The town hall hearing room was filled with residents of the Oyster Bay and East Norwich communities on Tuesday, Dec. 13 as they came to express their opinions on the planned 300-unit apartment complex being proposed by AvalonBay Communities and Island Properties for the old Hallock property on Pine Hollow Rd. The hearing was part of the environmental assessment for the project and was a scoping session to add residents' suggestions for things they felt should be included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to be prepared by AvalonBay.

Kyle Rabin, executive director of Friends of the Bay was the first speaker. He said the sewer district is within 5 to 10 percent of their remaining permit capacity and that the added impact of AvalonBay and other projects in the hamlet would impact the bay. He said the 300-unit project is overkill. He said the town's decision shouldn't be made on the basis of profits for AvalonBay Communities and Island Properties. "It's a classic cart before the horse scenario. This is a giant gamble for AvalonBay," he said.

He suggested that a project of this magnitude should include alternatives to the plan proposed. He said, "The burden of proof is on AvalonBay to prove that the new zoning has no adverse effect on the community. It's the wrong project, in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Caroline DuBois suggested the town create two-family zoning for mother/daughter housing in the hamlet as a better use of the Oyster Bay Sewer District capacity. She disagreed with the AvalonBay count of parking spaces needed and estimated 780 cars (in her worse case scenario) as opposed to the AvalonBay count of 480.

Ms. DuBois added the AvalonBay complex would generate 700 cars going to the Syosset train station where there is currently a shortage of parking. She said that Smart Growth principles call for people being able to walk to a transportation hub and therefore the proposed location does not fit their definition.

William Burke of East Norwich called the proposal "oversaturated." He gave his qualifications of working in NYC schools for 35 years; 12 years representing the administrators and supervisors; and evaluating schools in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. He estimated that the 90 two bedroom apartments would bring between 140 to 160 new students to the OB-EN schools. He said, "I've worked in the OB-EN school system and it's a good one. There is no way it can handle a large and rapid increase of students." He said they would need additional bathrooms and would have to build or overload the existing system. He said taxes would skyrocket. Mr. Burke said the AvalonBay estimated figures showed that more than 35 students from their complex would have a negative impact on taxes.

Mr. Burke said the project area is not a downtown revitalization district. "It is nowhere near the downtown area," he said. "There are no sidewalks on the long Pine Hollow Road strip that is heavily industrialized. Homeowners like myself have a right to protect their community. I moved here for a small suburban community. The proposal is not that." He added that the site plan has "green area" but they are hills that are tiered and not open space. "This is the wrong project in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

Claude Bahnik, vice president of Mill-Max Mfg. was the next speaker. He told the hearing officer that they had sent a letter from their attorney stating their case, and did not make any further statement.

Fran Leone said she objected to the proposal because of the sewage that would flow into the bay; the traffic it will generate; that it is out of character with the hamlet and said, "It doesn't belong here."

Judy Barnett said AvalonBay will help fill a housing need in Oyster Bay. "I'm for the project. I think we need diverse housing. I think the community is not thinking 'outside of the box.'"

Grace Olk, a resident of Norwich Gates, was also in favor of the proposal. She said the traffic leaving the Norwich Gate 248 apartment complex is not heavy but said there are traffic problems in the area now that need help.

Robert Martin was in favor of the AvalonBay project. As a member of the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce, he said he sees the renters as customers for local businesses. He said, "We are more interested in people than the fish." [There were some boos from the audience.]

Nat Celauro said he was opposed to the increase in sewage that ends up in the bay. He said the proposal is too dense and would stress the Stop & Shop supermarket which he called "a small store". Of the increase in traffic, he said when he lived in Norwich Gates it was hard to get onto Pine Hollow Road, and said there will be a backup of traffic from cars trying to get into AvalonBay. "It's too much," he said.

Dave Relyea representing Frank M. Flower & Sons, Inc. said their issue is water quality which must meet today's standards for growing shellfish. The DEC sets a buffer zone determined by the flow from the sewer district. "An increase of flow can increase the buffer zone around the outflow from the sewer district. They have a permit for 1.8 million gallons per day. They now put out 1.25 million gallons per day. There is .55 million available for future development. There is not enough capacity for AvalonBay. Based on shellfish regulations we must object to AvalonBay as proposed," he said.

