Board to inn owners: Clear debris from site

A debris-strewn Commack hotel property must be cleaned up before the inn can receive town approval for a proposed upgrade and zoning change, Smithtown planning board members said.

Owners of the Courtesy Inn, 1126 Jericho Tpke., have requested a zoning change as part of a plan to renovate and re-brand the inn, which would become the All Seasons Motor Lodge.

The hotel, which has fewer than 50 rooms, sits on two parcels with a total of 6.5 acres. The northern portion is zoned for a hotel, but the southern portion is zoned residential. The property owners want to change the residential zoning.

But the town has cited the inn for allegedly building two rooms without obtaining a certificate of occupancy, town attorney Yvonne Lieffrig said Thursday. The hotel owners, All Seasons Motor Lodge Inc., pleaded not guilty in June and are scheduled to appear in court in Hauppauge on Jan. 10, she said.

On top of the court case, planning officials said the hotel expanded onto the residential portion of the property and has become an eyesore.

"The site has been sorely neglected," planning board chairman John Gee said at a meeting Wednesday. "Something needs to be done with that property."

The hotel owners did not appear at the meeting on Wednesday but were represented by Smithtown attorney Vincent Trimarco. He said the owners "want to fix it up."

The Planning Department has proposed 10 conditions that must be met before the planning board could approve the zoning change.

Among the conditions: a 100-foot buffer zone between the hotel and neighboring properties, in which no trash bins or paving will be allowed; new drainage; approval by the town zoning board of appeals to retain a house on the property, and removal of a sign on the east side of the site.

Board members said approval of the change will depend on whether the owners appear willing to clean up the hotel.

"I'm not really aware of any other site in the town that's like that," planning board member Adam Oshrin said.

The next planning board meeting is Jan. 4.