Many incensed residents who turned out last night for a public hearing on a proposed change of zone that would open the door for a controversial project on Main Road in Mattituck had one word for developer Paul Pawlowski: “No.”
A steady stream of residents headed to the podium at the hearing, held at yesterday’s Southold Town board meeting, to blast Pawlowski’s request for a zone change on the 20.8 parcel’s current residential, or R-80 zone, to general business.
The land is located across from the former Capital One building on Main Road; the plan involves developing 3.5 acres of the 21 acre parcel with stores and 12 apartments, and donating the remaining 17.5 acres to the town, as preserved land.
Pawlowski proposes five individual buildings, totaling 14,000 square feet. Four of those will be 2,000 square feet and one, 6,000 square feet, all in a “campus style” with each building separate and green space and landscaping between each structure. A pavilion is also planned for public use.
Southold Town Councilman Bob Ghosio kicked off the hearing by reading comments from the planning board that said support for the potential zone change is now divided, citing “potential adverse impacts” to nearby property owners and environmental, traffic and other issues.
Bill Toedter, president of the North Fork Environmental Council, was first to voice his concerns.
He questioned the “costs” of the proposed project to the town, specifically to declining quality of ground and surface waters and said the impact of 12 apartments, stores, and a pavilion, compared to the seven to nine homes allowed as of right, would further “stress our groundwater. What you flush today doesn’t take years to get into the bays and creeks. It takes months, if not weeks. What is the cost to ground and surface water?”
Toedter also urged the town board to consider costs including traffic, congestion, air pollution, possible car and pedestrian accidents, increased lights and other issues.
He asked why Mattituck is once again being pitched for another affordable housing project, rather than spreading proposed affordable housing throughout all hamlets in town, as town planners have stated is the goal.
As for the proposed donation of 17 acres of land to the town, Toedter asked if the town would be “on the hook” to maintain the parcel.
“I’m not an idealist. Mr. Pawlowski and others have the right to develop their property but that right extends to existing zoning. It’s not the town’s responsibility to change zoning in order to make a property viable or more profitable. Let’s be honest, Mr. Pawlowski is a businessman.” He urged the board to use “objectivity and honesty” in coming to a decision.
All too often, Toedter said, the town board steers discussions on proposed projects to issues including the local economy, housing and employment but not the “plain old environment,” which it needs to, “before it’s too late,” he said.
The town is facing a critical water situation and must do everything possible to protect local waters, Toedter said. “It is going to cost more to build on Long Island to protect the quality and quantity of our water supplied.”
The town, he said, must demand that developers provide wastewater treatment systems aimed at nitrogen reduction and water reuse.
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said the town has demanded alternative wastewater treatment systems for projects such as the controversial Heritage at Cutchogue but the Suffolk County Department of Health has still not given the okay for new systems. “They are making slow movement and embracing this technology but at a snail’s pace,” he said.
Julie Amper of Mattituck asked how businesses proposed for the site, including a possible cheese shop or fish store, can “reverse the brain drain” and keep college graduates on the North Fork. She asked how seniors will be able to live in second floor apartments with no elevators or guaranteed parking, and how 12 apartments would protect the environment more than seven or nine single family homes.
“I implore this board to honor our vision for Mattituck and deny this request for a zone change,” she said, to loud applause.
One man said he moved to Mattituck from Sayville and Nassau County before that, to find a haven from traffic, pollution and noise and embrace the North Fork’s quality of life.
Neighbors on Sigsbee Road said with traffic already a hazard on busy weekends, they were fearful of the dangers that could arise with a spike in residences, business and activity at the site. “You almost get run over now,” a woman said. If a guarantee could be made that the preserved land might stay trees, “it might sound good, but the traffic will still be crazy,” she said.
Others said they believed Pawlowski was well aware of the zoning currently in place when he purchased the parcel and felt he should be required to adhere to zoning as it stands.
Joanne Leffler of Marlene Lane said people come to the North Fork, “drop their money and go home. It doesn’t cost you anything as a town. Why are you willing to give that up to become Riverhead or Nassau County? You have stores that are totally empty. You don’t need any more commercial space.” She added, “Why are you, as a board, giving up what everyone appears to want — to keep things the way they are? I am against the apartments and I would appreciate it if you would just think about what you have and what you are willing to give up in order to build.”
Russell said the town board has made no decisions and the purpose of a public hearing was to hear all input and shape a decision based on the will of the people.
Joy Ellinghaus of Mattituck, who drove two hours to attend the hearing, said her family has been traveling to the hamlet since 1968, when her father, a teacher, would pack up the car after the last day of school for the trip out. She and her siblings, she said, were always excited to see what had changed, which was “nothing much,” she said. “As I got older and wiser I realized big changes were happening.”
Ellinghaus said big corporations and stores such as McDonald’s, 7-Eleven, and CVS never made people say, “Aren’t we lucky they’re here?” Instead, she said, “Their presence is regrettable. I see them as degradation to the area.”
The town board, in allowing for those stores, and also when adopting the recent short-term rental legislation, said its hands were tied by the town’s zoning map. “I hope you and your board are as dedicated to the zoning map when considering the zoning change he is asking for, which is to put commercial use in a residential zone, but on a far greater scale than just someone renting out their home. The only word that comes to mind is ‘why?'”
She added, “Throwing out zoning maps to benefit small town friends, these are things that degrade a community.” Ellinghaus added that the vacant Capital One building right across the street is a commercial property and said Pawlowski should have bought a commercially-zoned parcel is he wanted commercial acreage.
“What will it take for you to say ‘enough is enough’?” she asked the board. “Please don’t make zoning changes that add to the glut. Please protect us.”
Marjorie Dunn of Mattituck asked how many on the board wanted the change of zone and why.
