up the properties without respect to these features and cause hardship" by requiring variances.

Beckerman said many opposed to the law are misinformed about its implications. She spoke Tuesday during the third session of a more than three-hour public hearing, which featured yelling and name-calling.

Residents and attorneys representing Muttontown property owners accused village leadership of misrepresenting the law, and they expressed concern that it would limit how they develop their land.

"Under the guise of reducing a hardship in terms of going for a variance, you're saying, 'Well, now you can't have a lot at all,' " said Stephen Conlon, a Cold Spring Harbor lawyer representing a family looking to subdivide an estate near the Muttontown Preserve.

Attorney Alfred Amato of Garden City all but vowed to sue Muttontown, saying his client, the Woodside Acres Country Club, is hurt by the law.

"Thank you for the litigation," he shouted after the vote.

Village engineer James Antonelli of Sidney B. Bowne & Son Llp said the legislation will benefit Muttontown and is not meant to be a "witch hunt."