Head of the Harbor sets August vote on monastery's house of worship plan

Head of the Harbor will consider a Russian Orthodox monastery's plan to build a house of worship on its campus in August, scheduling a vote for a proposal that has drawn backlash from some village residents.

The village's planning board will consider the Monastery of Saint Dionysios the Areopagite’s proposal to build a 3,341-square-foot building on its 4.6-acre campus on North Country Road where its monks live.

The board last week scheduled the vote on the site plan for their Aug. 12 meeting. Only one trustee, Dale Salzberg, voted no on the motion.

In April 2024, the village's board of trustees approved a special use permit that allowed the monastery to build the house of worship in a residential zone.

The monks live and worship in Timothy House, an 1800s-era residence which once housed descendants of the Smith family, founders of the Town of Smithtown. Timothy House is listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places.

Joseph Buzzell, an attorney who represents the monastery, said last year that the monks had been praying "in the living room, basically." 

In an interview last week, Buzzell told Newsday: "This is the life that those monks have chosen, and they need a place to go to pray."

The monastery’s representatives must submit plans detailing what happens to material that is excavated during the construction. The village’s building inspector will have to sign off on the plan, said Harlan Fischer, chairman of the planning board.

The board will not grant any building permits until the Suffolk County Health Department approves a wastewater management plan.

Seven residents sued the village in April 2024 after the board of trustees approved a special use permit for the house of worship a month earlier. Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Maureen Liccione dismissed the lawsuit earlier this year, citing several reasons including the “long-standing protection of religious land uses in New York law.”

Liccione said only one of the plaintiffs — Natasha Acker, who lives next to the property — had legal standing to sue. Six other residents did not make “sufficient allegations” to hold legal standing in the case.

Liccione wrote: "This legally insufficient proceeding should not further delay the Monks' application to build a small chapel on their property."

Since the worship house was pitched in 2018, the site plan has been revised in recent years in response to concerns from residents and village officials, Buzzell said.

Those revisions include moving the church farther back from Route 25A; redesigning the parking area to include gravel; and making the outdoor lights less bright.