A crowd of residents packed the Town Hall meeting room yesterday, pouring out their hearts and pleading with the planning board to nix a proposal they say would shatter the pristine beauty of their corner of Mattituck forever.
A public hearing was held at the planning board’s regular meeting to discuss a proposal by Koehler Family Limited Partnership for a 14.94 acre parcel located at 4180 New Suffolk Avenue, on the corner of Marratooka Road and New Suffolk Avenue in Mattituck.
The plan would include a clustered standard subdivision, with eight lots on the R-80, or residentially zoned, parcel, with a proposed road, as well.
A steady stream of residents filed up to the podiums to express their concerns and heartbreak over losing what they say is currently a tract of land abundant with wildlife, including swans, heron, egrets and even a bald eagle.
“Too many of our natural resources are being lost to development for no other reason than the almighty dollar,” Mattituck resident and Board of Education President Gerard Diffley said.
Diffley and many of his Luptons Point Road neighbors echoed their desire to preserve the parcel. Another concern, Diffley said, was the small size of the lots, which are less than an acre. “It does nothing to add to the town and it detracts from preservation,” Diffley said. “This does nothing for affordable housing.” Only one affordable lot is included in the plan, he said, and that’s offsite, with no details provided.
Docks are also proposed for three of the lots, Diffley said; he added that decisions regarding dockage should be made by Southold Town trustees.
The impact to the environment must be considered, Diffley said.
Planning board chair Donald Wilcenski said the public hearing was only the beginning of a long process; he said trustees would oversee dockage issues.
Henry Loeffler, also of Luptons Point Road, said as many as 10 boat slips could be constructed. “I believe it is excessive,” he said.
“We’re exchanging all our ducks for docks,” agreed resident George Kreiling.
Former Southold Town Councilman Bill Edwards said while he understood that property owners have rights, his biggest concern is that the lot with 8.72 acres of open space in the plan was not tied to any one of the properties with a house. “I strongly feel that the open space should be tied to a house so that it’s used in a unified way instead of to a homeowners’ association with its internal squabbles.”
“I made sacrifices to move out here,” said Steve Bellavia, who has lived in Mattituck for over 20 years. “When I came, the night was dark and quiet.” Today, he said, “Mattituck is becoming the Riverhead of Southold Town. We keep getting dumped on.”
He added, “We are very against this. One of my main concerns is that we are losing the night,” Bellavia said, asking about dark skies legislation for residential homes. “We are becoming the city, not the country.”
Bellavia also expressed concerns about noise.
Cesspools and septic systems also sparked fears from residents. “This is a beautiful area. Don’t spoil it,” said Evelyn Turchiano of Deep Hole Drive.
Kreiling, who has lived on Luptons Point Road for 56 years, also echoed concerns about cesspools draining into the creek. “What’s going to happen to our water?” he asked. “I’ve been here so long, I’ve seen such degradation of that creek. It’s a disappointment to me. I won’t have too many more years, but there will be other people.”
Longtime environmental advocate Marie Domenici said unless new Nitrex septic systems are used in the proposed homes, nitrogen will impact the waterway; she said Nitrex should be mandated. Impacts on local school districts should also be considered, Domenici said.
“We really need to have more guidelines that are geared toward the environment and not toward someone’s profit. I’m opposing this because it’s not an environmentally good thing to do to our community,” she said.
One resident, Denise Dellaquila, of New Suffolk Avenue, asked the planning board what they thought of the plan.
Wilcenski said the board was there to gather information and it would be “improper” for them to speak about their personal views.
Another resident, Mary Ann Jackson, invited the board to her front porch to see, for themselves, “the land that people are talking about destroying. Look at our beautiful creek, that may be destroyed because of overdevelopment.”
She added, “I’ve been listening to everybody pour their hearts out today. We love our land, we love our views, we love the animals. We bought here because it’s beautiful. We love our creek. Please do not allow it to be destroyed — and please come visit.”
Realtor Tom McCarthy, speaking on behalf of the property owner, stood to address points raised by the community. Initially, previous owners approached both the town and the Nature Conservancy to sell the parcel for preservation, but that option “was not entertained,” he said. “No one came forward with preservation dollars, even though we would like to see it preserved.”
McCarthy said a number of plans were presented to the planning board, including an effort to have driveways off of New Suffolk Avenue, or flag lots, but the planning department’s “hands were tied” due to the number of lots. In addition, the effort was made to preserve as much scenic vista as possible and to have respect for a neighbor by not putting any homes directly in his view shed.
“We’re trying to be a good neighbor,” he said.
As for lot sizes, McCarthy said whenever a property is over seven acres, town code mandates that clustering take place on 40 percent of the land, with 60 percent left for open space.
New septic systems can be explored, he said, but Suffolk County is still in the experimental stages with a number of choices.
The goal is to work with trustees on boat slips; he said community input was welcomed at trustee hearings.
And, McCarthy said, the plan was compliant with the town’s affordable housing requirement.
While he conceded there would be noise during constructions, “It’s temporary,” McCarthy said.
Finally, addressing the vacant land, McCarthy said as the property owner was a principal in Osprey’s Dominion, the possibility of vines on the lot has been discussed. The land might be farmed independently of those living on the parcel but, McCarthy said, it would not be in the hands of a homeowners’ association.