Tim Archdeacon said he was concerned with the environmental impact of the proposal and doubted a need to change the current zoning for the project. He was in favor of having a supermarket on the site, saying it wouldn't impact the traffic adversely because those shoppers are already on the road. He said there is already a traffic problem for cars making a left turn onto Lexington Avenue and said if the project went through the town would have to widen Pine Hollow Road. [There was applause for his comments.]

Bob Bartolotti said he is opposed to the AvalonBay proposal because of problems with water, sewer, traffic and character. He said residents asked that it be reduced in size, but were told by AvalonBay that they were not willing to do so. He said the proposal was not in the interests of the community and not in line with the Hamlet Plan.

Maureen Dolan of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment said the project will lead to the further degradation of Long Island Sound after a half billion dollars have been spent in protecting the sound. She said that the DEIS should assess the point and non-point source pollution from the proposed site. She added that the AvalonBay development is located in one of only two Special Groundwater Protection Areas in Nassau County and asked for the denial of the request.

Ray Torres said he wasn't convinced about the need for more housing here. He added the area is already being stressed with illegal apartments.

Upper Brookville Mayor Letice Hertwick said her village is concerned about the environmental impact of the development and is opposed to it. She said its density will affect the infrastructure that is already overburdened with cars coming from Bayville, Centre Island, Mill Neck, Oyster Bay hamlet and Cove Neck. She said drivers are using the roads in Upper Brookville as alternate routes. She said, "The roads of Upper Brookville were never intended to handle such traffic. The village roads are narrow and winding, and the village roads get no funding from the county or the state for their upkeep."

She said the proposed AvalonBay development is out of keeping with the character of the area of one family homes and small shops and was more suited to a city such as Glen Cove or Garden City.

Ms. Hertwick said the proposed site was originally used for sand mining and an asphalt plant and then it was sold to Ed Lynch for a moving and storage facility. That part of the site was cleaned up and pilings sunk into the ground to support the building. She said the front section of the site was not cleaned up and that it has contaminants from that time still in the ground. She said the slopes on the back of the property were never stabilized.

Ms. Hertwick said the residents of Sagamore Woods [the homes built on the top of the hill above the former sandpits] will be looking at roofs. She summed up her argument saying AvalonBay doesn't belong in Oyster Bay because of the sewage, schools, parking, and that the traffic on Route 106 is bottlenecked from the Hess station to Route 25A: mostly a single lane of traffic. She added that snow plows have problems with cars parked on the side of the road and concluded, "Until a regional plan is in place to solve the traffic problems no such building of such density should be built." [There was applause.]

Robert King of the East Norwich Civic Association (ENCA) added his concern about the traffic as it affects that area. Matthew Meng, president of the ENCA said his group voted in July 2005 to strongly oppose the AvalonBay rental property that will adversely affect Oyster Bay and East Norwich because of traffic, high density, sewage and water quality. He said the hamlet already has a traffic problem they haven't solved. He said the DEIS must also study the many traffic intersections that will be affected by the proposal that reach into Syosset. He asked that the DEIS define the hamlet area and what actually is downtown Oyster Bay.

Mr. Meng said the ENCA has started their own defense fund realizing that AvalonBay is a national corporation with great resources and if the proposal is denied they would probably file an Article 78 to claim they are being hurt financially. To prevent that, he said, the Town of Oyster Bay needs a master plan to back up their decisions.

He said ENCA will do its own traffic study. He said a change of zone from light industry to general business would deprive the community of the economic vitality of that zoning. He said the lighting pollution from the proposed site should be discussed in the DEIS. He added that the Oyster Bay Hamlet Plan must be studied in relation to this proposal.

John McGrane of the Oyster Bay Marine Center said he submitted a letter but said, as a resident and a businessowner he approved of the proposal. He said the 300-unit apartment will have less of an environmental effect than 300 houses would, saying they could take up 55 acres of land as opposed to this site. He added the town should ban non-organic fertilizer because the runoff gets into the harbor.

Mr. McGrane said, "Oyster Bay is a great community to live and work in. I hope we can help keep friends here in affordable apartments. Our children can't afford housing. I hope the town looks at high density housing in a positive way."

