New AvalonBay faceoff seen in Huntington

Huntington residents have pulled out old protest signs and recalled previous arguments, steeling themselves for another faceoff over AvalonBay's renewed interest in building multifamily housing in Huntington Station.

AvalonBay Communities vice president Matthew Whalen said Wednesday that his company will take the next two weeks to study the feasibility of a scaled-down version of a rental housing project after town Supervisor Frank Petrone and board members Mark Cuthbertson and Glenda Jackson reached out to him.

The company's return comes less than six months after the town board voted down a larger version of the project - with 490 units - a half mile from the Long Island Rail Road station.

"Here we go again," said Ruth Claire Winetraub, 67, a lifelong Huntington Station resident who is glad to see the developer trying again. "Of course they're coming back. There's a lot of money at stake here."

Vivienne Wong isn't surprised the company is considering another plan, but she isn't happy about it.

"That's why I said invest in the more expensive signs," said Wong, a Huntington resident who actively opposed the development. Many anti-AvalonBay signs appeared around the town last year. "I told everybody, 'Don't toss those signs,' " she said.

The board rejected the previous plan in September because of the project's density and the creation of a new high-density zoning category in Huntington Station.

"It wasn't that we weren't listening the first time around," Whalen said Thursday. "I am hopeful that people don't try to over-complicate a resubmission if we can simplify our proposal and address what we believe were the two biggest issues out there."

The project targeted a 26.6-acre plot on East Fifth Street, which is zoned for 109-single family homes. It would require a zoning change to allow for multifamily housing. The highest density allowed in the town code is 14.5 units per acre.

The Huntington school board initially had no position on the previous plan and was to receive $1.5 million from AvalonBay as part of the public benefit. But the board opposed the plan when it realized the zoning change would affect all of Huntington Station.

"If they build it to code, we do not have an issue," school board president Bill Dwyer said about the new proposal.

Willie Perez has lived in Huntington Station for 12 years and says he likes the idea of AvalonBay, but he is concerned there won't be enough affordable housing.

"We'll have to see if what they come up with welcomes all kinds of people," he said.