Small house being built on tiny lot not welcome on Hauppauge block

A small house being built on an undersized lot in Hauppauge is making life miserable, neighbors said.

Former landowner William Mallon won variances from Smithtown’s Zoning Board of Appeals in 2018 that paved the way for construction of the two-story, 1,310-square-foot house on a .14-acre South Plaisted Avenue lot, the smallest and narrowest on its block. Most homes in the neighborhood, which was laid out in the 1960s and '70s, are about 2,100 square feet. Mallon's variances were for building on a lot about 35% smaller than zoning calls for, and to reduce frontage from 75 to 50 feet, according to planning department staffers.

"They can open their front door and step out practically on my driveway," said Gail Castoro, 67, a retired marketing underwriter who lives next door. After building started, her fireplace mantel began to lean, she said. "I’m praying my foundation holds and my cesspool holds."

Mallon sold for $180,000 April 15 to Bohemia-based Property Relief Partners LLC, according to Suffolk County records, but neighbors said trouble started with construction earlier in the year: mounds of earth blowing in the wind, noise and heavy equipment that made nearby homes shake.

Town inspectors issued a stop work order March 23 when they discovered the new house’s foundation height exceeded the approved elevation, according to town Building Department records. Neighbors said workers spent a week grinding about a foot off the top of the newly laid foundation, making noise and a cloud of dust. The stop work order was lifted by April 26.

Inspectors found a temporary construction fence in disrepair during a May 16 visit. That matter was resolved within days, according to records, but Carl Castoro, 68, a retired ironworker, remained skeptical of the workmanship. "Who are they going to get to do the electricity? Laurel and Hardy?" He said no fence was up Tuesday.

Lauren Kubernat, a retired customer service manager who lives across the street, said she and others had believed the lot — vacant for so long neighbors pitched in to maintain it — was legally unbuildable. "I’m just very disappointed with the town that they would approve such a tiny house in such a nice middle class neighborhood," she said. Neighbors also said they were bothered by an interlude in the 2018 appeals board meeting that was conducted off the record.

The town typically gets about 210 requests a year for residential and commercial variances. Zoning board of Appeals member Tony Tanzi, speaking generally about his board’s work, said members sometimes move off the record to discuss matters related to litigation but conduct most of their work in public.

With little open buildable land left in Smithtown, the board often hears applications from property owners seeking to build outside the constraints of town zoning, he said. "We try to give someone the relief necessary to accomplish their objectives and impact neighbors as little as possible," he said.

Vincent Trimarco, a land-use lawyer who represented Mallon before the town last year, said in an interview that his former client "made an application and the board approved it. It’s not like he did anything he shouldn’t have done."

Property Relief Partners owner Anthony Loffredo declined to comment.

Trimarco said Loffredo, whom he has represented on separate matters, was "a good builder … The sooner he finishes, the sooner they won’t have noise and they’ll have a neighbor to get along with."