Home News Local News Russell: No one in town government is trying to scuttle Sports East

Russell: No one in town government is trying to scuttle Sports East

File photo: Denise Civiletti

Supervisor Scott Russell wants residents to know he supports the concept of Sports East and will work with the developer to find an appropriate site for the club should the Zoning Board of Appeals decide to deny its special exception application.

In an unusual move, Russell called reporters from local news media to his office this afternoon to make the statement about Sports East, which he said would provide “desperately” needed services on the North Fork, particularly for youth.

But Russell stopped short of endorsing the “specific site” on Main Road in Mattituck that developer Paul Pawlowski has been pursuing for nearly two years.

That site, the supervisor said, has “a host of zoning issues” — “very complicated zoning issues” — that the ZBA is working to figure out. He said he would not speak out on the specific application before that board.

But should the ZBA deny the Sports East special exception application now before it, Russell said it would be his “number one priority to work with Paul to put it somewhere else.”

Russell said he’s spoken with Pawlowski about his desire to help find a new location should the need arise. He said the town could consider a “land swap” with the developer, though he conceded that there is not currently in the town’s inventory land that would be appropriate for the proposed Sports East facility.

“I want the community to know the town is not trying to scuttle this application behind the scenes,” Russell said. That’s the word on on the street and it isn’t true, he said. “There are a lot of misconceptions in the community,” he said.

“I need to state my position emphatically because misconceptions and misstatements shouldn’t involve people in my private life,” Russell said, declining to elaborate for the record. “And because of that, it became clear to me late last week that I needed to correct the record.”

The issue before the ZBA is whether Sports East meets the town code requirements for a membership club, which is an allowed special exception use in the R80 zoning use district where the proposed site is located.

The plan, initially filed in December 2015, was shot down by the ZBA last December, when the board ruled it did not meet the town code requirements for a membership club. Within two weeks, Sports East filed a modified application to address the issues raised by the ZBA.

The ZBA held a public hearing on the special exception application on Aug. 3, where people spoke both before and against the proposal.

“Zoning isn’t a popularity contest,” Russell said.

Paul Pawlowski meeting with the planning board in January 2016. File photo: Denise Civiletti

Pawlowski responds

Asked to respond to the supervisor’s comments, Pawlowski provided the following written statement:

First let me say that we appreciate the support of the supervisor and all officials involved. We also appreciate that the supervisor knows that our team can get the job done as we feel it is important that this is being done by local residents that want nothing more then to have a healthy alternative and add to the quality of life for our town residents. So for that we say thank you. We are a bit concerned with his comments on “finding other properties” when the ZBA is about to render a decision on our second submission for Sports East any day now.

Where we disagree is that he says this property has zoning restrictions. We are following the same rule book aka code book that Laurel Links followed and here are some facts:

1- This is on the main road with majority of commercial use just as Laurel Links sits.

2- This is the same zone district as Laurel Links R-80 zoning.

3- Laurel links is bordered by residential propertes on the all sides except for the north side of its location which is the main road

4- Sports East is bordered by residential property on the east and south side and commercial properties on the north and west sides, our proposed site plan buffers are much greater than Laurel Links and the scale of our project is much, much less.

5- We have re-submitted the plan to reduce the scale and mirror the code. This is the reason why the ZBA has a “special exception” tool to work with.

6- The zoning requires a “special exception” so that there are no zoning issues at all. This same special exception that Laurel Links received is the same one we are asking for as well. We are a private membership club offering the same exact sports that Laurel Links offers. Our goal is simply to offer them all year-round.

7- All private membership clubs in our entire town exist on R 80 residential zoning, not to mention all the local soccer fields, basketball courts and recreational facilities are on R-40 residentially zoned properties and AC district properties. So why would this property be of a concern when it comes to zoning. That makes no sense at all and this should not be singled out.

Also, for the record, there is no property available to do this on in Southold Town — not one on the market, not one large enough and not one that would not also require a “special exception.” So when we say find another property that actually is not an option and would still require the same “special exception.”

We have spent nearly two years on this application, spent a lot of money and a lot of time trying to make this happen for our town. So why look for another site when this property is the perfect location? We have a site plan that is complete and ready for planning board approval. We have health department and DOT pretty much completed. We have support from the Suffolk County Planning Commission. We are willing to do the first advanced septic treatment system in our town. We have done a traffic study that shows traffic will not be affected and in fact we will improve traffic in that area with the improvements that we will pay for.

We are ready to move forward and get this done. We are not willing to waste any more time and money on this and finding another property would mean exactly that.

I respect that the supervisor is willing to help get this done and I must say then please help us get it done on this site as everything is in place to and ready to go and there is a ton of precedent to go with it not to mention public support.

However with all of that said, since our first application to the ZBA we feel that we have worked with the town to get approved and revised our site plan to mirror the code. For all involved let’s hope we do not need to look for another piece of property. Let’s get this done and at the end of the day, we are simply talking about adding a healthy alternative to our town.

To the town officials: Your support is needed now. This application and the concept of Sports East depend on your support. Without your support, this project will not happen, please do not let this opportunity for all us slip away. Our commitment is strong but without ZBA approval this can not happen.

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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.