Smithtown Seeks Boosted Sewer Infrastructure In Downtown

SMITHTOWN, NY — The Town of Smithtown plans to make a push toward securing a path to upgraded sewer infrastructure in downtown Smithtown.

Community leaders from Smithtown and Kings Park are set to be joined by officials from the state and county on Tuesday as they plan to sign a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul in hopes of getting the ball rolling on sewer infrastructure, according to a news release from the Town of Smithtown.

The lack of sewers has stifled the potential of Smithtown's business district for decades, contributing to numerous vacant storefronts, the town stated.

A group found a site at the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center as a way to connect Smithtown's Main Street to sewers while preserving open space next to Nissequogue River State Park.

On Tuesday, the letter to Hochul will be signed, asking her help in launching the project.

A group composed of Smithtown business leaders and community organizations has worked for 18 months to evaluate potential recharge locations. Of 12 potential spots, the group identified a parcel owned by the Office of Mental Health at the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center as the only viable site for a recharge facility.

The current plan would remove the abandoned, derelict building, which the town said has become an unattractive nuisance and a liability to New York state. Additionally, Suffolk County would use only two of 17 acres to recharge clean water, restoring the remaining acreage of the site as preserved open space, replacing blight with a new community amenity, according to the town. Using the site would boost efforts to protect the Nissequogue River.

The potential recharge site is away from the Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act (WSR) corridor and outside the Town of Smithtown Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan (LWRP) Conservation area. The town projects a 78 percent reduction in nitrogen loading to the river should the project come to fruition.