Home News Local News What should Mattituck-Laurel look like in 10 years? Local residents weigh in.

What should Mattituck-Laurel look like in 10 years? Local residents weigh in.

Thirty people turned out for a two-hour facilitated workshop hosted by the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association Saturday at the American Legion Hall on Pike Street. Photo: Denise Civiletti

Residents of Mattituck and Laurel rolled up their sleeves and got to work on nitty-gritty land use issues Saturday morning.

“What do you want Mattituck-Laurel to look like in 10 years?” That was the question posed to the community by the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association, which hosted the workshop at the American Legion hall on Pike Street.

One thing came through loud and clear and that’s what residents don’t want, namely the proliferation of Route 58-like development: big box stores, national chain stores or chain restaurants.

Residents were adamant in their desire to see the hamlet should retain its rural character.

The two-hour session, facilitated by civic president Mary Eisenstein, tasked the 30 residents in attendance with answering a series of questions about current and possible future land uses in the Mattituck-Laurel hamlets and topics such as housing and tourism. Participants worked together in small groups to answer the questions and then share their thoughts with the others. The result will be a series of recommendations to the Southold Town Planning Board, which is currently working to update the town’s comprehensive plan.

Residents pored over zoning maps a list of allowed uses in each of the hamlets’ zoning use districts.

Southold planning director Heather Lanza was on hand as a “fact-checker,” Eisenstein told residents, to answer questions about current zoning and to make sure residents were working with accurate information.

Besides voicing opposition to large-scale retail and restaurant uses,  residents made a list of other uses they’d like to see removed from the list of uses allowed in the hamlets, such as laundry facilities, manufacturing plants, auto dealerships, convenience stores and public parking garages. While they acknowledged the need for affordable housing, they also expressed concerns about absentee owners of rental housing and the impacts of high-density residential development.

A couple of residents brought up the pending application for a sports facility on Main Road, but Eisenstein said Saturday’s discussion was not the venue for discussing any particular application. She reminded those in attendance that the Zoning Board of Appeals is having a hearing on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 9:15 a.m. on the Sports East application for a special exception. (The planning board is seeking lead agency status for the purpose of coordinated review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act – see prior story.)

Lanza said she’d be taking the group’s suggestions back to town hall for incorporation into the comprehensive plan update.

“I’m so excited to see such a big turnout — especially on a Saturday morning in January,” Lanza told the group when it finished its work. “This kind of discussion is what feeds into the comp plan, then the zoning comes from that,” she said. Lanza said she’d be back after the planners finish drafting the land use chapter of the comp plan update so they can get the residents’ feedback. “We want you to tell us how we did,” she said.

The planning board and town board will meet jointly on Friday to review and discuss the land use chapter. The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the Peconic Lane Community Center.

“We are so fortunate that we live in such a wonderful place where we have such a responsive government,” Eisenstein said. 2016_0203_mattituck_land_use_map

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Denise Civiletti
Denise is a veteran local reporter and editor, an attorney and former Riverhead Town councilwoman. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including a “writer of the year” award from the N.Y. Press Association in 2015. She is a founder, owner and co-publisher of this website.