AvalonBay zoning hearing set for May 16

The Huntington Town Board Tuesday set May 16 for a public hearing on a change of zone request from AvalonBay Communities for a 26.6-acre plot of land in Huntington Station.

Current zoning allows only single-family homes. The zone change would allow for 14.5 units per acre. After a project with a higher density was rejected by the town board in September, AvalonBay officials last month submitted a revised proposal that is identical to its other properties in Huntington: Avalon Court and Court North in Melville.

The scaled-back proposal calls for 379 units of multifamily housing, down from 490 in the former proposal. The plan calls for 303 units to be rental homes, with the remaining 76 to be sold.

The mix of apartment homes would consist of 94 one-bedroom units, 181 two-bedroom units and 104 three-bedroom homes. The targeted site is a half-mile from the Huntington Station Long Island Rail Road station.

The measure passed Tuesday by a vote of 4 to 1. Town board member Mark Mayoka objected, saying it was too soon after the other proposal was defeated to set a public hearing. He supports a moratorium in Huntington Station on high-density projects and said that this project will harm the area.

"Number one, it will increase traffic; number two it will put stress on the sewer system and number three it will overburden the Huntington school district," Mayoka said.

The public hearing will be held during a rare Monday meeting at 7 p.m.

The board also voted unanimously to hire the law firm of Lewis & Greer, P.C. of Poughkeepsie and consultants Industrial & Utility Valuation Consultants of Albany to assist in the defense of the Long Island Power Authority's challenge of the tax assessment of the Northport power plant.

LIPA filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court Oct. 15 against the towns of Brookhaven and Huntington, arguing its power plants there are incorrectly assessed.

Lewis & Greer, which represented the Shoreham-Wading River school district in its fight with the Long Island Lighting Company over the Shoreham plant, specializes in defending municipalities confronted with tax review proceedings. The firm will be paid $185 an hour. Industrial & Utility Valuation Consultants will be paid $250 an hour.