Smithtown to resume variance hearing for tree-removal company

A public hearing on a Smithtown tree-removal company’s request for zoning variances is scheduled to resume at 7 p.m. today during a town Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, at the town senior center, 420 Middle Country Rd.

Reliable Tree Service, of West Jericho Turnpike, is asking the board for permission to have a trucking station and to waive town standards for landscaping, outdoor storage and buffers.

The board last month adjourned a public hearing on the application because board members needed additional information.

At the hearing, neighbors complained that the company had stored vehicles on its property in violation of zoning regulations.

Chairwoman Adrienne Giannadeo had recused herself from the hearing and a future vote on the request because Reliable had worked at her home about a decade ago.

Supervisor Patrick Vecchio said the firm earlier this year had submitted the low bid for a town tree-removal contract. The town board rejected the bid because the company was suspected of violating zoning ordinances, Vecchio said.