Matinecock Court developer: Grounds being cleared at site of proposed affordable housing project

The site of the proposed Matinecock Court affordable housing development in East Northport is being cleared in preparation for its long-anticipated groundbreaking.

Peter G. Florey, the Levittown-based developer of the $92-million project at Pulaski and Elwood roads said workers started clearing out underbrush at the 14.5-acre property in early January.

He told Newsday he was advised by his environmental consultants that the region where the property is located is home to the northern long-eared bat.

“Because of that the DEC doesn’t want areas in the region cleared at any other time than December January and February,” he said. “That’s what compelled us to get going on this now.”

He said the clearing will be completed by mid-February.

In November, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the bats' status was being reclassified from threatened to endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. The reclassification goes into effect March 31. The change also applies to New York State. The bats are primarily forest-dependent insectivores. Since they feed predominantly on flying insects, they hibernate through the late fall and early spring to save energy when food is not available, according to the DEC website.

The development will include 146 limited equity cooperative units, eight of which will be for individuals with developmental disabilities. 

A limited equity cooperative is a form of ownership that allows residents to purchase cooperative shares at a reduced price. Residents, who will be selected by lottery, will not have to obtain a mortgage, Florey said.

The development will also have a stand-alone sewage treatment plant.

Florey said the project's financing should be completed by June and expects a groundbreaking to happen around that time. The project is expected to be completed in summer 2025, Florey said.

The project, first proposed in 1978, has faced decades of local opposition tinged with racism. 

The Huntington branch of the NAACP sued the town over violations of the federal Fair Housing Act, saying affordable housing should be made available townwide. The case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld a lower-court ruling that the town had violated the Fair Housing Act.