Residents upset over orchard's plans

Residents of an upscale Fort Salonga neighborhood are up in arms over a proposal to build five more homes on a beloved apple orchard in their community.

Neighbors of the Cahill family's Fort Salonga Farm on Meadow Glen Road worry that development will lead to increased traffic in their secluded, hilltop neighborhood. The proposed subdivision would include a new road built at the end of a cul-de-sac on Rolling Meadow Lane, near the 60-year-old farm.

"Everybody wants to make a profit, but it's not safe," Rolling Meadow Lane resident Anthony Schoberi said Wednesday night at a hearing before the Smithtown Town Planning Board. "My children will be playing in the street, and it's not safe."

Planning board chairman John Gee told residents the development likely will be approved. "People have property, and they have rights to develop that property," he said.

The planning board approved a preliminary draft of the plans on Wednesday. Final approval is expected to take up to two years because of engineering issues, said town planning officials and Fred Meyer, the attorney representing the Cahills.

Plans call for five houses to be added to an existing three-lot subdivision, Meyer said. The family bought the farm in the 1950s and has been growing apples there since the 1970s. Residents said the orchard, which hosts school tours and is open for apple picking on fall weekends, is an asset to the neighborhood.

The subdivision would then occupy about half of the 9.4-acre orchard, and the rest of the property would remain farmland, Meyer said in an interview. The Cahills want to develop the property to help pay rising property tax bills, he said.

The family paid $25,598 in taxes this year, according to the town assessor's office.

During the hearing, Meyer dismissed concerns about increased traffic as "ridiculous."

"I don't think that's a horrendous increase in traffic," Meyer said.

Victor Giancola, of Rolling Meadow Lane, is concerned about the project's potential impact on his view. "I love Fort Salonga, I love where I live," he said. "It's just nice to look out and see that nice apple orchard, and it would be a sin to see it go."

Anthony Natale, of Susan Drive, said he doesn't want to see the farm developed, but added, "Sometimes you can't stop progress."