Smithtown group home proposal draws neighbors' condemnation

A nonprofit that works with people with autism and other developmental disabilities has announced plans for a group home for six men on Leslie Lane in Smithtown.

Smithtown-based Developmental Disabilities Institute said in a Nov. 2 letter to the town that it would provide 24-hour supervision to the men, who have aged out of another home  the institute operates for children in Smithtown.

The 4-bedroom, 1,994-square-foot home is under contract and has a list price of $529,000, according to the real estate website Redfin.

DDI's plans drew condemnation last week from neighbors of the property.

“I feel bad if a young couple saving all their money moves in with little children to find out they’re next door to that,” said Gloria Gratton.

“We bought with the expectation we’d be living with single families,” said Keith Burger, adding that the proposed group home would bring "traffic, noise, and just the fact we don’t feel the neighborhood’s zoned for that.”

Christine Ponzio, DDI's director of communications, wrote in an email that "there is no data that property values are affected by homes like this one."

A staff of no more than four people would not increase traffic, except during shift changes, she wrote. Two vehicles would be based at the home and neighbors of other DDI homes have not complained about noise, she wrote. 

The home is projected to open late next year, she wrote, with renovations planned to add two bedrooms and accomodate vehicles on the property. A front lawn will be maintained, she wrote. 

Carolyn Toscano, real estate agent for the property seller, declined to name her client. Neither she nor her client dealt directly with DDI, she said, adding that refusing to sell to a group that works with the disabled could constitute illegal discrimination under the federal Fair Housing Act.

Smithtown Supervisor Edward Wehrheim said lawyers for the town are reviewing DDI’s letter and that he  is likely to ask its representatives to attend a meeting to discuss the plans.

Under New York State law, a municipality can suggest an alternate location within the municipality or object to a proposed home because it would result in a concentration of such homes, but Wehrheim said those objections are rarely successful.

“We will review all of those options, but, as is the case in really 100 percent of these, the state has already undertaken their review,” he said. “They know there’s no saturation, they know what permits would be required, they know how much taxes would have to be paid.”

Wehrheim’s predecessor, Patrick Vecchio, said in 2017 that Smithtown had about 30 group homes and in his four decades in office he could recall receiving one complaint from neighbors after a home opened. That complaint was about over-long grass, he said, and after the town intervened, the grass got cut.

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.