Proposed Zoning Changes For Huntington Village Announced

HUNTINGTON, NY — Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci, Councilman Eugene Cook and Councilman Ed Smyth unveiled proposals to regulate development projects in the Huntington Village Hamlet Center to restrict development density, size and environmental impact on Thursday, Sept. 12, the Town of Huntington announced.

Proposed changes include amendments to the Town’s C-6 Zoning Code that restrict height, density and other characteristics of existing buildings converting to mixed-use and new mixed-use construction, as well as amendments to Site Plan Regulations to add multiple new requirements for the Planning Board to consider for site plan review, including traffic impact, impact on sewers, compliance with storm water pollution prevention, design consistency and others.

The changes are also meant to reserve newly-acquired municipal parking to support existing residents and businesses, but excluding them from calculation used to satisfy parking requirements for new development.

Here are the proposed changes to the Town's C-6 Zoning Code that will regulate the size and scale of C-6 zoned development for mixed-use buildings:

• A newly established 38-foot height limit on all new mixed-use buildings.
• A newly established Floor-Area Ratio (FAR) requirement to control building density, which is the ratio of square footage in the building to lot size, for both existing buildings and for new construction, with more restrictive density requirements for new construction.
  • Existing buildings converting to mixed-use/building within the existing footprint will be subject to a newly established Floor-Area Ratio (FAR) of 2.5.
  • New construction or building outside the existing footprint of the building will be subject to a Floor-Area Ratio (FAR) of 1.5.
• To promote economic activity and eliminate mixed-use projects that are essentially residential buildings in disguise, the new requirements limit storage or community space to no more than 15 percent of the ground floor, which was intended to be reserved for commercial activity.
• For aesthetic purposes, the establishment of parking in the front of existing buildings converting to mixed-use will be prohibited.

Proposed changes to the subdivision and site plan regulations in the Town code (Chapter A202) establish new requirements for planning board site plan review:

• Requiring traffic impact analysis when reviewing projects in the C-6 District.
• When the project is also in the Huntington Sewer District, requiring sewer and system capacity impact analysis; the Departments of Environmental Waste Management and the Department of Planning and Environment must review the project’s sanitary use projections prior to the submission of the site plan. If the joint review determines it will have a detrimental impact, the application will not be entertained by the Town.
• Requiring compliance with the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan; applications must comply with drainage system requirements but if this requirement cannot be satisfied by the applicant, payment must be made to the Town to fund the required drainage, storm water runoff, and water quality improvements, deposited in the Drainage Impact Fee Account.
• Some site plan applications in the Huntington Village Hamlet Center will also be sent to the Historic Preservation Commission to advise the Planning Board with architectural review, including new buildings, front facades, exterior additions or alterations above 1,000 square feet, and any type of demolition.
• Architectural guidelines will promote better coordination between a building’s architecture and its surroundings; design should be consistent with its location.
• Height and setback of the building should be similar to that of surrounding buildings, designed to complement existing neighborhood aesthetics.

Proposed changes to off-street parking requirements in Town's C-6 Zoning Code will prevent newly-acquired municipal lots from satisfying parking requirements:

• Eliminates the ability to use newly acquired municipal parking lots in the Huntington Village Hamlet Center, which has been identified as the area in the Town which has the greatest need for additional parking, to satisfy parking requirements for new development.
• Reserves any property acquired on or after September 1, 2019 for municipal parking, such as the former Chase Bank property at 295 New York Avenue, for the purpose of supporting existing businesses and residents.
• Special Use Permit rules would not be changed for existing municipal parking lots, so the existing rights of property owners would not be changed.
• In addition to the newly proposed changes to the Town Code, applications would be required to meet all new requirements and existing C-6 requirements:
  • prohibiting upper floors exceeding the footprint of the ground floor
  • requiring buildings to meet height, area and bulk requirements of the zoning district
  • requiring one parking space provided on-site for each apartment
  • prohibiting parking lots and residential apartments on the ground floor of the building
    

Each Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals member is appointed by the Town Board to a seven-year term, and the terms are staggered, so it is a process to fill each of these boards with individuals who share the vision of the current administration, as they operate independently of the Town Board and outlast the terms of the Town Board members.

The Planning Board reviews application design, density, environmental impacts and other factors to approve or reject site plans and make its recommendations to the ZBA on variances requested by the applicant when the application doesn’t meet Code requirements.

The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) approves or rejects parking variances and other special use permits that, in the past, have allowed prior projects to avoid meeting requirements.

New appointees have already had a large impact on the outcome of Planning Board recommendations to the ZBA, Zoning Board decisions and these boards’ interactions with Huntington residents and property owners to seek input from the community they serve.

"We have heard the concerns of our residents who have questioned the impact some development has on our traffic patterns and congestion, on our water quality, and our quality of life," Lupinacci stated via press release. "It is our goal to preserve the historic character and suburban charm of our Town, while simultaneously supporting economic development and protecting our natural resources."

Lupinacci, Cook and Smyth will introduce the proposed resolutions at the Sept. 17 Town Board meeting at 2 p.m. From there, the Town Board will vote to schedule public hearings for community input on the proposed Zoning Code changes for the Wednesday, Oct. 16 Town Board meeting at 7:00 p.m.

You can watch video of the zoning changes being announced below: