Planning Board member to recuse himself over Gyrodyne project
Smithtown Planning Board member Desmond Ryan will recuse himself from the Gyrodyne development application, officials said. Credit: Barry Sloan
A Smithtown Planning Board member who publicly supported Gyrodyne in news articles and a company news release in the early 2000s will recuse himself from the company’s subdivision application.
Desmond Ryan, former longtime executive director of Association for a Better Long Island, a developers group, will read a statement before Wednesday’s Planning Board meeting announcing the recusal, town spokeswoman Nicole Garguilo said.
“As soon as it was brought to his attention, he called and said ‘Obviously I’m going to recuse myself so there’s no implication of any impropriety,' ” Garguilo said in an interview Tuesday. “He’ll make a statement before the meeting starts.”
Ryan, in a 2003 Gyrodyne news release, compared Stony Brook University officials’ plans to buy company land in Brookhaven to the German effort to acquire “ 'living space' on the eve of World War II,” a statement that could be understood as comparing the officials to Nazis.
New York State in the early 2000s condemned a 245.4-acre parcel of Gyrodyne land in Brookhaven adjacent to the company’s St. James site and annexed it to the university, paying the company $26.3 million. The company sued and in 2012 won a $167.5 million settlement.
Gyrodyne is now seeking to subdivide its 75-acre St. James site, with proposed uses including a hotel, offices and assisted living. The Smithtown Planning Board will hear comments on a draft environmental impact statement for the proposal at an 8 p.m. Wednesday hearing at the town senior center. The Planning Board will use the final version of that document later this year when it votes to approve or reject subdivision of the property. Rejection could complicate the company's plans but would not prevent it from developing the site.
Ryan, in a brief conversation Monday, said his comments had been made “a long time ago,” and referred questions to Garguilo. Garguilo said she did not know if Ryan had been paid for his participation in the news release or for an op-ed published in Newsday the same year. A state database of lobbyists with data back to 2011 does not show any work Ryan did for the company.
She added that Ryan “has incredible insight and historic value, knowing the history of development projects and planning over the course of his career.”
Ryan joined three other Planning Board members in a 4-0 vote Dec. 11 to accept a draft environmental impact statement for Gyrodyne’s subdivision application, a procedural motion that led to the upload of the nearly 3,000-page document on the town website and opened public comment.
Cindy Smith, a Stony Brook resident who is chairwoman of a community group organizing opposition to Gyrodyne development, said in an interview that she supported Ryan’s recusal. “Transparency is really key here … More transparency about who’s sitting on our boards, who’s guiding decisions or where they come from is only good for the public.”
Smith and others, including Brookhaven Town officials, say they fear the proposed uses at Gyrodyne would overload area roads and damage the environment.
Garguilo faulted the group for circulating what she called false information online. Smithtown officials have little power to stop development of the Gyrodyne site and many town residents actually support a project that could lead to sewering and economic growth for downtown St. James, she said.
Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.
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