“Mr. Pawlowski applied to the town,” Councilwoman Jill Doherty said. “We don’t want it. That’s what this hearing is about, for us to decide. We are gathering information.”
Russell said the board would not vote after the hearing; after some discussion, the public hearing was left open for two weeks due to yesterday’s early time, 4:30 p.m., of the meeting as well as the hearing coinciding with Yom Kippur. John Carter of New Suffolk Avenue said he knew of many others that would have attended, had it not been the Jewish holiday. He also said the zoning designation should remain residential.
Mary Eisenstein, president of the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association, said the group has met numerous times to discuss the project and has hosted Pawlowski, who answered questions at one session with the public.
After a vote of the MCLA’s members asking if they wanted the town board to grant the zone change request from residential to general business, 111 voted, with nine voting “yes” and 102 voting “no.” Therefore, she said, “Guided by our members, we are requesting the town board to deny permanently this request for a zone change.”
A self-described “introvert,” Marty Dunne of Mattituck said it was “a big deal” for him to step up to the podium. “I hear the people loud and clear: They don’t want this,” he said. “The people of Mattituck do not want this. I hope you hear us.”
Pawlowski set out to answer questions and assured the crowd that as a Mattituck resident himself who cares about the community, “Money is not the underlying reason” for the project. He said starting with his first proposed project, which was for affordable housing, his aim has been to provide workforce housing, desperately needed in town.
“Our biggest export is our children,” he said. “I would not be here if I did not think this proposal was in the best interest of the town. For a zone change to be considered it must be in the best interest of the community as a whole, not 50 or 60 people,” he said.
He described the project, including the preserved acreage, and said he understood that a zone change did not come easily to the town board and should be considered case by case.
Pawlowski also said he was there by himself but if the meeting had been held later in the day, he was pretty sure he’d have had “several hundred people” to support the project.
He said despite other possible development scenarios, which he displayed, he was proposing to develop only 3.7 acres of the 21 acre property. Residents would have “woods behind their houses for life,” he said.
Plans pitched so far are only in sketch plan form, he said, adding that he’d have no problem with installing a state-of-the-art septic system.
The campus style property would resemble the Hudson City Savings Bank, across from the 7-Eleven in Greenport, he said, featuring a “North Fork, traditional look. I can’t stand strip malls,” he said. “These are not 24 hour stores.”
In addition, Pawlowski said he’d put in elevators and dedicated parking spots, making the property ADA compliant.
He said he was willing to put covenants in writing that the homes would be affordable in perpetuity and mirror Suffolk County guidelines for affordability.
If town board approval was granted for the zone change, no variances would be needed because the plan has proper setbacks and sanitary flow; he also said he’d spend thousands on road improvements.
Pawlowksi said he’s asking for a “conforming” zone change because the property is on Main Road.
As for the preserved parcel, Pawlowski said the woods would remain; dumping that goes on currently would be stopped, with the preserved parcel “pristine,” he said.
The project would also provide local jobs, he said. “I am not asking for zone change without offering something.”
Pawlowski said he believed his plan would not bring additional traffic and said those renting the apartments would be locals seeking affordable places to live. “The people who will be using the stores are here already,” he said.
The plan did draw support from some. Fred Andrews, a member of Southold Town’s housing advisory commission said he heard Pawlowski promise to address water quality issues. “I take him at his word,” he said, adding that while the affordable housing wasn’t “official” the covenants should offer a viable substitute.
“There’s a really desperate need for affordable housing,” he said, adding that he was disappointed to here so many disparage the Cottages at Mattituck, something Andrews says has been a benefit to the community.
One woman asked the town board if they could “swap” properties with Pawlowski and allow him to build his project elsewhere in town, and not in such a congested area.
Russell said the town had no legal right to do that.
Ellinghaus asked if Pawlowski would consider Section 8 housing; he said that was not part of the plan because he wanted to focus on the “desperate need” for workforce housing.
Others remained firm in their objection to the plan. “The North Fork is under assault,” one man said. “People promise a lot and don’t deliver. When something seems to be too good to be true, chances are it isn’t true. I believe this proposal is an assault on Mattituck.”
Pawlowksi said it’s “not” too good to be true.
The resident urged the board to get all of Pawlowski’s covenants in writing and said the “devil is in the details,” and he did not believe the board had enough information to vote.
Safety was Leah Sullivan’s major concern. “I don’t want to see another accident like the one that occurred on Route 48,” she said. “This is a dangerous area.”
Others felt approving the zone change would be setting a precedent.
Frank Buomaiuto said if he were to have anyone build near him, he’d like it to be Pawlowski. His parents moved because they could no longer afford the North Fork, he said; his children cannot afford the area and he, too, might be unable to stay.
He said he’s known Pawlowski for 20 years since Pawlowski was his landscaper. “I know that he is going to stick to his word.”
Another man said he and his wife both think the apartments are necessary and think the proposal is a good one.
Councilman Bill Ruland said the job of the board is to listen to the public. “We need to think things through. I appreciate everyone who comes and says what’s on their hearts and minds. My job is to sift through it all and make a decision and I don’t take that lightly.”
Councilman Jim Dinizio told those in attendance that just because Pawlowski was able to present his case, it did not mean the board encouraged the plan; the decision was yet to be made. He said he’d have preferred to have not heard what Pawlowski was intending for the parcel and just focused on the proposed zone change.
Councilman Bob Ghosio said it’s not necessarily right to make a blanket statement that the community should be kept as it is, with zoning created years ago. “Nothing is cut and dried or set in stone,” he said, adding that his mind was open and the hearing was meant to gather information.
The board adjourned the hearing, which will be kept open until the next town board meeting in two weeks.