Dr. Lillian Hess-Tanquay, a sedimentologist at C.W. Post offered suggestions for the DEIS in terms of her expertise in soil and topography.

Architect Laura Smiros questioned the need of an additional zoning district and gave examples of current zoning and the number of housing units they afford - one would grant the developer 31 units on that site. She said the proposal is 10 times greater than its neighboring site (Norwich Gates) and suggested the number of children in Norwich Gates should be used as a guide to what will happen at AvalonBay. She said the building is on the scale for a city and is not appropriate for Oyster Bay. She said, "The reason for creating density is to leave open space, but there is no open space in this plan. As an architect I'm for development but this is drastically more than what it should be and I'd like to see it scaled down to what it should be in Oyster Bay."

Architect Jim Smiros, Oyster Bay-East Norwich Board of Education president called the proposal over-scaled and over-saturated and said that the proposal could be a large burden to the school community. He said it was out of scale for the entrance to the hamlet.

Peter Petrillo of East Norwich said the site wasn't considered developable by another real estate corporation and suggested it should be a retail and/or office building site as an alternate use.

Marie Knight, president of the Oyster Bay Civic Association said a lot of the previous comments were incorrect. She said Dr. Phyllis Harrington, OBEN superintendent of schools was in favor of the development. [The school board had an independent study done that was in line with the one done by AvalonBay.] Ms. Knight said the OBCA had an independent traffic study done that matched the AvalonBay study. She said they polled their members on their view of the AvalonBay proposal and said 51 percent were against the proposal but 90 percent of them did it on the basis of traffic. Thirteen percent were in favor of the proposal and the rest didn't respond. She said she has talked to AvalonBay and that they have a new rendering of the site that is more compatible to Oyster Bay. She said to solve the traffic issues they are offering to provide a jitney to the village or a commuter bus to the Syosset railroad station several times in the morning and the evening. She said she has talked to Judy Jacobs, Nassau County Presiding Officer about a possible traffic light at Norwich Gates and the CVS shopping center. She said a new infiltration system for storm drains is being considered by the town which will help reduce runoff into the bay.

Ms. Knight said, "I can't see why we can't have more people. We need more taxes and more people to shop." She said the town will not allow them to build until the traffic and sewage problems are solved. She added that at a community meeting David Layton, former sewer district commissioner said there is no problem with the sewage plant taking on new customers.

Sean Rainey, ENCA vice president, asked that the DEIS look at the effects of high density adding that at Norwich Gates there are 13.5 units per acre and at AvalonBay there are 26 per acre. Using the existing density there could be 65 units at AvalonBay rather than 300. He added that the Norwich Gates vacancy rate is between 5 to 7 percent and that it is increasing steadily.

Joan Mahon, executive director of the Main Street Association, said the need to revitalize downtown Oyster Bay is critical and said, "This project is not in proximity to downtown Oyster Bay." She said the Glen Cove AvalonBay property is a success, but Glen Cove is a city and has other buildings of similar stature. She said Oyster Bay has a traditional downtown. She said downtown is already mixed-use with apartments over stores. She questioned how the re-zoning will benefit down town when the project is not in the downtown area. She asked how the traffic would affect the Boys & Girls Club traffic. She asked about the parking impact by the proposed development for the downtown area. She said there is a need to study the effects of more commuters on the Syosset train station.

She said because of the location of the site [which is located on the southbound side of Route 106] it is easier to head to Syosset rather than cross the southbound lane to head north to Oyster Bay, to park and shop there.

John Grace said, with his real estate background he viewed the approval of the AvalonBay project as "The tipping point of Oyster Bay. There will not be a property owner in Oyster Bay who won't be able to get the same treatment. It will be the end of Oyster Bay."

William Quinn said homeowners of Sagamore Woods purchased their houses because of the view from the hill and half of them will be adversely impacted by the proposed project. He asked that light pollution be considered in the DEIS.

Written comments will be accepted on the proposal through Jan. 20. Residents wishing to add items to the DEIS should send their comments to Department of Environmental Resources; Town Environmental Quality Review Division; 150 Miller Place, Syosset, NY 11791.