St. James VFW fights market's expansion

Members of a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in St. James are leading the opposition to the proposed expansion of a King Kullen supermarket next door.

Leaders of Sgt. John W. Cooke Post 395, 460 Lake Ave., say the proposed entrance to the expanded supermarket, 472 Lake Ave., would cross over the post's property. Talks between the VFW and King Kullen failed to resolve the dispute, representatives of both sides said.

King Kullen wants to add a 4,000-square-foot extension to the 30,000-square-foot store by purchasing a single-family home on Washington Avenue behind the VFW post and rezoning the property. The zoning change requires approval by the Smithtown Town Board.

At a town planning board public hearing Wednesday Post 395 commander Frank Todaro said an enlarged store would prevent VFW members from using part of the post's land. Dozens of VFW members attended the hearing.

"We feel that the building that will be on our property line will devalue our property," said Todaro, 63, of Smithtown, a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam. "We're opposed to their encroachment on our property."

Vincent Pizzulli, an East Meadow attorney representing King Kullen, said the expanded store would not take VFW property. "All we're trying to do is make a small addition," Pizzulli said, adding that the larger store would feature wider aisles for shoppers. "We're not crossing over anybody's land that we have no right to cross over."

Some residents at the public hearing said the expansion was unnecessary and too big for the hamlet.

Both Pizzulli and Todaro acknowledged they had discussed a deal in which King Kullen would have made a $60,000 donation to the VFW and paid for $90,000 improvements to the post's hall, including a new elevator and septic system. The deal fell through, they said.

"The negotiations went nowhere," said VFW member Michael Jaeger, 63, of St. James, who served in Vietnam as a Marine. "We are not going to make any deal . . . That property is ours."

Planning board members said they intend to see the site for themselves, then vote on whether to recommend the zoning change. A public hearing before the town board likely will be held in June, said planning director Frank DeRubeis.