Group Appeals Avalon Project Ruling

Opponents of the Avalon development have appealed a court ruling that allowed the project to go forward.

The Greater Huntington Civic Group said Sunday that the action was filed the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court. The group wants to overturn a November ruling by Justice Joseph C. Pastoressa, who rejected a number of objections to the controversial 379-unit multifamily development on East Fifth Street. In that ruling, Pastoressa found that the group hadn’t proven it had standing, with identifiable members who could establish that they were affected by the project. He also rejected a spot zoning claim, saying the organization failed to prove its claim and that there were several multifamily developments in surrounding areas.

The association says that the zoning approved by the Huntington Town Board for the project is inconsistent with the “Horizons 2020” comprehensive plan adopted by the board in December 2008. And, the group says, at 14.5 units per acre, the revised zoning exceeds the density of the surrounding community, including any other multi-family dwellings. The property was originally zoned for 109 single-family homes.

  The decision "was simply one judge’s opinion,” said Steven Spucces, president of the group. “We are disputing his interpretation of the facts presented in the lawsuit.”

  The group also maintains that the Avalon Bay project violates SEQRA, the State Environmental Quality Review Act, which requires that an environmental impact review be completed to assess the impact of such rezoning on traffic, sewage, soil, open space preservation, and more.  

  “We’re already seeing the devastating effects of a lack of environmental impact review. The recent upheaval of the property’s soil has released plumes of untold toxins into the air,” Spucces said. Members of the group have reported that fallout from the disturbance of the soil has settled on nearby homes and businesses, including the Huntington Farms community.

In dismissing the suit, Pastoressa ruled that the environmental impact study submitted by the town was sufficient.

 Attorney Ed Yule  of Northport filed the appeal for the group.

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No one from the town was immediately available Sunday afternoon for a comment.

The town approved the rezoning in June 2011.