Huntington schools target senior housing plan

The Huntington school board has approved the hiring of an attorney to stop a plan to build more senior housing in Huntington Station.

The board voted 5-2 Monday night to hire former Islip Town attorney Vincent J. Messina to "commence litigation" against the Huntington Zoning Board of Appeals. The appeals board has yet to act on a Huntington Housing Authority request for a variance to build 46 units of senior housing on its property on Lowndes Avenue. A hearing is set for Thursday.

"I'm concerned to see the school board acting so far out of their jurisdiction," Huntington Housing Authority chairman William Spencer said. "They're utilizing their positions to perhaps address their own personal political beliefs."

Board president Bill Dwyer said Tuesday the board has "legal standing because we are an affected property owner. It has nothing to do with the fact that it's senior housing. It's the density." He declined to give details on the litigation.

The 2.99-acre property is zoned for 15 units per acre. The proposal calls for 20 one-bedroom senior units in one three-story building, and 26 one-bedroom senior units in another building. Thirty existing family units will be rehabbed.

School board member Chris Bene said she supports senior housing but is against the authority's plan because of the density. However, she and Emily Rogan voted against hiring an attorney to fight it.

"It's the board of ed's position to educate our children," Bene said. "I feel with the budget cuts coming up, to spend up to $10,000 on a lawyer to litigate on something that I don't feel the board of ed should be getting involved in, I could not support that."

Besides density, residents have complained to the school board that they were not notified about the plan. Some have said they believe children will be living in the units.

"In the 10 units we have now it's never happened," Spencer said. "It's against the law. The person would be removed from the program, we would lose funding."

Also at Monday's meeting, Dwyer said Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) has arranged a Feb. 16 meeting between board members and Department of Justice officials in Washington to identify grant money to help at-risk youth.Dwyer said a loss of confidence in the town board's ability to address issues in Huntington Station has prompted the school board to become more political.