Patchogue to consider moratorium on multifamily housing and apartments

Patchogue officials want to enact a six-month moratorium that would stop the construction of multifamily housing and apartments in the village.

The board of trustees on Monday set a Nov. 23 public hearing to discuss the issue.

Village attorney Brian Egan said the move, if approved, would allow for a soon-to-be-created committee to study the municipal zoning code and to also study where future housing should be built.

Officials said Patchogue has grown in recent years and now has more than 700 apartments downtown, which have drawn residents, artists and visitors from around the region.

Trustee Lori Devlin will lead the committee evaluating the current housing state.

"What we want to do is take a look at the last several years of housing development and what kind of situations we're dealing with," she said.

"We're mostly concerned that we have parcels that could be developed, and what type of development do we want to see there. And so we need to put a moratorium on multi-housing until we can evaluate it."

Village board members, Long Island Housing Partnership, former Suffolk County Chief Deputy Executive Jim Morgo, and planning and zoning board members and residents will be part of the committee.

"We'll take a six-month period and with the expertise from some of these housing experts, we'll take a look at where we've been and what we want to see," Devlin said.

Trustee Salvatore Felice plans to join the committee.

"I just believe we need to take a step back," he said. "You have to look at water usage and how it will affect the water system. There's a lot of variables that we really have to sit down and go over."